Had enough of Y2K? Start worrying about Y6B

50 Y6B posters are circulating the Washington, D.C., Metro buses

June 7, 1999
Web posted at: 11:45 AM EDT

No, Y6B is not the next computer malady. Yet, the catchy term refers to a condition that may affect much greater numbers of people than Y2K.

Y6B posters have been circulating all over Washington, D.C., on 50 of the city's Metro buses. The term refers to Oct. 12, 1999, the day the world population is expected to hit 6 billion. The date will mark the first time in modern history that any generation has witnessed the tripling of world population, which was merely 2 billion in 1930.

Organized by Zero Population Growth, an environmental organization that handles population issues, the Y6B campaign poses perhaps an even greater scientific challenge than Y2K.

Determining the solutions to Y6B may be a little less techy. Nevertheless, the issues highlighted by Zero Population Growth will require far greater efforts than finding the answers to Y2K.

Today, Zero Population Growth estimates the world population is 5,990,631,355. This figure is attributed by the Y6B campaign to be the root of rapid species extinctions, overcrowded classrooms throughout the world, growing traffic congestion and global warming.

"We don't see Y6B as a problem, but rather a milestone, said Zero Population Growth Director of Communications Tim Cline. The mission of Y6B is to

• educate women,
• provide women with economic opportunities and
• provide women with more reproductive health care.

"Our studies show that in every nation and society (both the U.S. and third world countries) for which we have data, the more schooling a woman has, the fewer children she has. As the level of economic opportunity for women rises, the total fertility rate goes down and population growth decreases. As reproductive health care allows a woman to choose the spacing and number of her children, the number of children she has decreases — and at the same time both infant and maternal mortality decline. In all of these cases the quality of life of both the mothers and the children rises."

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