World Population Day on July 11 acknowledges our most serious problem

Californians for Population Stabilization notes threat of population growth to environment

Santa Barbara, CA – World Population Day is an annual event, observed on July 11, to raise awareness of the problems of overpopulation and continuing population growth. It grew out of the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, the approximate date on which the global population reached five billion people. Less than a quarter century later, world population will reach 7 billion on October 31 this year, according to United Nations population projections.

“This ominous projection underscores the urgent need to provide safe and effective family planning to the hundreds of millions of men and women who lack it. Families must have the ability to exercise their human rights to determine the number and spacing of their children,” said Marilyn DeYoung, Chairman of the Board of Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS). While world population has soared almost 40 percent since the first World Population Day, the United States has grown almost as rapidly, increasing about 30 percent, from 242 million in 1987 to almost 312 million today.

“Continuing growth of the human population is the most serious environmental problem for our planet and for our nation. The consequences of that growth are all around us—loss of open space, air and water pollution, and never-ending sprawl. Habitat loss due to population growth is by far the greatest threat to wildlife. We simply must face up to this paramount issue,” stated DeYoung, who served on the President’s Commission on Population Growth and the American Future in 1970.

Since 1986, CAPS has worked to protect the environment and improve the quality of life by promoting replacement-level fertility and replacement-level immigration in order to achieve a stable population.

About CAPS

CAPS is a non partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1986 and working to preserve California’s future through the stabilization of our state’s human population. Since nearly all of California’s runaway population growth comes from immigration, CAPS focuses largely on this issue: sponsoring public and media awareness campaigns, working with lawmakers to promote more responsible policies, maintaining a growing network of member-activists, and conducting vital research. www.CAPSweb.org.