Population, Family Planning, & Ecology News Digest Archives
January - June 1999 June 26, 1999 AP July 19 - U.S. Census
Bureau Predicts a Record-Breaking 6 Billion People. The US.
Census Bureau says the Day of 6 Billion will be July 19,
although the United Nations Population Fund, has declared Oct.
12 to be the official "Day of Six Billion." The US Census Bureau
assumes a slightly higher fertility rate, which explains the
three-month discrepancy. Neither figure should be mistaken for
hard fact. Both projections are based on census figures up to a
decade old. It from the beginning of human history to 1804 to
reach 1 billion. It took just 12 years to leap from 5 billion to
6 billion. In the 19th century global population grew by only
600 million, but in the 20th century it grew by 4.4 billion.
There are twice as many people today as there were in 1960. Even
with a continued decline in fertility rates, the United Nations
projects a population of 8.9 billion in 2050. With current
trends, world population isn't exp