| Population Implosion |
Stanford's Paul "Population Bomb'' Ehrlich has compiled an essentially perfect record in his predictions concerning human resources and the environment - all of his predictions have been wrong. Increasingly, it looks like the last threat to his unblemished record of failure -catastrophic rises in world population - will be removed.
21st Century
, Fall 1998, p 8, reports that U. S. Census Bureau data shows that the 20-year decline in world population growth rate accelerated in 1997 and the first half of 1998. Of the 157 countries included, 17 had falling populations a year ago. Now 30 have falling populations and 16 more have zero population growth.World population stands at 5.9 billion. The world population growth rate in the 1980s was 2%. In 1992 it was 1.7%; in 1997 it was 1.4%; and now it is 1.3% per year.
This moderated growth and the spread of farm technology has caused a continuing 20-year downtrend in the worldwide number of acres of farm land under cultivation. Meanwhile, the people who are working continue to perform as Julian Simon predicted - producing more and more resources at lower prices. Do not, however, look for the enviros to reduce their howls that overpopulation is depleting earth of its remaining resources with doomsday just ahead. Perceived reality is their stock-in-trade. Facts do not matter.