document_title: List of Ghost Whisperer characters

question_text: who played jennifer love hewitt's husband in ghost whisperer

question_tokens: who played jennifer love hewitt 's husband in ghost whisperer

text: List of Ghost Whisperer characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Melinda Gordon[edit]

text: Melinda Gordon, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, is the protagonist of Ghost Whisperer. Melinda has been able to see ghosts since she was a little girl. Specifically, she sees ghosts who have not crossed over due to an issue that they need her help to resolve. She helps them find peace and cross over into the light. The gift has been passed on for many generations. She is married to Jim Clancy (David Conrad) and owns an antique shop, located in the fictional town of Grandview. She has many enemies who dislike her abilities, including Gabriel Lawrence (Ignacio Serricchio) and Romano (John Walcutt).

text: Jim Clancy[edit]

text:
Jim Clancy

First appearance
"Pilot"
1x01, September 23, 2005

Last appearance
The Children's Parade
5x22, May 21, 2010

Created by
John Gray

Portrayed by
David Conrad

Information

Aliases
Sam Lucas

Occupation
Paramedic/Firefighter, Doctor

Family
Faith Clancy (mother)
Aiden Clancy (father; deceased)
Daniel 'Dan' Clancy (brother; deceased)

Spouse(s)
Melinda Gordon
(m. 2005-2009; his death)
Melinda Gordon
(m. 2009-present)

Children
Unnamed child
(miscarriage, with Melinda)
Aiden Lucas
(son, with Melinda)

text: Jim Clancy, played by David Conrad is Melinda's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) husband. He is the only cast member other than Hewitt to appear in every episode.

text: Jim and Melinda get married and move in at the start of the first season. Jim was a paramedic and firefighter, and the two met when he rescued her from her apartment complex, which had a structural issue. Jim knew of Melinda's unique ability to communicate with ghosts at the start of the series; he helped her as much as he could, though Melinda's good friend, Andrea Marino, provided most of the aid until her death at the end of the first season. It was revealed in the pilot episode that Jim witnessed his older brother, Dan, die when they were young. After having seen Dan die and being unable to save him, Jim decides to become a paramedic. Dan attended Jim and Melinda's wedding as a ghost and conversed with Melinda during the reception.

text: After Melinda's near death experience during the season two finale, "The Gathering", Jim becomes worried about what else could happen to Melinda because of the ghosts. Jim also helps try to find information about Melinda's father (Tom Gordon), who might or might not be dead, as well as try to find any information about Melinda's brother, Gabe. In "Haunted Hero", Jim and Melinda welcome a returning soldier from Iraq, Matt, back to Grandview. When Matt becomes paranoid due to being haunted by his dead comrades and post-traumatic stress disorder, Jim confronts Matt in the town square and talks Matt out of trying to kill himself. Jim delivered some of his convincing argument with Matt's gun pointed at him.

text: In "Weight of What Was", Gabriel returns to Grandview and Jim warns him away, though not before Gabriel reveals that he is Melinda's half-brother. Jim, Rick, and Delia go in search of Melinda, who is trapped in old Grandview, which is buried under present day Grandview. Tessa, the ghost of Melinda's maternal ancestor who was also a Ghost Whisperer, helps them find Melinda by communicating with Delia and Jim. Jim also begins thinking of moving out of Grandview to attend medical school. At first, Melinda does not like the idea, but she later agrees to it. In "Deadbeat Dads", Jim admits he would like to have children someday; Jim and Melinda try to get pregnant and succeed, but Melinda loses the baby.

text: Near the end of "Imaginary Friends and Enemies", Jim is shot in the shoulder and rushed to the hospital, where he is immediately taken into surgery. Relieved to hear his surgery went well, Melinda is taken to his room and asks if she may stay with him until he awakens. It is implied she waits several hours, and she eventually falls asleep next to him. She wakes up to find Jim next to her, and believing him to be awake, she tells him she loves him. When Jim tells her softly he suffered an embolism; Melinda tries to get a doctor, but Jim tells her not to and says that he wants her to remember him as he is now. This causes Melinda to realize Jim is appearing to her as a ghost; his body then flatlines in the background. As doctors rush in to revive him, Melinda tearfully pleads with Jim for it not be him. Jim then says, "I will always love you, Melinda", and then his ghost disappears as Melinda sobs and the doctors are unable to revive him. His death was foreshadowed in the season premiere, when a ghost warned Melinda death might rub off on those she loves.

