Tsunami reckoning

Heymatt:

On the day of the tsunami, did the world population go up or down. I trust it didn't stay the same.

-- Joel Fentin, the net

Trust misplaced, Joel. The most recent total (estimated, of course) for the 11 countries with tsunami-related deaths is 200,000 (though not all died on the day of the event). The U.S. Census Bureau's world population clock estimates there is a net gain worldwide of 202,419 people per day. Spooky but true.