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Our Packed Planet Six billion people are putting a squeeze on the earth's resources
Chances are you just blinked your eyes. While you did it, three people were added to the world's population. There, you did it again - that's another three people! It may seem impossible, but that's how quickly the world's population is growing. It adds up to 184 people every minute, 11,040 every hour, 264,960 every day and 97 million every year! On October 12, the official number of people on the planet will reach a record 6 billion. Six billion! It is very difficult to picture a number that humongous.
Population pressure As time passed, better medical care and nutrition and cleaner water helped people live longer. Population growth began to pick up speed. Before long, the world's population doubled - and it has kept doubling! Today most of the growth is taking place in less-developed countries (nations that are poor and don't have much industry). But better education, especially for girls, is helping slow the growth - at least a little. As more girls go to school, they tend to have fewer children. In China a very drastic step was taken to slow population growth: a policy, started in 1979, does not allow most parents to have more than one child. Imagine a land where most kids have no brothers or sisters!
Growing pains
The trouble is that natural resources don't just appear in the blink of an eye. Earth is a bountiful planet, but its riches are limited. Food shortages are even more common. Worldwide, 1 of every 7 people does not get enough to eat. Huge demands for food have forced farmers to overuse their land. When the land is replanted too frequently, nature does not have time to replace the soil's nutrients. Eventually farmland becomes useless. As the world becomes more crowded, open land becomes scarce. Farmland gets gobbled up by growing cities. Forests are cleared away, along with the plants and animals that live in them. The loss of trees harms the air. Trees help soak up a gas called carbon dioxide, which traps heat and pollution above the earth. Humans produce excess carbon dioxide by burning certain fuels, including coal and oil. Although every person uses the planet's resources, some people use a lot more than others. The richest billion people - especially Americans - use the most resources. They also produce the most waste.
Will Today's Kids Turn the Tide? Bill Ryan of the United Nations Population Fund says wealthy countries such as the United States have a responsibility to take better care of the planet and its growing population. He says today's kids have the greatest opportunity to help: "There are more young people alive now than at any other time in history. The decisions they make will change the world."
"Time for Kids" -- October 8, 1999
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Every new person added to the planet needs food, water, shelter, clothes and fuel. More people mean more cars, roads, schools, hospitals and stores. Those things require additional natural resources, including land and water.
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