text: Jim refuses to cross over because he still loves Melinda and believes their love is what is holding him back. Even though Melinda wants Jim to stay, she knows it's selfish of her and begs him to go into the light, promising she'll be there one day. But when Jim and Melinda witness paramedics trying to revive a motorcycle accident victim named Sam Lucas, they see the ghost of the victim go into the light. Jim goes over to the body and tells Melinda it's the only way. Before Melinda can stop him, Jim's ghost enters Sam's body, thus bringing him back to "life." However, the viewers continue to see him as Jim while everyone else in the show including Melinda sees him as Sam. When Melinda says "You're back", Jim, who now believes he is Sam and has no memory as Jim, says "Do I know you?" This leads Melinda to try to prove to him who he really is, especially when pieces of Jim's memory start to show. At first, he thinks she's crazy and doesn't believe her. When Melinda is trapped underground, Jim goes to save her, but he hits his head and he has flashes of memories as Jim, thus bringing Jim fully back. When he finds Melinda, she calls him Sam to which Jim replies "Why are you calling me Sam?" Melinda then realizes Jim is back and she happily hugs him.

text: Later on, Melinda finds out she is pregnant again and it turns out Jim had gotten her pregnant shortly before he died. Later Melinda begins to worry about their unborn baby. She began to have nightmares and visions the baby was in danger. She was sure by the things she was being told the baby was a girl after Melinda runs into the faceless child again, who puts her hand on Melinda's tummy and says, "You can't save her. You can't." Jim reveals to Melinda he had seen her chart accidentally and knew it was a boy, although he knew they agreed not to find out, but he told her to ease her mind, so she’d see her visions and dreams were wrong. Jim and Melinda marry again at the same place they met - in front of witnesses, Eli James (best man) and Delia Banks (matron of honor), and a full gathering of spirits.

text: In Season 5, Melinda believes her due date is the exact date in the book, which causes doubts in Jim and the rest of the characters (Delia, Ned, and Eli). Melinda finally needs an emergency C-Section. When the baby suddenly goes into fetal distress in the operating room, the season’s first ghosts appear to Melinda. First the watcher, who warned Melinda of her child’s power and the danger he may come into, stops time to tell her Fate and Free Will will work together to decide whether or not the baby will live. The second ghost comes in the form of a young woman in a white gown. She quickly disappears and time restarts. While the baby isn’t breathing at first, he suddenly recovers to full health. Later in recovery, Melinda tells Jim they’ll name the baby Aiden Lucas, in honor of Jim’s father and Sam Lucas.

text: The series then jumps ahead to 2014 and the celebration of Aiden's upcoming fifth birthday. Jim is now a resident at Rockland Memorial Teaching Hospital, as Jim, and he takes the name Jim as his middle name. Ned is also in college, taking classes with Eli, while Delia has become a big realtor. There were always problems every year on Aiden's birthday. He would become strangely sick, for example. Every year a woman would visit Aiden and sing him happy birthday. The woman, Amber, had died in childbirth the night Melinda gave birth to Aiden. Amber was convinced her son’s spirit had jumped into Aiden, as he had stopped breathing shortly after he was born. Later on in the episode, it is revealed the son was actually adopted by the birth father and his wife.

text: Melinda helps Amber into the light and learns from the watcher that Aiden is an empath. He feels and takes on emotions of those around him. This is revealed as the reason why each year Amber would show up and he gets sick. Melinda also finds out she shares a psychic link with Aiden, which allows them to communicate with one another, though he doesn’t fully understand it. Melinda and Jim decide to not tell Aiden, because they want him to have a normal life, with his own dreams. In 5.19 "Lethal Combination", Jim is caught by Dr. Mavis, a morgue coroner, snooping through the files in the hospital morgue.

text: Andrea Marino[edit]

text:
Andrea Marino

First appearance
"Pilot"
1x01, September 23, 2005

Last appearance
"Love Never Dies"
2x01, September 29, 2006

Created by
John Gray

Portrayed by
Aisha Tyler

Information

Nickname(s)
Andie, Squeaky

Occupation
Lawyer
Co-owned antique store

Family
Mitch Marino (brother)
Maya Marino (sister-in-law)
Unnamed nieces

text: Andrea Joyce Marino,[1] played by Aisha Tyler, is Melinda's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) best friend and was part of the main cast during season one. Andrea once worked in New York City, as a lawyer, until she moved to Grandview. She set up an antique store that she owns along with Melinda named "The Same As It Never Was".

