Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/02/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The catastrophic predictions of human population explosion are not turning out to be true. Birth rates are plummeting all over the world. The population is now predicted to peak at 10 or so billion and then start declining. To what is a good question. John Collier On Wednesday, February 26, 2003, at 02:59 PM, Amilcar de Oliveira wrote: > Hmm, couldnīt find Leica content with a microscope. But interesting > enough to de-lurk. My two cents (borrowed from the late British SF > author John Brunner): "The population explosion is unique in the > history of mankind, an event that has happened yesterday but everybody > says will happen tomorrow." Or words to that effect. > > Regards, > Amilcar > > Nathan Wajsman (private) escreveu: > >> Italy does have by far the lowest birth rate in the developed world, >> at the moment 1.1 children per woman, far below the rate of 2.2 >> required to keep a population constant (ignoring immigration). Other >> countries in southern Europe, like Spain, also have very low birth >> rates, while countries in northern Europe, especially Scandinavia, >> are actually at or close to the reproduction level. The most >> plausible explanation I have heard is that Italian or Spanish woman >> now want to have a career like their sisters in the north, but the >> society has not caught up with it, so that the men are not willing to >> help in the household, there is very little child care infrastructure >> etc. In contrast, in northern Europe or the US/Canada, where women >> have been on the labor market for decades, it is far easier to be a >> working mother. >> >> Nathan >> >> Henning Wulff wrote: >> >>> >>> I think most developed countries have negative growth if immigration >>> is discounted, including Canada. We generally keep in practice as >>> well, but we usually proceed without any period of 'acquiring a >>> taste'. :-) >>> >> >> > > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html