Did anyone else see this on the news? It is a somewhat frightening thought. Of course I'll be dead by then....

Off-world colonies anyone?

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link to original article

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...ebillion_N.htm

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The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. ~ Ernest Hemingway ...

I like the bit in the article where it says "The population projection is provoking some skepticism."

Of course it's met with some skepticism - the current US fertility rate is below replacement, with only immigration providing the growth.

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That's a lot of people, but I don't put much stock in the projection. As pointed out in the article, hundred-year projections are not common, probably for good reason.

I don't think the US has the water resources to support a billion people.

does anyone think that space colonies will become a necessity if this is the case?

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The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. ~ Ernest Hemingway ...

I don't think it'll come to that, fortunately. As mentioned above, much of the US's growth is due to broken borders rather than broken condoms. Since the population in the rest of the world will stabilize by the end of this century (and become more prosperous to boot), the migration part will gradually lessen as well.

As for having enough resources to support a billion people, I think we can do it. We're a lot bigger than China, a nation with twice as many people, with a lot more fertile land. As for water resources, we'd probably do a lot of desalination - we've got plenty of coastline. Bear in mind that technology is going to advance a lot during this century - far more than in any other century, if some folks are to be believed.

- Maha Vailo

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When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

The usual assertion on world population growth is that it's slowing down and the overall population is leveling off. For one country to have such a dramatic increase in that context would need to be by migration, so predicting it means predicting not just the population tendency (births & deaths), but also political stuff.

No! There is no way that building space colonies could even make a dent in the population on Earth!

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Unless they rebel and send a few killer asteroids our way, a la Red Mars.

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O_o I think I have that book, and I don't recall that part! I do remember when the "Reds" destroyed the space elevator, making the Terran opressors have a more difficult time while supplying their forces...

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Closer to 4 times the population with less arable land. The US could do it tho.

water again. at our current rate the large aquifers in the US won't be around much longer. The recharge time on those in the west is longer than several generations of humans.


California will feel the effects much sooner than anywhere else.

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Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

What? The US will still be around in 2100?

How long ago was it when the US had only a fourth of the population now?

Just wait until the effects of global warming kick in. Canada will be the new bread-basket. However, global warming will cut off Los Angeles's water supply.

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LOGIC, n.
The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.

In the Year 2525.

"One small step for (a) man. One giant leap for mankind".

If an astronaut doesn't need good grammar, niether does you.

DDT, Removing invisible elves from backyards since 1939.

I imagine, if anyone is around, the US will be too.

Oddly enough, about a century ago, I think.

Why would GW cut off LA's water supply?

I doubt the world will have 1 billion people by 2100...

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LA gets its water from other localities. After the earth warms enough it might actually provide some of the drinking water for the citizens. Probably not though.




As far as the US being around I won't pretend to know what will happen to our still young government/country in the next 100 years, but I expect there will be huge differences. I'm only planning to live another 65 years, so maybe I'll see some of those.

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"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
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Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

In the US 1 Billion is 1,000,000,000


In many parts of the world 1 Billion is 1,000,000,000,000

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"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Really!?! I have to say I'm very doubtful of a US population of 1 billion by 2100 (for example, a linear extrapolation of data from this Census Bureau site only shows about half a billion by 2100). But I also can't imagine a global drop of 5 billion over the next 90 years. Why do you believe that?

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Oh, I was only exercizing my rhetorical pessimism...

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Well, if you don't exerc