HOW MANY PEOPLE ON EARTH? — DESMOND 557 



PERIOD III— 1650-1962 A.D. 



If man's existence on earth is viewed as a day, this period is less than 

 a minute. But a fourth or more of all human beings ever born have 

 lived during this brief span. 



The period brought a sixfold increase in human numbers : from an 

 estimated half-billion in 1650 to over 3 billion in 1962. There were 

 approximately 23 billion births during this period — over half as many 

 as in the preceding 76 centuries ! 



World population doubled between 1650 and 1850, growing beyond 

 the 1-billion mark. It doubled again, to reach 2 billion by 1930, in 

 only 80 years. Since that time, the rate of growth has accelerated 

 steadily. Now over 50 million more people are added each year. If 

 the current rate remains unchanged, today's population will double 

 again in less than 40 years. 



A steadily falling death rate, especially during the last century, is 

 mainly responsible for the very rapid acceleration in population 

 growth. It is estimated that during 1650-1750 population was grow- 

 ing at about 0.3 percent a year; during 1750-1850, at about 0.5 per- 

 cent; 1850-1950, at 0.8 percent. Currently, the rate is somewhere 

 between 1.6 and 1.9 percent. 



This period brings man through to the modern agricultural- 

 industrial age with its tremendous scientific and technological dis- 

 coveries which have greatly speeded up the rate of social change in 

 the Western world and which have revolutionized agriculture, indus- 

 try, commmiication, transportation, etc. These developments have 

 made possible the support of the mammoth populations in numerous 

 areas of the world. However, many of those technological advances 

 are only beginning to touch the less developed areas where living levels 

 for over half of the world's people are only a little, if any, above what 

 they were during much of the earlier history of the race. 



For the world as a whole, the mid- 17th century is a bench mark in 

 the pattern of population growth. Then, the upward surge in the 

 numbers of people began. Just why the response to the early stirrings 

 of the modern age was so rapid is not entirely clear, though many of 

 the major factors which stimulated the increase in human numbers 

 can be recognized. In Europe, the frightful famines and epidemics 

 that marked the Dark Ages seem to have decreased, although hunger 

 and disease were still endemic. The discovery of the New World 

 opened the way for great transatlantic migrations to the rich, sparsely 

 settled lands of the Americas. To some extent, this relieved the grow- 

 ing population pressure in Europe and provided a new source of food 

 for the Old World. It also gave impetus to the tremendous growth of 

 populations of European origin — at home and in European colonies — 

 which amounted to a ninefold increase during the period. 



