POPULATION BOMB

'Population Bomb' has it been diffused; if not, what measures can be used to achieve this?

'Population Bomb' has it been diffused; if not, what measures can be used to achieve this?

Introduction

The world's population was half a billion in 1650 and reached 1 billion in 1804. By 1927, the population had doubled to 2 billion, and it reached 3 billion in 1959. In 2009, there were 6.8 billion people on the planet, and the world's population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. This rapid increase in human population can be attributed primarily to a dramatic decrease in the death rate, to technological advances, and to migration. The average life expectancy of people in developed countries has increased from 47 to 77 yrs. In the past century, while the average life expectancy in developing countries has increased from 30 to 55 yrs. Advancements in technology, especially in agriculture due to the Green Revolution (the 1960s), have resulted in greater food availability (Basu, 1993, 85).

The advent of hybrid seeds with a range of environmental tolerance and the use of fertilizers have increased the production of crops, while food distribution methods improved both regionally and globally to satisfy demand. Improved sanitation (i.e., drinking water, waste management) and vaccinations for diseases (e.g., measles and smallpox) have also significantly contributed to the increase in the size of the world's population and in life expectancies. The migration of people to new regions of the world and increases in urban populations have resulted in cities with extremely high population densities over the past 200 yrs., especially in Asia. Indeed, currently, over 50% of the world's population lives in cities (Becker, 1993, 75).

The stock of population

United Nations demographers estimate that the world population in 1991 was 5,292,000,000. The three largest countries by population size that year were China (1,115,790,000), India (849,638,000) and the United States (252,688,000). The populations of the world's most important industrialized regions on 1 January 1992 were: the European Economic Area (which does not include Eastern Europe), 379,121,200; North America (Canada, the United States and Mexico), 369,186,600; and Japan, 124,000,000.

Differences in the size of the population in a given economy can affect economies of scale in production. A larger population, when associated with a larger demand for products, makes more specialized production processes possible. It also allows the fixed or "overhead" costs of running the economy to be spread over a larger amount of output. An economy with a larger population can have lower unit costs of production, and, other things being equal, higher employment and a higher standard of living (Passel, 2001, 85).

There are also factors which tend to make larger output more costly per unit of output in real terms. Natural resource limitations and accompanying diminishing returns are often cited as an example. Some environmentalists have advocated limitations on population growth in order to preserve biological and physical natural resources that contribute to the quality of life (Passel, 2001, 96).

Paul R. Ehrlich: The Population Bomb

In 1968, the biologist Paul Ehrlich, published ...