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May 20, 2005

Strange But True!

Q. Demographers say a few people alive today could be around to witness an amazing world statistical reversal, the first time this will occur since the dawn of civilization 10,000 years ago. What is this pivotal population event?

A. The United Nations predicts that the "global crude death rate" will start rising, says "NewScientist" magazine. This rate measures the number of people per 1,000 who die in a year, which has dropped from about 40 in preagricultural societies to around 8.7 today. You would think a newly rising figure would be bad, but it will reflect that the world's population is aging, thanks to improved health care. At first in developing nations, the crude death rate drops as life expectancy rises; but then as millions whose lives were saved as infants reach old age and start dying in droves, the crude death rate rises again. "This transition has already occurred in many developed countries and is now set to happen on a global scale."


 
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