On the Cusp: From Population Boom to Bust

For much of its history, human population growth increased at a glacial pace. The demographic rate only soared about 200 years ago, climaxing between the years 1950 and 2000. In that 50-year span, the population grew more than it had in the previous 5,000 years. Though these raw numbers are impressive, they conceal the fact that the growth rate of population topped out in the 1960s and may be negative later this century. The population boom is approaching a population bust, despite the curr...