Overpopulation: Living Space

Imagine a family of four living on a one-acre lot. That sounds like a decent amount of living space. I'm sure you wouldn't consider them to be living in overcrowded conditions. But by global standards, they are. Their property is twenty-eight times as crowded as the world average.

The total land area of the earth, not including Antartica, comes to seven acres per person.

By the way, personally I have a family of seven living on a half-acre. That's one-fourteenth of an acre per person, or ninety-eight times as crowded as the world average.

Posted 10 Sep 2000.