Without immigration, the U.S. population will shrink starting in 2033 in part “because fertility rates are projected to remain too low for a generation to replace itself,” the Congressional Budget Office said.
The reduced projections from last year were the results of a decline in projected fertility rates over 30 years from 1.70 births per woman to 1.60 births per woman and less immigration because of an executive order last June that temporarily suspends asylum processing at the border when U.S. officials deem they are overwhelmed, the budget office said. Replacement happens at a rate of 2.1 births per woman.
The raw number of humans living in the United States has nothing to do with the degree to which we are demolishing the environment. States and counties with low populations are often more aggressive in unchecked pollution and resource extraction than those with large ones. And the dependence on inefficient energy, materials, and infrastructure is more prominent in communities with small rural distributions.
The policies that are destroying the country will not improve simply because the long-term birthrate is in gradual decline. We’re going to smack straight into a Malthusian event due to climate change long before mere population trends impact our pollution output.
Wild populations do not normally kick off a global extinction event. This isn’t just another biological trend, it is a full reworking of the global ecology. Even if we wipe ourselves out tomorrow, humanity’s impact will be measured in epochs. Assuming humanity survives long-term, you’ll see our footprint for eons.