Russia will probably achieve natural population growth in 2012, but, before the recent uptick in births and decrease in deaths, the country experienced a substantial natural population increase as recently as 1991.

FORBES: Walter Russell Mead's Very Strange View of German Ascendancy and Russian Decline

Russian demographics have now improved to the point that if the trends of the first half of 2012 hold for the rest of the year, that is if the birth rate for the whole year increases by around 6.7% and the death rate for the whole year decreases by around 2.9%, then Russia will actually record a small natural increase in population.

FORBES: Russia is on Track to Record Natural Population Growth in 2012

Combined with natural increase, America's population will nearly double in the next 70 years.

ECONOMIST: Huddled masses

The unemployment rate actually rose, to 9.1%, in May: the rate of job creation is barely keeping track with the natural increase in the working-age population.

ECONOMIST: Barack Obama and the Republicans

Why should we either encourage people to have more babies or encourage higher immigration rates to increase the population rather than following the apparently natural course of developing societies?

FORBES: America's Baby Bust - Busted. Immigrants Are The Answer And The Next Generation Of Entrepreneurs

The rising tree population could disrupt the natural processes that cycle snow and energy through the region and increase the amount of carbon it stores, according to the researchers.

CNN: Shrub census shows Alaskan Arctic losing its cool

As the global population increases, economies develop and natural gas supplies peak, the International Energy Agency predicts coal usage will increase globally, with the major Asian economies including China and India responsible for most of the increase.

BBC: Coal's toxic legacy to the Arctic