Many people have heard of the horrors that may occur due to overpopulation. They have read the books, listened to the worst-case-scenario stories and watched the movies.

One thing that the everyday person does not know is the facts. Is the population of our planet eventually going to overflow to the point of starvation?

To truly understand the concept of population growth, another nightmare must be grappled with - math. But relax; population can be explained in terms even a mediocre high school student can grasp.

To put it simply, there are 200,000 more people alive today than yesterday. I know what most people are probably thinking, "But people die too, right?" Yes, this is true, but these are net figures, meaning the amount of deaths has been subtracted from the total already.

More people die every day than the total deaths of both atomic bomb attacks on Japan. Each year adds another Germany to our globe. This is an Orwellian nightmare. "There are more people in the world right now than ever before, more cars and industrialization than ever before, and a limited amount of natural resources," said Erin Sullivan, a U.S. history teacher at AHS.

"For most of man's history, world population grew very slowly. At the rate of growth estimated for the first 18 centuries A.D., it required more than 1,000 years for world population to double in size. With the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and of modern medicine and sanitation over 200 years ago, population growth rates began to accelerate. At the current growth rate (1.9 percent) world population will double in 37 years," according to www.pop.org, the website Population Research Institute, a non-profit education organization.

"It's always weird to hear about how big the population is growing. My grandpa used to tell me how his class as a kid was three grades combined into one and there was only like 20 kids in it," said AHS junior Craig Lacourse.

"We need to find a way to deal with the impact of the increasing population on our Earth," said U.S. history teacher Nicole Duff, who recently taught about migration to America during the 19th century.

"It's just common sense really. If the amount of people in the world grows, it will be harder for people to get what they need as quickly or with the same amount of quality," said Lacourse.

"There is a breaking point, and all nations in the world are going to have to work on solving it together or we may see continued worldwide problems," said Sullivan.

Population control hopefully will never resort to the laws in the popular book series "Shadow Children" by Margaret Peterson. The theme of the books is a futuristic world where third-born children are illegal and if any are found they are killed.

According to pop.org, China has a one-child policy that is gradually reducing their population. Although the enforcement is stricter in some areas, heavy fines are placed on parents with additional children.

By 2050, India will surpass China as the most populated country in the world.

American women have an average of 2.07 children each. The UN Population Division predicts a world population of 9 billion by 2050.

As this article was read, 160 babies were born.