Our world has grown by one billion just in the past twelve years, with
the population reaching six billion in 1999. Nearly half of the world's
population is under the age of twenty-five, and more than one billion are
young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, the parents of
the next generation (U.S. Population Policy 2000).
Over ninety percent of this population growth is taking place in the
developing world, in sharp contrast to Europe, North America and Japan,
where population growth has slowed dramatically or even stopped. The
United States is the only industrialized country in the world where large
population increases are projected, due mainly to immigration. For
example, in Texas, population growth could not be more evident; the
population of Texas is predicted to double in thirty to thirty-five years
"The population in Texas is projected to double in the next 30-35 years"
"High birth rates and an influx of new residents powered Texas' population
past 20 million this year" (Klein 1999).
"As of July 1 [1999], [Texas] added more than 3 million residents since
1990, an 18 percent growth rate that nearly doubled the national average"
"International immigration accounted for 491,931 new residents of Texas or
23 percent of the growth between 1990 and 1996, and domestic immigration
from other states in the United States accounted for 466,970 or 21.8
percent of population growth from 1990 to 1996" (Murdock 2000).
"Recognizing that our population cannot grow indefinitely, and appreciating
the advantages of moving now toward the stabilization of population, the
Commission recommends that the Nation welcome and plan for a stabilized
population" (The Rockefeller Commission 2001).
"The fourth, fifth and sixth billion marks in global population were
achieved in only 14, 13, and 12 years,
...