Our
Packed Planet
Six billion people are putting a squeeze on the earth's
resources
5 Largest Nations
Chances are you just blinked your eyes. While you did
it, three people were added to the world's population. There, you did it
again - that's another three people! It may seem impossible, but that's
how quickly the world's population is growing. It adds up to 184 people
every minute, 11,040 every hour, 264,960 every day and 97 million every
year!
On October 12, the official number of people on the planet
will reach a record 6 billion. Six billion! It is very difficult to picture
a number that humongous. Here's one way: if this whole Time For Kids magazine
were filled with nothing but periods, 6 billion periods would take up 72,004
magazines!
Population
pressure
The earth's population hasn't always expanded so quickly.
In fact, the number of people on the planet started off growing very slowly.
That's because people didn't live as long as they do today.
As time passed, better medical care and nutrition and
cleaner water helped people live longer. Population growth began to pick
up speed. Before long, the world's population doubled - and it has kept
doubling!
Today most of the growth is taking place in less-developed
countries (nations that are poor and don't have much industry). But
better education, especially for girls, is helping slow the growth - at
least a little. As more girls go to school, they tend to have fewer children.
In China a very drastic step was taken to slow
population growth: a policy, started in 1979, does not allow most parents
to have more than one child. Imagine a land where most kids have no
brothers or sisters!
Growing
pains
Every new person added to the planet needs food, water,
shelter, clothes and fuel. More people mean more cars, roads, schools,
hospitals and stores. Those things require additional natural resources,
including land and water.
The trouble is that natural resources don't just appear
in the blink of an eye. Earth is a bountiful planet, but its riches are
limited. Take water, for example: although water covers most of
the planet, less than 1% of it can be used for drinking and washing.
One out of every 13 people around the world does not always have enough
clean water.
Food shortages are even more common. Worldwide,
1 of every 7 people does not get enough to eat. Huge demands for food have
forced farmers to overuse their land. When the land is replanted too frequently,
nature does not have time to replace the soil's nutrients. Eventually farmland
becomes useless.
As the world becomes more crowded, open land becomes scarce.
Farmland gets gobbled up by growing cities. Forests are cleared away, along
with the plants and animals that live in them. The loss of trees harms
the air. Trees help soak up a gas called carbon dioxide, which traps heat
and pollution above the earth. Humans produce excess carbon dioxide by
burning certain fuels, including coal and oil.
Although every person uses the planet's resources, some
people use a lot more than others. The richest billion people - especially
Americans - use the most resources. They also produce the most waste.
Will
Today's Kids Turn the Tide?
Of course, having 6 billion people also means that there
is more brainpower around to figure out better ways to use our resources.
The trick will be getting people to realize that we can't go on burning
through the planet's treasures forever.
Bill Ryan of the United Nations Population Fund says wealthy
countries such as the United States have a responsibility to take better
care of the planet and its growing population. He says today's kids have
the greatest opportunity to help: "There are more young people alive now
than at any other time in history. The decisions they make will change
the world."
5 Largest Nations
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