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"Watching the speed of the popclock as it clicks steadily forward will bring home with overwhelming clarity the full impact of the greatest single problem facing humanity.  In the time it takes average readers to read and consider the information on this web page, the human population of the earth increases in number by somewhere between 800 to 1,000 new human lifes. As they say in Brazil; half of the people in Brazil are under twenty years of age and half of them are pregnant. ...It's almost funny." . Back in December of 1997 we sent an email to the Bureau of Census. A copy of that email follows: Subject: MAKE A CLOCK! To: Bureau of Census From: EscapeArtist.com Make a small LED clock that people can download that will give a continuously updated LED read-out of the world's population figures.    People can put it on the front page of their websites.  We volunteer to be the first to offer our front page as a home.  Have the clock link back to the Bureau Of Census.  It may be the best thing you or anyone else could ever do for humanity. EscapeArtist A few days later we received the following response.

~ Books About World Population ~ . Living Within Limits : Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos by Garrett Hardin A Concise History of World Population : An Introduction to Population Processes by Massimo Livi-Bacci Juarez : The Laboratory of Our Future by Charles Bowden  . Find Books On: ..

Dear EscapeArtist

We are in the process of developing a JAVA-based popclock that runs in a separate window.  I will let you know when it is ready.

Sincerely,
Peter D. Johnson
International Programs Center
U.S. Census Bureau

Then on April 7, 1998 we received the following email.

Subject: MAKE A CLOCK!
To: EscapeArtist
From: Peter D Johnson - Bureau of Census

Dear EscapeArtist
Yesterday we launched our revised POPClock site at:
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
This includes links to a Java population clock.

Sincerely,
Peter D. Johnson
International Programs Center
U.S. Census Bureau

We think that this is sensational!  We are convinced that no issue is as pressing nor as important as the issue of human population. We believe that all other issues effecting humanity stem back to the issue of runaway population growth.  Damage to the ecology is one example.  If one automobile were started each morning somewhere on this planet, it's emissions would be meaningless.  The exhaust from one auto would have no effect on the earth.  The population of the planet is now well over 6 billion. How many  people do you know that don't want a car? 

Ecological damage results not so much from individual acts of environmental vandalism as it does from the sheer number of violating actions committed. Nothing is infinitely divisible, not resources, not land, not patience.  Way too many cities have streets that cannot be negotiated by the existing traffic. The population of those cities increases exponentially each and every day.  Where are those new human beings going to go?  How will they fit?  Where will they drive?  What will they eat? 

It becomes more and more difficult to find meaning and peace on earth with each passing year as the worlds population continues to escalate.  While there are numerous books on this subject the one we have found that presents the clearest case in the most accurate of terms is Living Within Limits : Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos by Garrett Hardin.  It is well written and closely researched. We think it is an important book. It is available online. - Click Here -

Watching the speed of the popclock as it clicks steadily forward will bring home with overwhelming clarity the full impact of the greatest single problem facing humanity.  In the time it takes average readers to read and consider the information on this web page, the human population of the earth increases in number by somewhere between 800 to 1,000 new human lifes.  Each of these new lifes has their problems and their consumption needs and each of them will have the capacity to reproduce themselves in about 14 years.  The process is exponential. The world population is now doubling so rapidly that disaster cannot be avoided.  As they say in Brazil; half of the people in Brazil are under twenty years of age and half of them are pregnant. 

It's almost funny.
.