U.S. population hits 300 million mark

[oberliner]

WASHINGTON - The nation's population officially hit 300 million at 7:46 a.m. EDT Tuesday, when the
Census Bureau's population clock rolled over to the big number.

But there weren't any wild celebrations, fireworks or any other government-sponsored hoopla to mark the milestone. Why bother? Many experts think the population actually hit 300 million months ago.

"I don't think anybody believes it will be the precise moment when the population hits 300 million," Howard Hogan, the Census Bureau's associate director for demographic programs, said in an interview before the milestone was reached. But, he added, "We're confident that we're somewhat close."

It's not easy estimating the exact number of people in a country the size of the United States. It gets even more complicated when you take into account illegal immigration, another reason for the federal government to let the milestone pass quietly.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_re_us/300_million_milestone;_ylt=AqayyrTghY0gIYuz2hQdi2Os0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

[kurth]

1. 50M are illegals from Mexico and Central America

Freakin unbelievable.

[NEOBuckeye]

2. Too many people, not enough resources

I don't see any reason why we should celebrate this milestone. Why do people think its' so cool to reproduce to this extreme when we can't guarantee that we will always have enough food and energy to support such a large population?

We really haven't done that well of a job taking care of the people we have now. And we still want more?

[crikkett]

3. US population reaches 300 million

US population reaches 300 million

The US population has hit 300 million people, just 39 years after it reached 200 million, according to US Census Bureau estimates.

The population reached the milestone at 0746 (1146GMT) - a timing based on calculations that factor in birth and death rates and migration.

The bureau's maths suggests that the US gains one person every 11 seconds.

...

The population in the US is the third largest in the world, behind China and India.

According to the Census Bureau, 14% of the current US population is Hispanic, compared to 4% in 1966, and it is projected that a quarter of the population will be Hispanic in 2050.

It is also expected that in the next 50 years there will be more Hispanic births in the US than immigrants.

...

Other figures released by the Census Bureau, show how America has been changing since previous population milestones.

* In 1915, immigrant citizens came mostly from Germany; in 1967 from Italy; and in 2006 mostly from Mexico

* The average US family had 4.5 people in 1915, 3.3 in 1967 and 2.6 in 2006

* Some 45.9% of Americans were property owners in 1915. That grew to 63.6% in 1967 and reached 68.9% in 2006

* There were 4.5 million people aged 65 and older in 1915, or 4.5%; 19.1 million in 1967 (9.5%) and 36.8 million in 2006 (12.4%)

* Life expectancy was 54.5 years in 1915, 70.5 years in 1967 and 77.8 years in 2006

* About 23% of women were in the work force in 1915, compared to 41% in 1967 and 58% in 2006

* There were 2.5 million cars in 1915, 98.9 million in 1967 and 237.2 million in 2006

* John and Mary topped the list of most popular names in 1915; Michael and Lisa were favourites in 1967; and Jacob and Emily were preferred in 2006.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6057004.stm

Published: 2006/10/17 11:47:07 GMT

[Double T]

4. Why worry about the terrorists.........

Our own overpopulation will wipe 'US' out!!!

[slackmaster]

5. That means we now have over 150 million people below average intelligence

:argh:

[OhioChick]

6. .........

:rofl:

[aquart]

7. Any jobs for them?

[rug]

11. Diebold sats 200,000,000.

[Wcross]

8. This worries me a bit.

Where I live, farm land is being "developed" at an alarming rate. Right now in my county the farms are being sold off at 6-10 thousand an acre. You rarely see large parcels brought to auction as single parcel's but rather 10 acre tracts. Nobody can afford to farm five thousand an acre farm land. The new owners build homes and have two or three horses. The horses have to eat so that many bales of hay will never go to feeding meat cattle. A 3000 acre farm was recently sold for a subdivision near Nashville, it used grow soybeans. That land will never produce another bean.
How are we going to feed the next 100 million? How many people can the earth support?

[pscot]

9. A bit?

The population of this country doubles every 50 years or so. That means 600 million by 2055. All living the good life, American style. Are we going to double our infrastructure? Our traffic? Our schools, prisons, electrical capacity? In the face of global warming, peak oil and resource depletion? There are no new continents to find, and we are not going to be colonizing Mars. People have been deriding Malthus for 200 years, but the chickens are finally coming home to roost.

[Wcross]

10. Only a bit because I will be dead when it happens. n/t