plague on society be eradicated.
             Overpopulation is the most formidable problem mankind has ever faced; high rates of population growth impair individuals' rights, jeopardize national goals and threaten international stability. This planet cannot support the current rate of population growth, much less the ever-accelerating rate of such growth. The human population of earth reached 1 billion in 1804, 2 billion in 1927, 3 billion in 1959, 4 billion in 1974 and then 5 billion in late 1986. Last year on October 12th 1999, the human population of earth reached 6 billion# and today stands at approximately 6,211,727,908.# This rapid pace of growth is alarming, in just forty years the population has more than doubled. However, demographers at the United Nations do project a decrease in the fertility rate and believe world population in 2050 could be anywhere between7.3 billion to 10.7 billion. (see figure 1)
             Figure 1:World Population Projections to 2050 Under Three Assumptions of Fertility
             Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2000 Revision
             It is important to note that these scenarios assume fertility will decline significantly in the future. If all regions continue to grow at the same rate that they were at the turn of the century, Earth's population in 2050 would be more than 14 billion.# The projected decrease in annual population growth, while positive, is not nearly sufficient. Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, along with NPG (Negative Population Growth) organizations suggest that the earth's carrying capacity is not more than 2 billion#; a total mankind passed long ago. Advocates of 'sustainability', such as Ehrlich argue that increasing population and consumption are already causing massive damage to the planet, and that deforestation, soil erosion, extinction of species, and pollution of air and water are all indicators of exceeding carrying capacity. "In several cou...