Population

A very important world problem—in fact, I think it may be the most important of all the great world problems which face us at the present time—is the rapidly increasing pressure of population on the land. The population of the world today is about 4 000 000 000. That is an enormous number, yet it is known quite accurately, because there are very few parts of the world which have not carried out a modern census.

The important thing is not so much the actual population of the world, but its rate of increase. In numbers this means something like forty to forty-five million additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million—about six months' increase in world population. Take Australia as an example; there are ten million people in Australia. So it takes the world about three months to add to itself a population, which equals all the people in that vast country. Let us take our own crowded country, England and Wales—forty-five to fifty million people. This is about a year's supply.

By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120 000 extra people—just about the population of the city of New York. I am not talking about birth rate. This is net increase. To give you some idea of birth rate, look at the second hand of your watch. Every second, three babies are born somewhere in the world. Another baby! Another baby! Another baby! You cannot speak quickly enough to keep up with the birth rate.

This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By 2020 AD, unless something terrible happens, there will be as many as 7 000 000 000 people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem, which you are going to see in your lifetime.