text: Melinda even comes to trust Andrea enough to tell her about her gift of being able to communicate with earthbound spirits, or ghosts. Andrea becomes essential to the store and Melinda, because of the very fact she knows about Melinda's gift. Whenever Melinda has to run off and help a ghost, Andrea is left to keep the store. Andrea also helps Melinda with difficult crossovers removing some of the stress from Melinda's husband, Jim (David Conrad). In "The One", a plane crashes and Andrea notices Melinda is hiding something. She believes her brother Mitch died during the plane crash and Melinda is seeing his ghost.

text: At the end of season one, it was revealed it was Andrea who had died during the crash and not Mitch. While Andrea was not on the plane, she died because her car had been on the path the plane had crashed on. Romano attempts to prevent Andrea from crossing over into the Light and get her to join him on the Dark Side. Melinda would not allow such a horrific occurrence to happen to her friend, so she sets out to stop Romano and warn Andrea. With the help of an occult professor at Rockland University, Rick Payne, Melinda is able to help Andrea find peace and cross over into the Light. Her death was foreshadowed in Season 1, Episode 15. Romano is seen sitting in a chair in the antique store. When he disappears, a faint sound of an airplane engine is heard.

text: Andrea is later mentioned in "Drowned Lives", "A Grave Matter", "Delia's First Ghost" and "The Prophet". Also, while having been successfully crossed over into the Light for over a year, two ghosts taunt Melinda by calling her Andrea during "Bad Blood".

text: In the season four episode, "Leap of Faith", when Jim swims to rescue Melinda and hits his head, he has flashbacks of his past as Jim, and Andrea can be seen briefly when remembering his wedding with Melinda. Andrea's date of death is in the book of changes backwards and was mentioned before a flashback of the plane crash which killed her.

text: Delia Banks[edit]

text:
Delia Banks

First appearance
"Love Still Won't Die"
2x02, September 29, 2006

Last appearance
"The Children's Parade"
5x22, May 21, 2010

Portrayed by
Camryn Manheim

Information

Gender
Female

Spouse(s)
Charlie Banks (deceased)

Children
Ned Banks

text: Delia Banks (portrayed by Camryn Manheim) joined the main cast of Ghost Whisperer at the start of season 2. She and her teenage son, Ned, lost their husband and father, Charlie, three years prior to their appearance on the show. Delia became a real estate agent after Charlie's death.

text: Delia meets Melinda Gordon after Melinda calls Delia about Ned's having tried to shoplift from Melinda's antique store. Delia tells Melinda about how stressful her job as a real estate agent is, so Melinda offers her a job to help work at the antique store, which Delia accepts. They begin a friendship, though Delia does not know about Melinda's gift at first. In the episode "Delia's First Ghost", Melinda has to tell Delia about her gift because Charlie's spirit is haunting her. At first Delia calls Melinda crazy, admitting she had seen Melinda talking to herself and was worried. Delia even goes as far as to tell Melinda not to expect her at work again. By the end of the episode Delia learns, with Melinda's help, Charlie is only haunting her because he wants her to be safe. While still a little skeptical of Melinda's gift, Delia tells her that she will open the shop the next morning.

text: Delia remains skeptical concerning Melinda's gift in season three, but discusses the various ghosts Melinda encounters to help Melinda with them. When Melinda was stalked by a lawyer, Shane, he tampered with Ned's records because Delia was trying to get him into private school. Nevertheless, when Shane was caught with Ned's records, Ned got in. In episode 5, "Weight of What Was", Delia travels along with Jim and Rick into a series of underground tunnels and alleyways from a much older Grandview to find Melinda. With the help of a ghost named Tessa, they manage to locate her and get her to safety. In "Bad Blood", Delia's need to find a rational explanation for every situation, including ones involving ghosts, is brought up. Delia tells Melinda that she will try harder to accept the notion of ghosts. In the episode "Heart and Soul", Delia's need for a rational explanation nearly destroys her relationship with Melinda, but a conversation with her son and a moment with "Sam" at a basketball court provides her with faith in Melinda's gift. She now believes Jim is living in Sam's body. Sometime within the five-year leap between seasons 4 and 5 she left working for Melinda to open a Real Estate agency next to the shop, however she is frequently seen helping Melinda in the shop at various points in the series and remains Melinda's best friend.

