Joe Bish, Population Media Center.–“Yesterday, The Guardian published the following well-written, but considerably off-the-mark essay. Apparently this is what happens when you assign an existentially crucial topic to an on-staff software engineer and a “community coordinator” with lot’s of experience in editing social media posts. Specifically, you get a well-intentioned article, produced by intelligent and skilled individuals, but obviously informed by standard internet searches and infused with so much “journalistic balance” and half-truths that the final product’s value is highly questionable.
“Here are a few items on my laundry list of complaints, several of which are quotes from John Wilmouth, director of the population division in the UN’s department of economic and social affairs. (Wilmouth strikes me as one who truly understands the gravity of the population issue, but is stuck in what amounts to a political office.)”
- “The rate of growth is continuing to slow – the overall growth rate has been falling since the 1970s.” In 1967, a population growth rate of 2.11% acted on a total population of 3.4 billion to produce annual global population growth of 73 million people. Today, a growth rate of 1.1% is acting on an enormous total population of 7.4 billion. This is resulting in even larger annual population growth than in 1967 – over 80 million additional people per year.
- “The number of births has peaked, or has levelled off globally.” From 1995 to 2000, the UN estimates 650 million births occurred. From 2010 to 2015, the UN estimates 699 million birth occurred. This is the highest number ever for a 5 year period, slightly exceeding the 698 million between 1985 and 1990.” There’s more: A Quick Deconstruction of The Guardian’s Latest Population Article
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