Forget Overpopulation, Underpopulation Is The Future

January 9, 2013 in Daily Bulletin

Jeff Wise writes that instead of being worried about there being too many people for the planet to sustain in the future, we should be concerned about the very extinction of our species. Highlights include:

  • It took 12 years for the world population to reach 6 billion. It took 13 years to reach 7 billion. Our population growth is – for the first time – slowing.
  • In countries such as Russia and China the total population could fall by 50% in our lifetime.
  • This is because as countries develop and women get educated, there is a higher opportunity cost to having children, causing birthrates to decline below the 2.1 rate necessary to keep our population levels stable.
  • The world’s population is expected to level out at around 9 billion – and then to start declining.
  • Dealing with this problem is difficult. Countries such as Singapore have offered up to $18,000 per child and its birthrate is still just 1.2.

Read more about this future and when our population is projected to go extinct over here.

Source: Slate