On 18 Sep 2003 09:22:02 -0700, wrote:

If you are referring to the US, population growth has already hit negatives.


I hate to see such blatant ignorance and disinformation proliferated
on Usenet.

U.S. fertility reached replacement level fertility (2.1 children per
woman) in 1972.

Because of population momentum (children growing up to have children
in a slightly youth-biased population), U.S. population would have
increased from 203 million in 1970 to 255 million in 2020 and then
would have gradually declined to sustainable levels.
www.NumbersUSA.com

It takes 3 generations or about 75 years in the U.S. for population
momentum to exhaust itself. (Ecoscience: Population, Resources,
Environment, p 109-110). Also see terms and definitions:
http://www.ecofuture.org/pop/terms.html




Yet in 1965 Congress changed immigration law to bring in nearly 6
times the traditional replacement level. Now, we bring in one million
legal immigrants and 700,000 or so illegal aliens per year.

Mass immigration is drving U.S. population to double within the
lifetimes of children born today. The Census Bureau shows that U.S.
population will double and keep growing past the end of the century.
http://www.census.gov/population/pro...mary/np-t1.txt


This is unfortunately a serious problem because of high levels of U.S.
consumption. We're already drawing down our own resources, let alone
the resources of other countries.

But fortunately the problem can be easily remedied by reducing legal
immigration to replacement numbers and enforcing existing laws on
illegal migration.


Fred Elbel
Why population stabilization is important:
http://www.ecofuture.org/populat.html