An estimate by the International Programs Center at the United States Census Bureau claims that the world population hit 6.5 billion on Feb. 25, 2006. That is a whole lot of people. Also, according to the Population Reference Bureau, as of 2002, there have been 106 billion people born in the world since human's existance began.

It is staggering to think that less than 10 percent of the entire human population is now alive on planet Earth. There are about 261 people born every minute. So by the time you finished reading this column, about 520 people would have been born.

Why does this matter? Well, as hard as it is to believe, we are all connected. Unfortunately, as much as we would like to believe, when babies are born, they are not all equal. Some are born into poverty, while others automatically have everything provided for them as long as they live.

The issue now is whether our world is becoming over-populated. As our population keeps increasing, scientists begin to wonder what the earth's limit will be.

When China became over-populated, they placed the “one child per family” rule, but this has created problems. Baby girls are dumped in forests because the family wants to have a boy to carry on the family name. Now the population has become unbalanced, because there are more boys than girls, which will make coupling harder when these children reach the age to be married.

Beijing has eased the rule, hoping to increase the female population, but this dilemma shows that there may not be a solution to concerns about the world becoming overpopulated.

However, sooner or later, the world's natural resources will run out, and we will be left wondering how to survive. Scientists are trying to discover the maximum number of people the earth will support, but it is hard to exactly calculate this, considering that new natural resources and ways of life are found almost every day.

If and when scientists do discover the maximum number of people who can live in the world, how can they mandate this number? It will surely be hard to regulate every family to only having one or two children, and considering the problems China had, what are some other ways to safely curb the growing population, which will reach an estimated 7 billion by the end of 2012?

While many people and government officials feel there are many other issues, like finding new places to drill for oil or setting up democracies in foreign countries, the world population is an important problem that needs our consideration. This will influence every aspect of the other social, political and health problems the United States and other countries will be facing. More babies and people equals a greater need for health care, rising poverty levels and a greater demand for food and other resources.

If the world cannot take care of the people who are alive now by providing adequate water, food and health care, how can we take care of 500,000,000 more people in six years?

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