text: Ned Banks[edit]

text: Ned Banks was originally portrayed by Tyler Patrick Jones, but starting with season 3 episode "Slambook!" Christoph Sanders took over the role. Ned is a nice guy who has dedicated his life to helping Melinda with the occult. He is the son of Delia and Charlie Banks. The events of his adolescence have been part of the plots of some episodes.

text: Ned was caught shoplifting at Melinda's antique shop, stealing Grateful Dead backstage passes. Melinda realized his behavior was the result of a spirit's urging. Ned found out Melinda's secret before his mother did when he overheard Melinda in the episode "Curse of the Ninth." He is always eager to help Melinda with her ghosts. A few episodes later, when his deceased father Charlie visits him and his mother, Melinda helps his father go into the Light. In the season three episode "No Safe Place," Ned gets into a private school.

text: In "Slambook," Ned (played by Christoph Sanders from then on) is on the basketball team when a ghost begins tampering with the scoreboard. In the episode "Home But Not Alone," Ned has his first girlfriend and (probably) his first kiss. In season 4, there was a plot which involved his mother suspecting him of smoking marijuana, but as it turned out, it was his mother's friend's joint. As of season five, he is a student at Rockland University. In "Dead Air" he is a host of a radio show, and has cheated on his girlfriend TJ (which he later regrets and apologizes for).

text: In season 5, Ned is studying Anthropology of the Occult at Rockland University. He uses his knowledge to help Melinda and Eli solve the mystery of the Shadows and Shinies, also aiding them in crossing over spirits. Ned, Melinda, and Eli take turns keeping the Book of Changes.

text: Rick Payne[edit]

text:
Richard "Rick" Payne

First appearance
"Love Never Dies"
2x01, September 22, 2006 (As recurring cast)
"The Underneath"
3x01, September 28, 2007 (As main cast)

Last appearance
"Firestarter"
4x01, October 3, 2008

Portrayed by
Jay Mohr

Information

Nickname(s)
Rick, Ricky, Payne

Gender
Male

Occupation
Professor at Rockland University

Spouse(s)
Kate Payne (wife; deceased)

text: Rick Payne (portrayed by Jay Mohr) is a professor at Rockland University. He is a widower; his wife, Kate, died in a crane accident before his first appearance in the series.

text: At the beginning of season two, Melinda Gordon first seeks Rick Payne's help to save her deceased friend, Andrea Marino, who is being attacked by a dark spirit, Romano. She finds him teaching an occult class at Rockland University. She continues to seek Rick's help for various paranormal occurrences throughout the rest of the season. Rick first meets Melinda's husband, Jim Clancy, when Melinda recommends Jim talk to him about a ghost. It is in "The Night We Met" that Rick first questions Melinda about whether or not she believes she has supernatural abilities, as well as meets Melinda's close friend and co-worker, Delia Banks. It is only in the episode "Cat's Claw" that Melinda finally informs Rick of her abilities. In the season finale, Rick and Melinda are seen working very closely trying to figure out who Gabriel Lawrence, a dark Ghost Whisperer, really is. Rick, Jim, and Melinda go as far as breaking into Gabriel's home. It is also revealed Rick's wife, Kate, is a ghost who worked for the dark side but would later cross over into the Light after telling her husband a secret she had been keeping from him since she died.

text: The character joins the main cast in season three. At the beginning of this season, Rick appears to be worried about Melinda after her near-death experience. He also works a large deal more with Melinda on some things. In "The Weight of What Was", Rick, Jim, and Delia all travel into old Grandview to try finding Melinda. Jim and Delia are aided by a ghost named Tessa, an ancestor of Melinda's, and locate the trapped Melinda. Rick also helps Melinda search town death records for information about Tessa, who at the time Melinda believed to be Gabriel's mother, though a group of ghosts attempt to stop them from finding anything. In "Double Exposure", Rick's date and co-worker, Claudia, is haunted by a ghost who makes it so she cannot appear in any pictures.

text: It seems Rick had somewhat of a crush on Melinda when they first met; he was clearly embarrassed by everything he said to her, afraid it might sound stupid. The crush dissipated after he met Jim, Melinda's husband, but they remain very close friends.

