Can the population implosion be stopped?

“And when I die / and when I’m gone / there’ll be one child born, in this world / to carry on / to carry on.”

The song written by Laura Nyro and most famously performed by Blood, Sweat & Tears may have been overly optimistic.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the world is rapidly approaching a tipping point at which the birth rate won’t be enough to keep the population constant.

Climate-change prophets are probably jumping for joy (“Darn! I expelled more carbon dioxide; should’ve settled for the wry smile!”), but demographics experts envision a multitude of problems in coming decades.

The...