Center for Biological Diversity - According to population estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 330 million people will ring in the new year in the United States. This is an increase of more than 2 million people from the previous year, nearly the same number added in 2018.
Although population continues to increase, the rate of growth has been slowly decreasing over the past five years. Natural increase, or births minus deaths, is at its lowest rate in decades.
Population growth drives habitat loss and forces competition for natural resources. Wild plants and animals are going extinct at rates 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural background rate due to habitat loss, pollution, climate change and other human-caused problems.
“Slowing birth rates are good news, but still nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended,” said Kelley Dennings, a population campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “For the sake of people and the planet, we need to start talking about our growing population and how reproductive freedom and sex education are critical to protecting our future.”
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