But since 1930, when the world population was about 2 billion, the population has nearly tripled, and each doubling of the population has occurred in a much shorter time than the previous doubling period. The U.N. report projected that the world population could reach 9.4 billion by 2050. Demographers say that the population increase has leveled off in China, where the government limits family size, and that the rate of population increase has declined in Bangladesh and other populous countries. Among the countries was the United States, which has the third-largest population after China and India, and where the fertility rate increased from 1.9 percent to 2.1 percent, largely because of Hispanic immigration. All the speakers at the symposium had expected vigorous criticism from the audience of anthropologists, but were surprised to encounter few strongly negative comments.
Many people prefer to just forget about the big questions involved, and get on with their lives.
Population pressure is partly a question of perception, said Dr. Bernice Kaplan, an anthropologist at Wayne State University. That attitude results from being young and not having experienced the changes old people have seen during their lives. Whatever environment you're born into is the one that seems normal. We are a species that doesn't respond to threats until it's too late.