text: Abrasive at times, Professor Rick Payne is often perceived as obnoxious on first impression, but most of the time he means well. Sarcastic and sometimes insensitive, he has a tendency to shout randomly and hates to be awakened by late night telephone calls. Even though he does not appreciate the title, he is rather well known as a genius, and spouts useless information at times. He has admitted that he talks a lot when he is nervous, but he talks a lot whether he is nervous or not. Professor Payne is quick-witted and highly intelligent, taking delight in annoying people and considers the reactions he gets from being rude amusing. He feels that he is taken for granted too often and likes to tell people so, though some believe it is only a technique to make others feel sorry for him. He has a certain charm, despite his ability to annoy even those with saintly amounts of patience, and he is a good friend to those who can stand to stick with him.

text: Eli James[edit]

text:
Eli James

First appearance
"Firestarter"
4x01, October 3, 2008

Last appearance
"The Children's Parade"
5x22, May 21, 2010

Portrayed by
Jamie Kennedy

Information

Gender
Male

Occupation
Professor at Rockland University, therapist

Family
Ray James (father; deceased)
Evelyn James (mother; deceased)
Zoe Ramos (girlfriend; deceased)

text: Eli James (Jamie Kennedy) was introduced in the first episode of season four.

text: During a building fire on the Rockland University campus on October 3, 2008, he died but was brought back, causing him to have a near death experience. It unlocked an ability which allows him to hear ghosts, but doesn't allow him to see them like Melinda. Throughout the fourth season, he adjusts to his newfound ability and starts helping her cross ghosts over. Eli also helps Melinda when she needs information from the Police.

text: Zoe, previous Guardian of the Book of Changes and Eli's ex-girlfriend, died after falling off the stairs in an attempt to stop a thief influenced by a Watcher. At the end of Season 4, Zoe crossed into the light (or so it seems) after telling Eli he was the next Guardian of the Book of Changes. In Season 5, it is revealed Eli is one of Ned's university lecturers. Evelyn, Eli's mother, died 7 years ago, even though in "Stage Fright" he told Melinda and Jim he was getting an autograph for his mom who watches the show which was visiting Grandview. Eli's father, Ray James, died from a heart-attack in the third episode of Season 5, "Till Death Do Us Start," which shared more shocking secrets about Eli's parents.

text: Eli and Melinda over time become very close friends. At first, Eli thought that Melinda was crazy (as almost everyone always does when she shares about her gift) until he realized he could do the same thing (almost). As he learns more about his gift, he becomes more and more willing to help Melinda with the hauntings and even enjoys it.

text: Aiden Lucas[edit]

text: Aiden Lucas (portrayed by Connor Gibbs) is the son of Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy. Aiden is also the grandson of Paul Eastman and Beth Gordon who are Melinda's parents and Aiden and Faith Clancy who are Jim's parents.

text: Aiden was born on September 25, 2009. Before his birth, the watchers predict him and tell Melinda that her son is the key if the ghost's balances shift, and he will be more powerful than she is. On the day of his birth, Melinda worries about her son's fate. During his birth, Melinda needs an emergency C-section and Aiden suddenly goes into fetal distress in the operating room. First, the watcher (Carl) warned Melinda of her child’s power and the danger he may come into, stops time to tell her Fate and Free Will will work together to decide whether or not the baby will live. He quickly disappears and time restarts. While the baby is not breathing at first, he suddenly recovers to full health. Later in recovery, Melinda tells Jim they will name the baby Aiden Lucas, after Jim’s father and the late Sam Lucas.

text: Years later, the family is celebrating Aiden's upcoming fifth birthday. Every year on his birthday something bad happens; Aiden strangely gets sick or something happens to Melinda or Jim. Delia and Melinda call it a birthday curse. However, Aiden is actually haunted by the ghost of the woman who died during childbirth when Melinda gave birth to Aiden. The woman believes Aiden is the spirit of her dead son and she haunts Aiden every year on his birthday.

text: Melinda discovers this and finds out the ghost's son, Tyler, is actually alive and safe with his real father and adoptive mother, Aiden saved Tyler earlier in a bowling accident and Melinda helped the woman go into the light. Later, Carl reveals to Melinda that Aiden is an empath and can feel other people's emotions; he would get sick on his birthday and something went wrong with his birth because of the ghost.

text: In addition to being an empath, Aiden is able to see and communicate with ghosts like his mother and grandparents do, and he is psychically connected to Melinda. Melinda does not tell Aiden this because she wants him to have a normal life.

text: Aiden is able to see things Melinda can't, namely the Shinies (which Aiden refers to as "faceless" and made of "light") and the Shadows, which can be defeated easily by the Shinies, but the Shinies are too afraid of them to do so.

