4 ms·

Any positive population growth is necessarily exponential -- the fact that that rate is getting lower is cause for hope, but that doesn't change the mathematica

• dllthomas 11y ago
  "Any positive population growth is necessarily exponential" That's just false. If the average number of children per person is falling toward replacement fast enough, population growth is not exponential while still being positive (potentially indefinitely).
• dragonwriter 11y ago
  > Any positive population growth is necessarily exponential No, its not. There are all kinds of growth curves that are not exponential. Exponential growth is has a constant multiple over a fixed time frame. (so, a constant doubling interval.) Positive growth and exponential growth have nothing to do with each other; exponential growth can be positive or negative, and positive (or negative) growth can be non-exponential. > but that doesn't change the mathematical reality. The mathematical reality is that the population isn't growing exponentially, and that positive growth doesn't imply exponential growth.