On October
12, 1999, the world's population reached a milestone. About 370,00 were
born on that day to push the world's population up to six billion people!
That is a lot of people! Y6B is the logo, which some people are using
to mark this event.
A huge
hot air balloon flew over Austin, Texas on October 12th to mark the
day the world's population reached 6 billion. The president of Austin
Aeronauts, David Smuck, flew the balloon, which was as tall as a 10-story
building!
The population
has been growing fast for the past several years. For example, during
the past 12 years, humans have increased in number by about 1 billion
people.
Here are
some fun facts about the world population:
1. The
world population grows by 78 million people every year. This is the
amount of people that live in France, Greece, and Sweden combined!
2. People
are living longer! The amount of older people in the world is growing
very quickly! The United Nations now reports that there are 58.6 million
people on this planet who are between the ages of 80 and 90. Also, there
are 7.3 million people who are between the ages of 90 and 100! And 100,000
people over 100 years old!
3. By the
year 2050, one-third of the population in developed nations will be
60 years or older.
4. Forty
years ago, women had an average of six children each and now the average
number of children a woman has is only 2.5.
5. In
1804 the population of the world was one billion. In 1927, the world
population was 2 billion, and now, the population is 6 billion. It took
only 75 years for the world population to triple!
What do
you think the population will be fifty years from now?
