From NPR: The Northwest passage through the Canadian Arctic has long been a perilous route for shipping. But global warming is melting the Arctic ice, and the shortcut between Europe and Asia may become passable in summers. But who owns the lane? Canada says it’s theirs; the US says it’s an international waterway. Steve McNally reports on the big thaw and its consequences for US-Canadian relations.
U.S. Senate: Lobbying:
GlobalHealthFacts.org:
Economist on Declining populations:
Demographic decline is the consequence of the low fertility that generally goes with growing prosperity. In Japan, for instance, birth rates fell below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman in the mid-1970s and have been particularly low in the past 15 years.
People love to worry—maybe it’s a symptom of ageing populations—but the gloom surrounding population declines misses the main point. The new demographics that are causing populations to age and to shrink are something to celebrate. Humanity was once caught in the trap of high fertility and high mortality. Now it has escaped into the freedom of low fertility and low mortality. Women’s control over the number of children they have is an unqualified good—as is the average person’s enjoyment, in rich countries, of ten more years of life than they had in 1960. Politicians may fear the decline of their nations’ economic prowess, but people should celebrate the new demographics as heralding a golden age.
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