As I write this at 8:58 PM on Thursday, July 10, 2008, there are 6,709,195,825 on Planet Earth.
How many babies are born every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year? From various estimates, at the current rate of human population growth, on average…
- 5 babies are born every second
- 300 babies are born every minute
- 18,000 babies are born every hour
- 432,000 babies are born every day
- 3,024,000 babies are born every week
- 13,104,000 babies are born every month
- 157,248,000 babies are born every year
Do you find that alarming? Where are all these new arrivals going to live? Will there be enough food on earth for them? Will we have enough schools for them to attend? Enough hospitals?
Before you panic, here is the rest of the story: the death rate. How many people die every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year? On average…
- 2 persons die every second
- 120 persons die every minute
- 7,200 persons die every hour
- 172,800 persons die every day
- 1,209,600 persons die every week
- 5,241,600 persons die every month
- 62,899,200 persons die every year
The difference between the rate of birth and the rate of death is the real or net population increase of the world. Here’s the difference:
- Every second: 5 born – 2 dead = 3 gained
- Every minute: 300 born – 120 dead = 180 gained
- Every hour: 18,000 born – 7,200 dead = 10,800 gained
- Every day: 432,000 born – 172,800 dead = 259,200 gained
- Every week: 3,024,000 born – 1,209,600 dead = 1,814,400 gained
- Every month: 13,104,000 born – 5,241,600 dead = 7,862,400 gained
- Every year: 157,248,000 born – 62,899,200 dead = 94,348,800 gained
While this may still seem like a huge number, consider this question, since people live in countries: How many countries are in the world? The United Nations recognizes a list of 193 countries, including the Vatican City. Besides these, there are 8 others that meet the official definition of a country as set forth in 1933 by the Montevideo Convention. That’s a total of 201 countries, to serve as homeland to a net annual gain of 94,348,800 new humans every year.
Should we be scared? Should we step up funding for “family planning” ~ read “abortion” ~ in order to curb and control the number of new arrivals?
My answer is a resounding NO. We need not be scared of new babies, who are precious, lovely, little human beings. Babies are not monsters to be feared. Babies are not accidents or inconveniences to be avoided. Babies are gifts of life, and as such they are to be accepted, loved and enjoyed.
When it comes to the issue of population growth, “more people” is never the problem. Treating the births of babies as a problem – that is the problem.
Truth be told, our planet still has vast empty stretches of land, waiting to be settled by humans and turned into villages, towns, cities, clans and counties. Example: How much people-less territory does Canada still have?
Our willingness to spread all over available land more thinly is what leaders and activists should be promoting, not more abortion-centered birth controls. With bold leadership on the part of world leaders, we can resettle people on vacant lands to solve the problem with overcrowding. If we divert funds from abortion clinics to building brand new communities, we can deal with population growth, which is often overblown by activists who profit from the global abortion industry.
Something else: Besides the natural death rate, human experience has shown that there are many ways humans die: wars, pestilences, epidemics, and natural disasters. Every one of those ways has the effect of population control. Didn’t tens of thousands recently perish from a huge earthquake in China?
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