text: Supporting characters[edit]

text: Beth Gordon[edit]

text: Beth Gordon (portrayed by Anne Archer), Melinda's mother and Aiden's grandmother, has the ability to communicate with ghosts, but chooses not to. She never came to terms with her mother or Melinda when it came to their gifts and prefers not to speak of anything that has to do with ghosts, or her husband Tom Gordon. Before she met Tom, she was in a relationship with a man named Paul Eastman, whom she was having a baby with when he went to jail. Once he died, Beth married Tom and never told Melinda about her real father. In "Pater Familias", Paul convinces Beth to tell Melinda the truth. She is then invited to watch the tall ships come into the harbor with Melinda, Jim and their friends, Rick, Delia, and Ned. She appeared in the episodes "Melinda's First Ghost", "The Vanishing", "The Underneath", and "Pater Familias".[2]

text: Mary Ann Patterson[edit]

text: Mary Ann, (played by June Squibb) - Melinda's grandmother and Aiden's great grandmother, now deceased, was a person who spoke to ghosts. It was she who gave lost spirits the title "earthbound." She helped them cross over into the Light (Heaven). Her gift was passed down to Melinda, the current "ghost whisperer." Mary Ann crossed over into the Light so she is currently a "Light" Spirit. She helps Melinda bring ghosts to peace through dreams in two episodes: "Voices" and "The Gathering". It is later revealed, in Season 3, that Melinda's maternal great-great-great-grandmother, Tessa (Amy Acker), could also communicate with ghosts and Melinda helps her cross over. When Melinda tells Tessa the fate of her daughter (in "Weight of What Was"), it is revealed that Mary Anne was the granddaughter of Julie Lee Lucas. Her married name was Patterson, according to Melinda. Melinda was in high school when her grandmother died and Melinda did not realize it until her grandmother said something about presence and then it dawned on Melinda that her grandmother was talking about her death and Melinda's loss of her grandmother.

text: Romano[edit]

text: Romano (John Walcutt), also known as "Wide Brim" (due to his outfit: black suit and black hat) was an American evil cult leader who lived in Spain, and who committed suicide along with 100 followers in 1939. The energy of the mass suicide made him powerful and strong, and he went to the Dark Side. He can be considered Melinda's true archenemy. He started to trick souls to go with him, by making them refuse to "cross over" into The Light.

text: When Romano first appeared on the show, his appearances were quick and mysterious, and he was usually attached to a laughing man who had, theretofore, never spoken. He always seemed to be observing Melinda. When in the episode "The One", the final episode of season one, a plane crashes outside Grandview, he attempts to gather all of the lost souls from the accident. This is the first time he declares his hatred and rivalry to Melinda, and he says he would release all "his earthbound souls" in exchange for her one soul.

text: Romano and Melinda confront each other verbally, each using persuasive speeches directed to the souls from the plane crash. Finally, Romano manages to get at least seven of the souls, including a stewardess who later does go into the Light in season two.

text: In "Love Never Dies", season two episode one, Romano tries to prevent Melinda's friend Andrea from crossing over into The Light. Melinda gathers all her strength to make Andrea cross over, and she learns with the help of Professor Rick Payne the identity of Romano. Payne also warns Melinda about Romano's real purpose: to destroy good spirits (the ones in charge of helping souls to "cross over" into The Light, such as Melinda) in order to make the dead stronger than the living, and to be endlessly powerful. According to Payne, Dark Spirit Romano would literally take over a weak soul in a weak body to make too much harm to humanity, until the last trace of joy and happiness vanished from earth. It is impossible for Romano to get closer when Melinda helps spirits to "cross over" into The Light, because there is too much love, and love is what Romano hates.

text: Romano last appeared in season two, episode one, when he was unsuccessful in trying to possess Andrea's soul. However, mid-season two, Melinda seems to foreshadow Romano's comeback, when Delia Banks tries on a black hat which resembles Romano's, although nothing arises from this. Melinda loosely references Romano in an episode of season five; when discussing the Shadows, she mentions that she's seen similar ghosts before, ones which didn't "cross over, so much as "cross under" much like Romano does with his followers. This reference could tell viewers that Romano ultimately became a Shadow after Andrea crossed over, and this is why he does not appear to Melinda for the rest of the series.

