Frequently Asked QuestionsThis page contains a set of questions and answers designed to help you help educate others. If you have a question you think should be on this page, send an email to admin@growtheducation.org Q. Is the world population growing significantly? A. Absolutely! The year 2000 total world population was approximately 6 Billion people. According to UN projections the world population in the year 2050 will be about 9 Billion people an increase of roughly 3 Billion people. To grasp the enormity of this increase, we need only realize that the total world population in 1950 was 2.5 Billion people! Our species took more than 50,000 years to reach 2.5 Billion people, but we are on a track to more than triple our numbers in just 100 years. Q. Isn't the population problem outside the U.S.? A. The problem is inside the U.S. as well as outside. According to Census Bureau middle projection, the U.S. population will double this century from about 280 million to about 571 million people. From an environmental impact perspective this increase is equivalent to billions of additional people in developing nations. This is true because of our wealthy lifestyle. Our per capita consumption of natural resources far exceeds that of people in developing countries. Indeed, if our population grows as projected, it is likely that our demand for resources will increase our imports so significantly that we will price poorer people of the world out of the market for goods that they need worse than we. For more information, see the subchapter titled An Ethical Threshold in the book In Growth We Trust. Q. Isn't the problem in America our consumption, not our population? A. Our population is just as much a problem as our consumption. Our wealthy lifestyle and high per capita consumption put a disproportionate burden on the planet's natural resources, but our population growth amplifies the effect of our high per capita consumption. For more information see the essay: Reducing Personal Consumption Is Not Enough.
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"New congestion study shows remedies working, but traffic jams still growing."
Texas Transportation Institute
September 30, 2003
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Author Tom Horton and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation call on environmental groups everywhere to put population stabilization on the national agenda.
Turning the Tide, Island Press, 2003
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