Major Ideas
- The population will be bigger, slower-growing, more urban, and older than in the 20th century.
- Human numbers currently increase by 74 million to 76 million people annually, the equivalent of adding another U.S. to the world every four years.
- Between 2005 and 2050 population will at least triple in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger and Uganda. These countries are among the poorest on Earth.
- The 20th century was probably the last in human history in which younger people outnumbered older ones.
- By 1999 people were exploiting the environment faster than it could regenerate itself, they claimed, a situation that is clearly unsustainable.
- Better education in youth is associated with better health in old age.
- The first absolute increase in population by one billion people took from the beginning of time until the early 19th century, one billion people will be added to today’s population in only 13 to 14 years.
- By 2050 the world’s population is projected to reach 9.1 billion, plus or minus two billion people, depending on future birth and death rates.
- Human numbers currently increase by 74 million to 76 million people annually, the equivalent of adding another U.S. to the world every four years.
- All population growth in the next 45 years is expected to happen in today’s economically less developed regions.
- Half the global increase will be accounted for by just nine nations.
- The 20th century was probably the last in human history in which younger people outnumbered older ones.
- In 2050 nearly one person in three will be 60 years or older in the more developed regions and one person in fi ve in the less developed zones.
- In 2050 the rich countries will still have about 1.2 billion people, but the poor countries will grow to 7.9 billion.
Author's Main Point |
The article talks about demographics and population growth, and how it plays a crucial role in destroying the environment. Developed countries such as the United States use undeveloped countries' resources to support better lifestyles. By 1999, people were exploiting the environment faster than it could regenerate itself.The rapid growth of population brought many problems. This article talks about the population of the 1960s, our present populationand the expected population in 2050.The carrying capacity can not be determined but based on the way we are overexploiting natural resources, it will be soon that we have shortages in food supplies and other essentials.
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My Reflection |
The way we live is not sustainable. Using the resources of undeveloped countries is not fair. Their growth rate is higher than that of developed countries, so they need those resources for themselves. It's sad that people can not think of the damage they are causing to the environment. Since 1999, people have exploited the Earth's resources with no thought of what their lifestyle is doing to the Earth. Based on the current rate we are using our natural resources, we will run out off natural resources pretty fast.
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