text: Charlie Banks[edit]

text: Delia was married to Charlie Banks (Frederic Lehne) until he died three years prior to Delia's first appearance on the show. They had a loving relationship. After a fire at the place where Charlie worked, Charlie was said to be different and more of a family man. We also learn that it was Tim who saved Charlie's life. Together with Charlie, Delia had her twelve-year-old son, Ned.[3] Charlie died after being shot.

text: Tim Flaherty[edit]

text: In the episode "The Walk-In", Tim Flaherty (Thomas Wilson), a friend and co-worker of Jim's, is trying to get Delia to go out on a date with him, something Delia refuses to do. In "Delia's First Ghost", Tim tries to get Jim to tell him what Delia likes so he can impress her. Charlie, Delia's dead husband, helps him by knocking over a pot of lavender roses Delia likes. Tim also buys a motorcycle exactly like the one Charlie used to have. At the end of the episode, they are seen walking away hand in hand. He reappears in the fourth season in the episode Threshold. He is at Jim's funeral and talks about Jim before turning on an iPod with rock music which he says Jim would have wanted.[4]

text: Gabriel Lawrence[edit]

text: Gabriel Lawrence (Ignacio Serricchio) claims to be Melinda's half-brother. He is also a "ghost whisperer". It is unclear who he inherited this gift from, since none of his parents have that gift. When he was a child, Gabriel knew he could interact with the dead, but nobody believed him, and he received psychiatric treatment in a mental health institution. Gabriel never had a living friend. In fact, all of his friends were dead, and he always hated watching them "cross over" into The Light. He managed to get out of the mental health institution by lying. He was in the same mental health institution his mother resided in.

text: In "The Collector" episode, Gabriel is now in his late twenties, and he has recently moved to Grandview. He mentions Grandview always brings him memories. Melinda Gordon has the opportunity to meet him, and she is amazed by the gift they have in common. Melinda warns Gabriel about a shift in the "other world": ghosts are becoming stronger. She tells him how she struggled against a very dark spirit called Romano the year before, when a plane crashed in Grandview.

text: However, Melinda discovers she was naive to believe in Gabriel, who had invited her to work with him in the difficult task of dealing with ghosts. Gabriel turns out to be a Ghost Whisperer from the Dark Side, and he had been gathering souls to get prepare for what "was coming", a complex prophecy of the death of a "loved one".

text: Gabriel, along with the dark spirits, was blocking The Light, because he was trying to make the dead stronger than the living. When Melinda, Jim Clancy, and Rick Payne break into Gabriel's house, they find out Gabriel's obsession with Melinda. He had been observing her moves for quite a long time. At the end of season two, both Gabriel and Melinda struggle against each other for the fate of living and dead.

text: Gabriel returns to Grandview in the third season episode "Weight of What Was", informing Melinda he is her half-brother. He hands her a package containing images of her father's family. An image in the package, in fact from Melinda's mother's past, leads Melinda to an underground church and her great-great-great grandmother, Tessa. A ghost which haunts the archives of Grandview tells Gabriel that Melinda has entered the tunnel, and Gabriel blocks the exit, preventing Melinda from escaping the way she entered. The episode ends with Gabriel speaking to Tom Gordon about what seems like a plan to get Melinda to help ghosts in a dark way. While in Grandview, he resided in a hotel under the name Gabriel Gordon. Gabriel also appears in "All Ghosts Lead to Grandview", wherein he has a brief conversation with Melinda at the end of the episode.

text: Thomas Gordon[edit]

text: Thomas "Tom" Gordon (Martin Donovan) first appears in the plot in season two's finale, although he has previously appeared in some flashbacks. When Melinda "dies" in season two's finale, she confronts what appears to be an already dead Tom, who tells her she is ready to find the darkness within herself, and also tells her she has a brother, later revealed to be Gabriel. In season three, Tom has contact with both Melinda and Gabriel, manifesting himself in Melinda's dreams, and speaking as a ghost with Gabriel. It has been suggested Tom is part of the Dark Side, and he is developing a plan to get Melinda into the Dark Side.

