According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 8/26/2003 at 2:04:10 PM EDT is = 291,896,168
a little more than a year later it is 294,215,874
One birth every.... 8 seconds - One death every....13 seconds +One international migrant (net) every... 22 seconds for a net gain of : one person every..................... 10 seconds

Trend: Slower rate of growth
Although population is still increasing, the actual rate of growth has slowed as you can see above, and the trend is towards smaller families. Continued slowing of population growth depends on choices and actions in the next 10 years–by individuals, in government population and development policies, and through international commitment to reducing poverty and advancing human rights. The slower growth rates must not be taken for granted - although rates have dropped rapidly, they can increase just as quickly given the right circumstances.

* For 2050, UN demographers cite three population projections–a ‘low’ of 7.9 billion; ‘medium’ 9.3 billion and ‘high’ 10.9 billion–each variant based on slightly different assumptions about future birth rates.

The annual rate of world population growth peaked at about 2 per cent in the early 1960s. Since then, the rate of growth has gradually slowed to 1.18 per cent. However, the base population has continued to increase, meaning that the number of people added to the world’s population each year has increased.

3. For you to Answer: Under what conditions could pop growth increase? note differences between developed and undeveloped nations.

Trend: All of the projected growth will take place in today’s developing countries, which by 2050 will account for over 85 per cent of world population.

4. For you to Answer: Is this a problem?

* Population in the least developed countries (LDCs) will triple by 2050. Population is growing fastest in the poorest countries, those least able to provide for basic needs and create opportunities.

Only Six countries account for half of this growth:

India (with 21 per cent of the total increase),
China,
Pakistan,
Nigeria,
Bangladesh and
Indonesia.

In more developed regions (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe, North America):
* Home to 1.2 billion people;
* Fertility was at 1.57 children per woman in 1995-2000, well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.
* Over the next 50 years, the population of more developed regions is anticipated to change little because fertility levels are expected to remain below replacement level. Population will be smaller than today in 39 low-fertility countries, mostly in Eastern Europe.

Trend AGE: The oldest and youngest
There are more young people than ever before: more than 1 billion aged 15 to 24. Among developing countries as a whole, more than one third of the population is under age 15, compared with less than one fifth of the population in the industrialized countries
Even with the large numbers of young people, the elderly population has already surpassed the child population (persons aged 0-14) and by 2050, there will be two elderly persons for every child.
* As world fertility continues to decline and life expectancy rises, the population of the world will age faster in the next 50 years than during the past half century.

People are living longer and healthier lives and death rates have fallen by half since 1950. This lower mortality and longer life expectancy is also part of the story behind the fast population growth in recent decades.

From Nature: Population decline in developed nations is expected to accelerate, with the European part of the former USSR expected to lose 20% of it population by 2050. Such declines lead inevitably to ageing populations, and half of all people living in Japan at the end of the century are predicted to be over 60 years old.

5. For you to Answer: Why would an aging population be a problem for the US?

If you are interested in age structures for any other country. like the US, see the Census Bureau site at www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html

*Trend In the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, the situation is one of rising death rates and lower life expectancy.

Impact of HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS will result in 15.5 million more deaths than would otherwise be expected in the 45 most-affected countries in the next five years, a higher figure than previously projected. Nevertheless, population growth is expected to continue because of continued high fertility. Even in Botswana, where HIV prevalence is 36 per cent, a 37 per cent population increase is projected by 2050* An estimated 11.7 million refugees have fled their own countries to escape from persecution, armed conflict or violence. People internally displaced within their own countries number 20-25 million, many swelling the numbers of the urban poor

Trend Virtually all population growth in the next decades will be concentrated in the urban areas of the world. Urban growth has outpaced employment and services and is often accompanied by poverty, yet cities offer opportunities for social change and economic development.

As of 2000, 2.9 billion people are living in urban areas, comprising 47 per cent of the world population.
* By 2030, 4.9 billion are expected to live in urban areas, or 60 per cent of the world population.

6. Would you view this as a problem or not?

7. Is this a problem? Why?

Trend:Changes are also occurring at the family level in all parts of the world. Family support networks are in decline and the proportion of single-parent-headed households is growing. Poor families are most vulnerable to the lack of social safety nets. In the United States, the growing number of female-headed households is one factor contributing to the feminization of poverty.

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8. Is this trend a problem for the US?
Trend: Half of the over 125 million people living outside their countries of origin reside in developing countries. Although dwarfed by the movements of people within borders, international migration is also increasing. International migration includes both permanent migration and temporary or labour migration–which may be for long periods, even decades–as well as the movement of refugees and undocumented migrants.

Causes that motivate international migration include:
* The search for a better life for oneself and family;
* Income disparities among and within regions;
* The labour and migration policies of sending and receiving countries;
* Political conflict (which drives migration across borders as well as within countries);
* Environmental degradation, including the loss of farmland, forests and pasture (most ‘environmental refugees’ go to cities rather than abroad);
* ‘Brain drain’, or the migration of more educated young people from developing countries to fill gaps in the work forces of industrialized countries.