Wolf, Z. B. (2023, January 19). Why it’s so important for the US to avoid a shrinking population. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/china-population-us-what-matters/index.html

This article talks about why it’s important to avoid a shrinking population. It brings up China and talks about how their shrinking population was completely predicable, after they enforced the One Child policy.  The article mentions the fact that in the United States, more women are entering the workforce and putting off having children. The fertility rate continued to not preform well during the years of the pandemic. The article sums it up talking abut how a huge factor in population growth is immigration, and how the country needs to have a serious discussion about it rather than making it a back and fourth political argument.

I agree that it is important to ensrure that we don’t have a shrinking population, otherwise our population will be very top-heavy with elderly people, and less young people in the reproduction age groups to both contribute in the workforce and to have kids. I think if the fertility rate was negatively impacted by the pandemic, then that is something that will clear up in the next few years as the pandemic becomes more and more taken care of. I also agree with the fact the immigration is a massive role in population growth. In 2022 1 million out of the 1.26 million people that contributed to the countries population growth were immigrants. I agree with the fact that there needs to be a serious discussion regaurding the matter, and we need to consider both the lives of the immigrants and their hopes for better futures, as well as the economy and well-being of the United States.

Wolf, Z. B. (2023, January 19). Why it’s so important for the US to avoid a shrinking population. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/china-population-us-what-matters/index.html

This article talks about the history of the United States population. The population of the United States is recored every 10 years in the census. The first official census was in 1790 and it recorded nearly 4 million people residing in the United States. The most recent census shows the countries population at over 330 million people. From 1800 to 1810 the population experienced a growth rate of 36.4%, which is the highest growth rate in United States history. Since then the population has still been growing, but at a gradually decreasing rate of growth.

I think it is crazy to see the growth rate from one particular decade being over 36%. Since our country was still a new nation then, and the idea for opportunity and westward expansion was forming I am not surprised that we haven’t seem change like that since. I wonder if the growth rate will continue to decline year after year. I believe that it will for a little bit, and unless there are extreme changes to immigration regulations, then the growth rate will start to flatten out as we reach a potential carrying capacity. At that point, unless there are major events like pandemics, wars, or serious change in litigation, I think that the country will be much more stable in terms of population growth.

Tallungs, K. (2022, November 16). Animated Chart: America’s Demographics Over 100+ Years. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/animated-americas-demographics-over-100-years/

This article shows an interesting animated chart representing the country’s demographics from 1901 to 2020. This chart uses data from the United States census, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Human Mortality Database. The article mentions that the United States population has grown from 77 million in 1901 to around 330 million in 2020. This is a 330% growth over just 119 years. The amount of men and women is almost a near split. Birth rates in the country have been gradually slowing. This will result in a larger percentage of elderly people and a reduction in the workforce, as the population of young people decreases.

I found it very interesting to be able to see our country’s population growth represented in a chart and it was cool to see all the demographics like the different races and when they grew since the start of the twentieth century. The fact that our country has grown in population by around 330% in just over a century is scary. I wonder if this pattern will continue over the next century. I believe our population will still continue to grow, but at a much smaller scale. I think future regulations on immigration will play a huge role in the growth rate of our country in the future, since immigration has been the biggest factor of population growth over the last few years and maybe even since the birth of our nation.

US Census Bureau. (2022, December 27). Growth in U.S. Population Shows Early Indication of Recovery Amid COVID-19 Pandemic. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/2022-population-estimates.html

This article talks about how the country increased its population by 0.4% in 2022. The article also brings up regional patterns like how The South is the most populous region and was also the fastest growing region in 2022. The South experienced this growth mainly due to both domestic and international migration. The only other region to experience population growth in 2022 was The West. The Northeast and Midwest both experienced a subtle loss in population in 2022. The article then talks about how Texas was the largest growing state in terms of population.

This article is mainly talking about the discrepancies of population growth between different regions of the United States. I find it interesting that some regions gained population, while others experienced the opposite. However, considering that, I am not surprised that The South experienced the most growth, and Texas experienced the most population growth as an individual state. I wonder if this has anything to do with the vast majority of the  border between the United States and Mexico being Texas. My guess would be that most immigrants migrate to Texas when they enter the United States, and the farther out you go, the less of a chance the immigrants are to move there.

Gebeloff, R., & Goldstein, D. (2022, December 22). U.S. Population Ticks Up, but the Rate of Growth Stays Near Historic Lows. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/us/census-population.html

The population grew in 2022 mostly due to immigration, but the overall population growth still remains near historic lows, according to data from the Census. The population grew 0.4% from 2021 but is still one of the lowest growth rates in our nation’s recorded history. A million of the 1.26 million people accounting for the growth in population were all immigrants entering the United States. The rest of the growth in population was due to natural change, where there were simply more births than deaths, the largest amount of natural change since 2007. William Frey, a demographer at Brookings Institutions said, “immigration is going to be a key aspect for our future growth.”

This article is mainly talking about how the population growth rate did increase in 2022 from the previous year, however the nation is at all time lows for recorded population growth rates. I believe the recent lows in growth rates are due to outside factors such as the covid-19 pandemic. There was a short dip in growth rate, but I think that the population is starting to increase again and is therefore an issue that the United States should consider or focus some more of their attention to. I am surprised that the population growth rates are as low as they are, even considering the pandemic. I would have thought that with more people in our country, the growth rates would be increasing most years from the previous years, and I didn’t think that there would be such a large dip in the population growth rate from previous years.

