EXPERT ON POPULATION WILL SPEAK AT SOUTHEAST

More than 6 billion people live on earth and the population continues to grow.

The world's population grew by nearly 78 million last year with 97 percent of the growth occurring in the poorest parts of the globe.

Three billion young people, equal to the whole population of the world in 1960, will enter their reproductive years in the next generation. The statistics go on and on.

Werner Fornos knows all the numbers. As president of the non-profit Population Institute in Washington, D.C., for more than two decades, Fornos has sounded the alarm about overpopulation for years. The institute and its members in more than 172 countries want a more equitable balance between the world's population, environment and resources.

Fornos will speak at noon Wednesday at a Common Hour lecture at Southeast Missouri State University's Glenn Auditorium. The lecture is open to the public.

On Thursday, he will speak to the Cape West Rotary Club at the Holiday Inn.

He is a member of the Washington Rotary Club and a life member of the Rotary Fellowship on Population and Development.

Fornos' visit is sponsored by the university and its environmental science program.

Dr. Stephen Overmann, who teaches environmental science classes at Southeast, said, "Population is a central issue. More people need more land, more food and more resources."