"Third World countries have many more people than do First World Countries. However, First World Countries often consume more resources than do Third World Countries. India has over a billion people while the U.S. has only 300 million people. Indians per capita, however, consume 1/16 the resources that Americas consume. Each American added to the world population has a greater impact on the ecology of the planet than each Asian that is added. The reason is that Americans consume many times more resources than Asians. In terms on conserving resources perhaps population growth is more detrimental to the environment in First World countries."