Population Pressure: A Packed Planet

Imagine the Earth as a crowded bus. At first, there were only a few passengers, but now it’s packed to the gills! That’s kind of like what’s happening with our planet’s population. In this 27 slide lesson we will learn about the ups and downs of people growth, like the natural rate of increase (think of it as the bus driver’s foot on the gas pedal) and the dependency ratio (the ratio of kids and old folks to working-age people). We’ll also talk about net migration (people getting on or off the bus) and the optimal population (the perfect number of people for a place). And since we’ve recently hit 8 billion passengers, we’ll ponder what the future holds: Will the bus get even more cramped, or can we find a way to make everyone comfortable?

Business Economics Playground