| A recent report on population trend
conducted by the think {{U}}(1) {{/U}} of the World watch Institute
identifies signs of slowing growth in some countries. It says populations in 32
countries—all in the industrialized world—have stabilized because of declining
birthrates. But in a handful of developing countries where population is
slowing, the cause isn't something to {{U}}(2) {{/U}}, because more
people are dying. This trend is called "population fatigue", and it's beginning in many of the developing countries that have experienced {{U}}(3) {{/U}} birthrates and sharp population growth for several decades. Governments in these countries are now having trouble dealing with feeding, housing and educating an increasing number of children, {{U}}(4) {{/U}} at the same time confronting the falling water {{U}}(5) {{/U}}, deforestation and soil erosion that rapid population growth brings. In these countries any new threat—infectious disease, drought or famine—can become a {{U}}(6) {{/U}} crisis. AIDS is a case {{U}}(7) {{/U}}. WHO estimates calculate that one-quarter of the adult population of Zimbabwe and Botswana are infected with the AIDS virus, {{U}}(8) {{/U}}, these countries stands to lose at least one-quarter of their labor force in the next decade from AIDS alone, a situation {{U}}(9) {{/U}} since the yellow fever swept through Europe in the 14'h century. Social unrest is also increasing in these countries. One example is the {{U}}(10) {{/U}} conflict between the Tutsis and the Hutus in Rwanda, where population pressures reduced cropland {{U}}(11) {{/U}} where it could no longer feed those who lived on it. Demands on the world fisheries and shared water resources are likely to spark similar conflicts. Already the waters of the Nile are so heavily used that little reaches the Mediterranean, so any increase in demand or {{U}}(12) {{/U}} in allocation will also increase tensions. The bottom line is that human population growth is {{U}}(13) {{/U}} to slow one way or the other. Developing societies will either recognize problems {{U}}(14) {{/U}} the horizon and act to encourage smaller families — or unchecked births will have their {{U}}(15) {{/U}} in rising death rates. |