Kos, D. (2022, August 14.). Climate brief:the pop.’rate’to actually fall(since 2019 global pop. growth rate fallen-below 1%). Daily Kos. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/14/2113976/-Climate-Brief-The-Pop-Rate-to-actually-FALL-Since-2019-Global-Pop-GROWTH-rate-fallen-below-1 

The world has been adding another billion people every 12 years since 1975. The world reached 7 billion people in 2011, and will have another billion by the end of 2022. Census Bureau estimates a historic low population growth of only 0.1% between July 2020 and July 2021. Simultaneously, during the covid pandemic, he number of deaths increased sharply, as the number of births declined. Immigration reached its lowest levels in decades. Studies show that over 20% of adults do not want children. The worldwide fertility rate has dropped close to one percent per year from 1960 to 2018.

It is hard to comprehend that in recent decades, the world population has been increasing by a billion people  every 12 years. Since I was born, the world population has increased by around 1.5 billion people and I am only sixteen years old. I wonder how much of an impact covid has had on the worlds population or on fertility/mortality rates. It is crazy to think that the world has only increased its population by 0.1% from 2020 to 2021 since its increased so much more than that in the decades leading up to then. I wonder if more people will start wanting no kids or if less people will start wanting more kids in the future. I wonder how the percentage of population increase will change throughout the rest of the century.

Chakrabarti, V. (2022, August 15). How to respond to both population growth and climate change? The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.archpaper.com/2022/08/how-to-respond-population-growth-climate-change-high-density-low-rise-housing-technologies/ 

Today the world is facing many issues such as rapid inflation, war, increasing fuel prices, plastics, and much more. With all of this going on, we need to face the energy demand for the projected additional 3 billion people by 2100. We need to face the challenge of housing all these individuals, on top of the amount of homeless people that we have in the world. There needs to be a strict carbon negative strategy to house all of the world’s population as well as the additional 3 billion people that will be with us in less than 80 years.

This article really highlights the importance of investing in our future. There is clearly many challenges that we are facing such as climate change, that will continue to get worse and worse. With the population projected to increase by 3 billion people by the end of the century, these challenges need to be addressed and solved. I believe that this is something that we absolutely cannot procrastinare, as the longer we wait, the harder it will be to fix the problems. Climate change is real, it is getting worse, it is fixable, only if we do it now. The article also brings up the idea of housing all of the growing population, which seems like it is a problem that isn’t talked about enough. I wonder which solutions we will use to fix these problems in the near future and I wonder what the world will look like by the end of the century.

Peng Senior Research Fellow, X. (2022, August 4). China’s population is about to shrink for the first time since the Great Famine struck 60 years ago. here’s what it means for the world. The Conversation. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/chinas-population-is-about-to-shrink-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-famine-struck-60-years-ago-heres-what-it-means-for-the-world-176377 

China is home to one sixth of the world’s population. In only four decades, the population of China has rose from 660 million to 1.4 billion people. Yet, the population is projected to decrease for the first time since the great famine of 1959-1961. The fertility rate in China in the late 80’s was 2.6. In 2020 it dropped to 1.3, and reached a recent low of 1.15 in 2021. This has continued to happen regardless of the fact that China abandoned the One-Child policy in 2016.

This article highlights the population in one specific place. China is the world’s biggest nation, so it amazes me that there is a possibility that it will soon shrink. Looking at the numbers, its surprising to see how low the fertility rate is in China now compared to the late 1980’s. I would have expected it to be higher now than ever. With the decreased fertility rates, there will definitely be a lasting impact on China’s economy. The population of the working age will decrease throughout the near future which will have even more effects on the economy. I wonder if China will ever have the fertility rates that it did back in the 80’s. I wonder how China will change during the current century.

Guardian News and Media. (2022, January 20). By 2050, a quarter of the world’s people will be African – this will shape our future | Edward Paice. The Guardian. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jan/20/by-2050-a-quarter-of-the-worlds-people-will-be-african-this-will-shape-our-future 

The world’s population has increased by a third in only two decades. By the end of 2022, the population will reach 8 billion. Fertility rates in places like North America, East Asia, and Europe are normally fewer than 2.1 births per woman. South Korea’s fertility rates have been fewer than 1 for decades. The populations of most of Africa’s nations will double by 2050 due to the product of improving mortality rates and sustained high fertility rates. By 2050, the continent will be home to 25% of the world’s population.

This article talks briefly about the amount that the global population has increased in the past two decades which is astonishing to me. It is crazy to think that out of the entire human history, in just the last 20 years, the world population has increased by a third. The article also talks about fertility and mortality rates which is a gargantuas factor in population growth. It is shocking to see the difference between fertility rates in places like North America and South Korea. Some countries have fertility rates of over two children per woman where other places have fertility rates of less than one child per woman. The fact that Africa will be home to a quarter of the human population in less than 30 years is hard to comprehend. I wonder what Africa and the rest of the world will look like by the year 2050.

Tsui, K. (2022, July 13). World population to reach 8 billion by November even as growth slows. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/11/world-population-eight-billion/ 

The United Nations department of economic and social affairs projects that the world population will reach 8 billion by November fifteenth. The “World Population Prospects” report predicts that India will surpass China as the most heavily populated country in the world by 2023. Throughout the rest of the century, before declining, more countries are expected to have their population growth peak first. Also before the end of the century, Africa is predicted to be the only continent to experience population growth, with 13 of the 20 biggest urban populations expected to be based in Africa.

This article continues to show that the world’s population is still growing at rapid rates, as it has been for the last decades. However, the article sheds light on how Africa might be a sustainable urban environment to house many people in the future. I wonder what Africa will look like throughout the next couple decades and I am curious to see what benefits will be provided. The article talked about how India is projected to become the most populous country by 2023. This has to do with the large elderly population in China, and China’s one-child policy. I wonder if India does actually surpass China as the most populous country, how much it will be by. I also wonder what the total population will be in five, ten, or even fifty years from now will be soon as the rate of increase in population has been much less now than in the last couple decades.