by Life Research Institute and Robert Sassone
Growth
According to one projection by the United Nations, world population will begin to decrease in approximately 2045.1
The growth rate of the world’s population peaked at 2.04% during 1965-70 but fell to 1.48% during 1990-95.2
The United Nations projects that the world’s fertility rate may decline below replacement value in approximately 2013.2
If the world’s 5.8 billion people occupied 1,000 square feet each (a square 31.6 feet on each side), they would occupy only one two hundred seventy sixth (1/276) of the Earth’s land.3 If the world’s population density was the same as Manhattan, New York’s, all the worlds houses would occupy only 8,734 square miles (a square 94 miles on each side).4 One-half of the world’s land has a population density of less than one person per square kilometer (less than 2.6 people per square mile).4
The United Nations, which measures quality of life by 45 criteria, said in two annually published reports that by every measure the quality of life is better in more densely populated countries and in more densely populated parts of individual countries. Some criteria are life expectancy, water quality, medical care, and education.5
Food
Four times as much food is produced in developing countries today versus fifty years ago, and fifty percent more food per person is produced versus 1948-52.6
Between 1990 and 1995, world food production increased by 18%.7
United Nations data indicate that developing nations could grow approximately ten times as much food as they now do.8
According to the Consultative Group on International Agriculture (CGIAR), a 25-year old organization which runs agricultural research centers around the world, huge increases in world food production are all set to occur as new super varieties of basic crops move from the laboratory into the fields. In a conference held in Washington, DC, the week prior to the World Food Summit in Rome, CGIAR announced that “Scientists are laying the foundations for a second global food production campaign that will exceed in scope the green revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.” Donald Winkelmann, CGIAR’s technical advisory committee chairman, said, “There is good news . . . there will be adequate food to feed the 8 billion people we expect in the world by 2025. The food will be produced and prices will continue to fall.”
Land
Only 1% of the land is used for cities, towns, and roads. Only 10% is used for agriculture.7
The United Nations reports that in developing countries, there is more than three times as much rain-fed land that could be used for crop production as is currently used.8
Resources
The world’s and developing countries’ forest sizes increase every year. This trend is expected to continue.7
Doomsday predictions are generally wrong. Consider that in 1940, the U.S. Bureau of Mines predicted that the United States would run out of oil in 1954.9
Since 1970, the world’s oil reserves have approximately doubled.10
Environment
There is no global warming: The world’s temperature is .05 degrees cooler in the 1990’s than in the last.11
Carbon dioxide is not the major culprit in alleged global warming: Water vapor accounts for more than 90% of the greenhouse effect.12
Depletion of the ozone barrier is NOT a problem: It has been increasing since 1993, and sunlight caused the formation of billions of tons per minute of new ozone.13
The U.S. Government’s Fish and Wildlife Service, which is required by law to keep track of all species that become extinct, shows that from 1973 – 1993 only seven species of plants and/or animals became extinct in the world.14
Increased population doesn’t necessarily mean increased pollution. History shows that when the average annual income surpasses approximately $3,000 per person (U.S. dollars), discretionary choices are made such that money is spent to clean-up air, water, and the rest of the environment.11
Notes:
1. World Population Prospects, United Nations Population Division, 1996.
2. World Population Prospects, United Nations Population Division.
3. Land is 4.8 million square miles. Multiply this times 5,280 twice to get square feet. Divide 5.8 billion by this and multiply by 1,000. The answer is .0036 which is 1/276.
4. Robert Sassone, Handbook on Population (Stafford, VA: American Life League, 1994) 47.
5. The State of the World’s Children, UNICEF, tables at end of reports, and The Statistical Yearbook, UN.
6. The State of Food and Agriculture, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and World Population Prospects:, UN Population Division, 1996 revision.
7. The State of Food and Agriculture, 1996, UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Information was on a floppy diskette, and therefore there was no page number.
8. Stein Bie , United Nations World Food Conference, 19 November 1996, Rome. Bie is the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s expert.
9. Minerals Year Book , U.S. Bureau of Mines, review of 1940.
10. World Oil or Oil and Gas Journal.
11. World Climate Report.
12. Robert Sassone.
13. Ibid., 99.
14. The phone number of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is 202 208 4131.