Demography

14. Ten thousand years ago, the world probably had a population of five million. In the 17th century, with the dawning of the modern age, it had reached five hundred million. Then the demographic growth rate began to rise more steeply: to one billion by the beginning of the 19th century, 1.65 billion at the beginning of the 20th, 3 billion in 1964, 4 billion in 1975, 5.2 billion in 1990, 5.5 billion in 1993, and 5.6 billion in 1994(²²). For a time, the demographic situation developed differently as between the "affluent" and the "developing" countries(²³). This situation is still evolving. Let us not forget that proliferation is a reaction by nature—and consequently by the human being—to threats to the survival of the species.

Research has shown that as peoples and nations become more affluent, high birth rates and high death rates are reversed to low birth rates and low death rates(²⁴).The transition period may be critical in terms of food resources, because the death rate falls before the birth rate. Technological changes must accompany population growth, otherwise the regular agricultural production cycle is broken due to the depletion of the soils, the reduction of fallow periods and the lack of crop rotation.