Depopulation is the New Black
After reading this on BoingBoing, it occurred to me that I know nothing about the apparent depopulation problem. So, me and Google went on a little research trip. Once I waded through all of the end-of-timers and conspiracy theorists, I managed to find this well-cited article on the subject:
The population pyramid is reversing. Populations are declining, especially in rich nations. Populations are like supertankers, it takes forever to turn them around, but when they do, the changes are dramatic. Europeans have not noticed the population decline because of immigration, high fertility in the past and declines in mortality, but in reality birth rates are plunging in reverse.
From this page, I found a stat that sums things up nicely: the total fertility rate in the more developed countries is a mere 1.5, compared with 3.1 in the less developed countries. Here’s a BBC article which discusses the situation in eastern Europe, probably one of the first small crafts to get sunk when that supertanker turns around.
It’s an interesting turn of events, as I can remember being taught about the threat of overpopulation in Grade 12. I’m not particularly worried about the human race, though–the Earth would be a much nicer place without us. But then, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (thanks, Becky) is starting to really appeal to me.
