Estimated World Population to Pass 6,666,666,666 Today 645
suso writes ""The estimated population of the world will pass 6,666,666,666 today. No doubt an interesting number for people everywhere (not referring to any religion connotations). 5,555,555,555 was passed about 14 years ago. You may not realize that only 80 years ago, the population of the Earth was only around 2 billion. This shows how the population of the world has increased at an alarming rate in recent times, although the growth rate is almost half what it was at its peak in 1963, when it was 2.2%. Unrelated but also an interesting coincidence, the estimated number of available IPv4 addresses is getting very close to 666,666,666. It should cross over today as well.""
How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:5, Interesting)
Besides, whats the fear? Its not like this planet cannot support double that if not more. Do people realize just how much arable land is not in use? Hell on my recent 1600 mile trip to and from Ohio I can tell you this, this country is empty in many spots and I am sure it is in others. Hell I know there are substantial areas of Europe that are essentially empty. Yeah there are villages and towns nearby but its not like we even try to exploit the lands we have. Look at Africa! How much of that is still like America of a hundred if not two hundred years ago?
One thing I have learned in my short time on this planet. Every doomsayer's predictions of over population and food shortages comes to nothing. We always shift how things are done and accommodate it. If we didn't we would not be here today. Food shortages are all the rave now but forever in our history some groups have been short of food but this is how we progress. If the population cannot create more food then it supports less people. Its a horrid fact of life but it happens. We actually do very well in this day and age from allowing nature to takes its course.
It all comes down to need. When the need arises we always step up.
Re:Population Control & Modern Views (Score:5, Interesting)
Do not worry... (Score:5, Interesting)
Less energy means smaller population. The future does not bode well for us.
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:3, Interesting)
More data here: http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/worldpopinfo.html [census.gov] but basically people stop having lots of kids once their nation becomes industrialized, and most "first world" nations have a significant population decline if you ignore immigration. Japan in particular has a serious problem with population decline.
Re:Satanic (Score:5, Interesting)
According to Robert Heinlein in "The Number Of The Beast" it is actualy 6^6^6 which comes to 2,176,782,336 and we passed that figure a while back.
Planetary capabilities (Score:3, Interesting)
Just wanted to mention this before slash dot fills with Casandra's whom I last heard whining about the population explosion (yeah that old pile of horse manure, when really they were worried about the population explosion amongst the great unwashed) after Alvin Toffler published his rather popular but well dodgy Future Shock.
According to that we were actually all dead now.
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Goddamn Microsoft Word 2007 (Score:2, Interesting)
TIP: Wordpad can edit text files with UNIX-style newlines without corrupting them!
Re:Good thing (Score:3, Interesting)
Your argument is specious.
As the population grows, the use of natural resources increases. The point at which you start using resources past the sustainable limit will come a lot further than the point of massive starvation, etc. In the short term, doing things like clearing forests and irrigating can yield wonderful results. The trouble is that these practices can lead to topsoil erosion and saline soils.
If you wait until the mass starvation are imminent, it is WAY too late to do anything to stop them.
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:5, Interesting)
And besides, not eating meat doesn't solve all that much of the problem. Cows don't eat crop. They eat grass. That's the stuff we usually don't eat. That's the stuff that grows even where wheat doesn't. Sheep eat... well, damn, everything! They can produce food digestable by humans through stuff that isn't digestable. Humans call it processing, nature does it since forever and a day.
Meals containing no animal fats just don't sate me and I'm willing to bet I'm not alone. Considering that I can go one day on one good steak with a filling side dish, while I get hungry in mere hours from the side dish alone... I am a carnivore. I know that. My body has made that completely clear.
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:1, Interesting)
You are what you eat, applies to cattle too. Grass fed cattle are much healthier themselves and to eat. It's starting to make a comeback, but ever since food started being treated as a commodity the quality has fallen in ways that people couldn't measure before.
Re:An update (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How do they know? What about Burma? (Score:3, Interesting)