The Infinite Growth Paradigm

In October 1999, the human population of the world reached 6 billion. Governments, scientific societies, and other organizations reacted with celebrations, but also with concern. The population had doubled in only 40 years, with most of the growth occurring in developing countries. Experts predicted that at the current growth rate of 77 million new people a year, the population would swell to 9 billion by 2050, increasing requirements for food, water, and health care in countries where basic necessities were already scarce.

Improvements in health care have extended life expectancies and reduced infant mortality rates around the globe, allowing the birth rate to outstrip the death rate in most nations. But despite these advances, much of the world's population still lives in poverty, particularly in the developing nations where population growth is most rapid. Malnourishment, lack of clean water, AIDS and other diseases, overcrowding, and inadequate shelter are very real problems for billions of people. In regions like sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, lack of access to family planning services, as well as cultural traditions that emphasize the role of women as child-bearers, make large families the norm.

Developed countries like the U.S. are generally experiencing slow or no population growth. But growth in other nations still affects them. In today's global economy, the balance of people and resources in Asian and African countries has far-reaching effects on the developed nations that are their trading partners. Overpopulation burdens the environment with increasing demands for timber and fossil fuels, driving up the price of the raw materials industrialized nations need to import. And as forested land is cleared to support a growing population, the world loses a vital mechanism for atmospheric regulation: the forests that produce oxygen and absorb carbon from the atmosphere, helping to slow global warming. These dwindling forests represent our greatest weapon against major environmental trends like global climate change -- problems that affect everyone, in developed and developing countries alike.

Overpopulation is the greatest environment issue we face in modern history. Unless we reign in our exponential growth, we will find oursleves fighting over more basic resources like food and water instead of oil and gold.

Global Population Growth