Thread: World population to reach 7 billion in 2012

World population to reach 7 billion in 2012
Originally published 03:42 p.m., June 19, 2008
Updated 03:42 p.m., June 19, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's population will reach 7 billion in 2012, even as the global community struggles to satisfy its appetite for natural resources, according to a new government projection.

There are 6.7 billion people in the world today. The United States ranks third, with 304 million, behind China and India, according to projections released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

The world's population surpassed 6 billion in 1999, meaning it will take only 13 years to add a billion people.

By comparison, the number of people didn't reach 1 billion until 1800, said Carl Haub, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau. It didn't reach 2 billion until 130 years later.

"You can easily see the effect of rapid population growth in developing countries," Haub said.

Haub said that medical and nutritional advances in developing countries led to a population explosion following World War II. Cultural changes are slowly catching up, with more women in developing countries going to school and joining the work force.

That is slowing the growth rate, though it is still high in many countries.

The global population is growing by about 1.2% per year. The Census Bureau projects the growth rate will decline to 0.5% by 2050.

By then, India will have surpassed China as the most populous country.

The Census Bureau updates projections each year on a variety of global demographic trends, including fertility and mortality rates and life expectancy. U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years for the first time, the National Center for Health Statistics announced last week.

The new Census report comes amid record high oil and gasoline prices, fueled in part by growing demand from expanding economies in China and India.

There is no consensus on how many people the Earth can sustain, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. He said it depends on how well people manage the Earth's resources.

Today, industrialized nations use a disproportionate share of oil and other resources, while developing countries are fueling population growth.

There are countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East where the average woman has more than six children in her lifetime. In Mali and Niger, two African nations, women average more than seven children.

"There's still a long way to go in the developing world," Frey said. "A lot of it does have to do with the education of women and the movement of women into the labor force."

In the U.S., women have an average of about two children, which essentially replaces the population. Much of the U.S. population growth comes from immigration.




http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/j ... lion-2012/

In the U.S., women have an average of about two children, which essentially replaces the population. Much of the U.S. population growth comes from immigration.

Which just goes to show I don't need any illegals to cover my retirement, I birthed my own replacements. We were the greatest nation on Earth and now look where we are and I ain't dead yet!

The world cannot feed 10 billion, I researched this 20 years ago.

And the world reached it's first billion in only the 1850's.

1850's first billion since the beginning of time for the HUMAN RACE.

WAKE UP AMERICA - WE ARE FIGHTING TO SURVIVE - WITHIN THE NEXT
100 YEARS AS AMERICAN AND HUMANS

The world cannot feed 10 billion, I researched this 20 years ago.

And the world reached it's first billion in only the 1850's.

That's just unreal to think about.........

THE GLOBAL WARMING PEOPLE AREN'T TELLING US THIS FACTOR OF LIFE ARE THEY!

PhredE:

I think Greed, is the answer. Al Gore and these people don't care, they think they will survive. Money gives some people false security.

Water is another BIG issue, here! Will it ever cost as much as gas?

'Agreed' to the above... and...

This is one of the worst aspect of the immigration related debate that baffles me: how can the progressive / environmentalists sit by, and condone the ever increasing US population (which, by all measures, should be gently stabilitizing as are most EU nations) which disproportionately consumes natural and energy resources on a per capita basis. Environmentalists... where are you? How can you protect the forests, the water, the plants, the animals.... if you tacitly encourage more of humanity to exist? Not only that, but as the demographics change, and more and more of the 3rd world begins to see glimpses of prosperity - or the luxuries afforded by it - they too, will have higher expectations, and as a result, become greater consumers in their own right too. Can anyone say Thomas Malthus? I can. The implications of the scenario mapped out into a couple future decades is truly frightening..