Humans are amazingly successful and prolific. In many ways that is good, since we are part of the human species, and it is nice to know that our species has been successful. Unfortunately, we have been so successful that other species are suffering. We are also using so many of the planet s resources that future generations will have to do without them. And, as you know, the environment becoming more and more polluted with human waste.
Demographers keep track of things such as the total population on the planet.
It is impossible to have an accurate count, so we must rely on estimates. Different estimates vary as to the present population thus no one really knows what day we will actually reach six billion. The United Nations initially projected the day to be the spring of 1999, but changed the day to mid October when they realized the growth rate was a little slower than projected. The good news is that the population growth rate is not as fast as previously thought. This is partly because of family planning programs and a change in desired family size.