THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409050032
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Where is the population problem worst? It depends on one's point of view. If the problem is defined simply as sheer numbers of people, growth is biggest in India. Many more people are added to the population there than in any other country: 18 million per year. China, at 13 million per year, comes second in this measure.
But, of course, India and China are already huge countries.
If growth is figured as percentage increase, those countries are not growing nearly as fast as many others. India is growing 1.9 percent per year and China just 1.1 percent per year. Virtually all of Africa is growing half again as fast: 2.73 percent per year on average.
Parts of the Middle East are soaring still faster. Jordan's population, for example, is increasing at 5.9 percent a year, the world's fastest growth rate. Next fastest-growing are Yemen at 4.7 percent and the West Bank at 4.5.
If, however, the population problem is defined as one of harm to the environment and depletion of natural resources, the worst problems are posed by the richest countries, those with the most industry and the biggest-spending consumers.
By that standard, the United States is way out in front.
According to the Washington-based World Resources Institute, U.S. citizens consume 43 times as much petroleum per person as do citizens of India. Americans also consume 386 times as much pulpwood per capita, 11 times as much beef and release 19 times as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
In the aggregate, according to one estimate, the average American creates 30 times the environmental impact of an average person in a developing country.
Moreover, the United States population is growing by about 1 percent per year, about the same as China's. Close behind are Japan and Western Europe, but both consume less per person than do Americans, and their population growth rates are quite small. The populations of Europe and Japan are growing by only about 0.3 percent per year.
KEYWORDS: POPULATION GROWTH by CNB