If the world population were to stop increasing at this moment or were even to decrease to half its present size, the problems of pollution and ecosystem destruction would still be with us.

Thus, solving the serious problem of the world population explosion could not in itself solve the problem of environmental deterioration. However, the rapid expansion of populations in countries with widespread poverty makes it extremely difficult to arrest some types of environmental deterioration in those countries.

The world’s human population is indeed exploding. Although Homo sapiens has lived on earth for at least 300,000 years, it was not until 1800 that we attained a population of 1 billion.

Then, within only 130 years, the population increased to 2 billion. In only 30 more years 1930 to 1960, a third billion was added, and in another 15 years (1975), fourth! By 1985, the rate of increase had begun to slow to about 1.8 percent per year. Nevertheless, the world’s human population is expected to reach 6.35 billion by the year 2000, a further increase of over 50 percent.

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The human population explosion exemplifies the exponential growth capability possessed by all species. A companion principle dictating that when population size exceeds carrying capacity massive mortality results is also being demonstrated by the explosion, but at regional rather than global levels.

The rapid population expansion since 1800 has not been due to an increase in birth rate, that is, to an increase in the number of births per 1,000 populations. Rather, it has been due mostly to a sudden decrease in death rate, due to such factors as the development of relatively inexpensive medicines, methods of sanitation, and other means of disease control.

Also contributing to the problem is the persistent cultural practice of raising large families, a custom influenced in the past by very high infant and childhood morality rates. Now that in most countries children usually live to have children of their own, populations have sored. Cultural adjustment to sudden change is typically slow, and adjustment to longer life expectancy has been no exception.