Population

Today in class, we dealt with the topic of population. We took notes on the different populations of various countries, and learned about life expectancy, Net Migration Rate, Total Fertility Rate, push and pull factors, and so much more. I was surprised to learn that it took more than 10,000 years for the total human population to exceed 1 billion. Now, it only takes about a decade for the total human population to increase by 1 billion! I also found out that most of the increasing population is coming from developing countries: like countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Whats also interesting, is that for the population to remain at a constant rate, the Rate of Natural Increase (RNI) must stay at 2.1. You would think it would be 2.0 because their would be a direct replacement from the parents, but the reason it is 2.1 is because some of the people wont make it to the age where they can have kids. Plus, you add the factors of war, starvation, and crimes to all of that. We also learned about what pushes a person into a country, or out of one. Currently, there are about 7 billion people on this planet, and it is likely to grow to 8 in the next 9 or 10 years. I hope we will be prepared.