In 1968 The Population Bomb warned of impending disaster if the population explosion was not brought under control. Then the fuse was burning; now the population bomb has detonated. Since 1968 at least 200 million people--mostly children--have perished needlessly of hunger and hunger-related diseases. The size of the human population is now 5.3 billion and growing. In 1988 for the 1st time since World War II the US consumed more grain than it grew. About 1/3 of the countrys grain crop was lost to a severe drought--roughly the fraction that is normally exported. Over a hundred nations depend on food imported from North America and only the presence of large carryover stocks prevented a serious food crisis. World grain production peaked in 1986 and then-- for the 1st time in 40 years--dropped for 2 consecutive years. In those 2 years world population grew by the equivalent of the UK France and West Germany. In Africa south of the Sahara production per capita has been declining for more than 20 years and in Latin America since 1981. The Population Bomb tried to alert people to the connection of population growth to these events. Meanwhile a prospective disaster has turned into the real thing. The Population Explosion is being written as ominous change in the life-support systems of civilization become more evident daily. Chief among the underlying causes of our planets unease is the overgrowth of the human population and its impacts on both ecosystems and human communities. This book is about the explosive growth of the human population and its effect on us our children and our grandchildren.
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