The projections of world population to the year 2300 are ground-breaking in two respects: they extend the time horizon to 2300 (previous long-range projections were to 2150), and they include country forecasts (previous long-range projections were available by continent only). Such long-reaching projections are needed by environmental scientists, policy makers and others who assess the long-term implications of demographic trends. The report includes a set of essays by well-known thinkers in the population field, reflecting on these and other findings. These essays, which greatly enrich the debate on future world population, are by Alaka Basu, Herwig Birg, John Caldwell, Joel Cohen, David Coleman, Paul Demeny, Timothy Dyson, Francois Heran, Jay Olshansky, Michael Teitelbaum, Charles Westoff and John Wilmoth. [publisher].
Formatted Contents Note
Projections to 2050 Projections after 2050: long-range growth and decline Country rankings Population density Ageing populations Towards an understanding of the emotions in the population of 2300 / Alaka Basu An intergenerational rationale for fertility assumptions in long-range world population projections / Herwig Birg The implications of the United Nations long-range population projections / John Caldwell Comparing long-range global population projections with historical experience / Joel Cohen World population in 2300: a century too far? / David Coleman Population futures for the next three hundred years: soft landing or surprises to come? / Paul Demeny Why the world's population will probably be less than 9 billion in 2300 / Timothy Dyson Reflections on the next few centuries / François Héran The future of human life expectancy / S. Jay Olshansky Projecting the unknowable: a professional effort sure to be misinterpreted / Michael Teitelbaum The implications of the United Nations long-range population projections: continuing rapid population growth / Charles F. Westoff Foretelling the future / John R. Wilmoth.