Using Steverd’s numbers a square mile wile contain about 1731577 2/3 caskets. Covering 57.5 sq miles we get very close to 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion caskets).
Let’s call the worldwide mortality rate 0.8%* and worldwide population growth rate as 1% but bear in mind this includes the mortality rate i.e. 1.8% new people added to Earth.
*Assuming everyone above ground in coffins. If 25% are cremated, adjust to 0.6%
So what we get for total deaths over a time T starting with a world population of N is:
0.008(N) + 0.008(Nx1.01) + 0.008(Nx1.01[sup]2[/sup]) + … + 0.008(Nx1.01[sup]T-1[/sup])
This simplifies to 0.008N(1 + 1.01 + 1.01[sup]2[/sup] + … + 1.01[sup]T-1[/sup]) or 0.008N (1.01[sup]T[/sup] - 1) / (1.01 - 1)
Simplifying to 0.8N (1.01[sup]T[/sup] - 1)
Solving for T and assuming a world population of 7.1 billion people we get 937 years, 7 months, 19 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes, 9.6 seconds (rounded)
In case anyone is curious what the formula is
A = area to be covered
a = area covered by the casket
M = mortality rate
G = growth rate
P = starting population
T = time until area is filled
In 1962, I was six years old and my parents took me and my sister to the World’s Fair in Seattle, a 1155 mile trip. Before leaving, they bought two cemetary plots. They only bought two because they were assured that if we all died horribly together on the road at the same time, the cemetary would allow the coffins to be buried two deep.
Between folks doing that and the baby coffins, we’re more than going to crack a thousand years.
84" x 28" x 23" is the standard casket size in the US. 78 inches (1.98 m) is the maximum size generally permitted by municipal law in the UK (though I’m having a hard time confirming if this only applies to cremation caskets). In any event, I suspect the average size in most countries is significantly smaller than the US standard.
