300 Million and Counting

[MA-Caver]

U.S. population to hit 300M on Tuesday

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The population of the United States will hit the 300-million mark at about 7:46 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

The milestone has been watched for some time but Thursday the bureau established when it will be achieved.

The Census Bureau reached the 300-million figure by calculating there is one birth in the country every 7 seconds, 1 death every 13 seconds and 1 addition to the United States through immigration every 31 seconds. That means the U.S. population increases by 1 person every 11 seconds.

The U.S. population hit 100 million in 1915 and 200 million in 1967. The country's first census -- in 1790 -- set the number of residents at 3,929,214.
Source: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061012-111730-4108r

This is an incredible milestone yet it took 52 years to go from 100 to 200 and only 39 years to go from 200 to 300. Granted that higher population equals higher birth-rates but it also includes higher death rates as well. Yet births happen faster than deaths.
The U.S. is a big country to be sure but not every area is inhabitable ... at least not comfortably anyway. In Utah the population increases but the pressure on the water resources increases with each family that moves into the state as well. Las Vegas is purported to be the "fastest growing city in America" today and there's less water there than it is here in Utah, Hoover and Glen Lake Dams not-withstanding.
Elsewhere in the country the need for space will increase over the next 20-25 years as those who've reached amongst the 300 millionth persons will want their own spaces to live.
One wonders how much our government has planned this far ahead to handle this and other social mores as the country population increases.