ARE WE RUNNING OUT OF ROOM?

• Author: KELLEY, TIMOTHY
• Position: World population hits 6 billion

THE POPULATION HITS 6 BILLION, FUELING A DEBATE OVER JUST HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE THE EARTH CAN SUPPORT.

Heard about the Y2K computer crisis? Get ready for Y6B. For months, ominous-looking posters have appeared on buses around Washington, D.C., with the message "Y6B." Sponsored by the group Zero Population Growth, the message stands for "Year of 6 Billion."

On October 12, the world population hit 6 billion, according to United Nations estimates. It took a million years of human history for the global population to reach the 1 billion mark in 1804, but just 12 years to go from 5 billion to 6 billion.

"As more people are crowded onto the planet, far more are becoming alarmed about the potentially disastrous consequences," says Lester Brown, president of the environmental group Worldwatch Institute.

But whether continued population growth will bring catastrophe remains subject to debate. Some experts believe Y6B poses far more danger to far more people than the so-called Y2K problem, which may cause massive computer malfunctions in the year 2000. As the world's population continues to multiply, so, too, will problems such as food shortages, species extinction, and environmental destruction, they say. Some scientists say the Earth has a finite limit to the number of people it can support, and we're fast approaching it.

But others see things as far less dire. They say advances in technology, medicine, and education hold out the promise of a better quality of life for all the world's people. While the Earth may not have much room to spare, technology continues to devise new ways of supporting more people.

Which side proves to be right depends largely on the planet's young people. There are more than 1 billion people between 15 and 24 years of age today. Most will go on to have their own families. Their decisions about how many children to have will determine whether population becomes a larger or lesser issue.

EDUCATION AND BABIES

The key factor in their decisions, experts say, will be the education they receive. Studies show that the more education ,people get--particularly women--the fewer children they have. As a result, many nations now view education as the antidote to a population crisis. At the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, 179 nations agreed that giving women equal rights and education helps economic development. Since then, two thirds of all nations have introduced policies empowering women.

With improving...