In The News

Where Boys Were Kings, A Shift Toward Baby Girls

Choe Sang-Hun January 9, 2008
For centuries, parents in the agrarian economy of South Korea favored male children. But government campaigns and increasing work opportunities have led to a gender ratio that demonstrates a reversal in the preference for males and perhaps even a new appreciation for female children. Adult males, with the help of their wives, were once expected to care for aging parents. In recent decades, women...

What’s Your Consumption Factor?

Jared Diamond January 3, 2008
The average citizen of a wealthy nation consumes at a rate 32 times that of the average citizen of a poor nation, and a rising human population will present major problems if people consume at levels on display in the wealthiest nations. High consumption levels exacerbate environmental devastation, resource shortages, waste and other social problems. Citizens of the poorest countries are fully...

Human Evolution Speeding Up, Study Says

John Roach December 27, 2007
Researchers can examine chromosomes and determine when genetic variations occurred. If a condition within a chromosome is both new and common throughout the population, then researchers assume that natural selection promoted the variation. “According to Charles Darwin's famous theory, evolution happens faster in big populations,” writes John Roach for National Geographic News. The world had...

Globalization Offers Potential Boon for Africans

Dianna Games November 7, 2007
African countries, writes South African consultant Dianna Games, cannot afford to let globalization be foisted upon them. Instead, governments on the continent must actively engage in global trade and politics, so that “the benefits of the global order” will no longer elude Africans. Governments must move beyond international links built primarily to exploit Africa’s natural resources. That...

UN Warns of Environmental Threats

James Kanter October 26, 2007
A report released by the United Nations Environment Program warns that the planet’s resources are not enough to provide for the current consumption patterns of the world population. Highly industrialized regions have developed habits of living beyond their means and pass these habits on to people in every corner of the globe. The rapidly expanding world population has increased the speed of...

Global Population: From Explosion to Implosion?

Koïchiro Matsuura October 15, 2007
The planet has some new patterns in population: Elders now outnumber the young, more people live in cities than in the country and more people live in nations where fertility rates fall below the replacement rate for population. But population continues to grow, and the increases predicted for later in this century will be a major historical event, with more than 9 billion people expected to...

Fewer Babies Pose Difficult Challenges for Europe

Joseph Chamie October 8, 2007
Over the next few decades, Europe's population level is expected to fall by nearly 70 million people, or 10 percent of its current level, even accounting for policies that promote immigration and reproduction. Birth rates have fallen significantly below replacement levels throughout Europe, and the continent's median age steadily climbs. As Joseph Chamie of the Center for Migration...