text: In the penultimate episode of season three, however, Tom is found alive in Gabriel's home. Melinda later learns every time she had seen Tom's "ghost", his body had in fact been taken over by Paul Eastman, when he was trying to kill Tom. Melinda then finds out Tom actually is not her father, Paul Eastman is. After discovering this shocking truth, Melinda goes to the main square in town to think, where Tom meets her. He asks her to come back to the house she grew up in. There he gets her to go back through her memories to the night Paul Eastman had come to their house. Just then Melinda realizes Tom is actually a cold-blooded killer; she remembers Tom deliberately murdering Paul Eastman. Tom then informs her that he now has to kill her to keep his secret safe. As he tries to choke her to death, Melinda cries out to her dad, to which Tom answers, "I'm not your Dad". Melinda replies she wasn't talking to Tom but actually was asking for help from her real father. Paul Eastman then arrives and takes over Tom's body one last time, forcing him to throw himself over the staircase, effectively killing him. Soon afterwards he appears before Melinda. Tom is then pulled away by an unknown force to an unknown location.[5]

text: Paul Eastman[edit]

text: Paul Eastman (Corin Nemec) first appears in Melinda's dreams as someone who haunted her and/or wanted to haunt her. She soon discovers that he was an escaped prisoner accused of killing a child whose ghost Melinda was attempting to cross over. However, before he crosses over, the boy admits that his death was an accident, and that he had spoken to Eastman as a ghost to lead him to his body. This led to his wrongful incarceration. In the season 3 finale, it is revealed he is Melinda's biological father, not Tom Gordon. Paul set a series of "clues" to help Melinda see the truth. To quicken the process and save Melinda, he convinces her mother to tell Melinda the truth. Melinda is initially in disbelief and consoled by Tom, who convinces her to follow him to a safe place. The "safe" place is Melinda's childhood home and Paul Eastman's burial site. Once they arrive, Tom probes Melinda about her memory of Paul's death; she eventually has a flashback revealing Tom deliberately killed Paul. Tom decided he must kill Melinda to protect himself from the truth being revealed. Melinda cries out to her dad, to which Tom replies: "Don't call me Dad. I'm not your Father." Melinda answers, "I wasn't talking to you." As Tom realizes who Melinda had been calling to, Paul enters Tom's body and forces him to fall to his death. Paul talks to Melinda and her mother and says he thought that he would never be so angry with his former lover, and only hearing his daughter calling for her dad made all of his anger disappear. He then went into The Light. He has one grandson by Melinda, Aiden. In life, he apparently had the ability to speak to ghosts just like Melinda and her maternal relations, meaning that Melinda received her ability from both parents.[6]

text: Zoe Ramos[edit]

text: Zoe Ramos (Jaclyn DeSantis) is Eli's ex-girlfriend and a professor at Rockland University. She knows a lot about the supernatural, because she teaches a course entitled the "Science of the Occult." Zoe and Eli had broken up because at the time he didn't share her beliefs regarding ghosts, life after death, etc. At the end of the fourth season, Eli decides to resume contact with her. Zoe helps Melinda and Eli with cases involving voodoo and vampirism (episodes "Cursed" and "Endless Love").

text: In season four's finale, Eli observes Zoe having lunch with a lawyer, Jeremy Bishop, and becomes very jealous. When Eli attempts the theft of an ancient book from the library of the University, Zoe tells him the true value of the book, which she has studied. Eli decides to invite Zoe out for dinner. When she fails to appear, Eli goes to Zoe's house and finds her dead. Her spirit tells Eli she died from falling down the stairs while a thief, influenced by a Watcher, entered her house to put the Book there.

text: After securing the Book, Eli calls to Zoe, who informs him about the Other Side. She tells him that she was the "Guardian of the Book of Changes" and, henceforth, he will need to take care of the Book. Eli agrees and realizes he still loves Zoe. After saying goodbye to Eli, Zoe goes into the light.[7]

text: Spirits[edit]

text: Characters that appear as spirit guest stars:

text:
Season
Ep
Name(Actor)
Death Cause
Status
Notes

Pre-deceased
Mary Ann (June Squibb)
Natural Causes
Crossed over
Melinda's grandmother, seen in several episodes. (flashback)

Romano
Mass-suicide through cyanide-laced punch
Lost spirit/Shadow
Dead pre-Ghost Whisperer. American expatriate in Spain.

Web episode
Zach
Crashes his bike and hits his head on a piece of debris
Crossed over
Crossed over in season 3 episode 16.

Season 1
1
Paul Adams (Wentworth Miller)
Died when his helicopter crashed into a waterfall
Crossed over

2
Kenny Dale (Joseph Castanon)
Train crashed into the car
Shiny
Was a little boy that didn't understand he was dead.

3
Zoe Harper (Jessica Collins)
Drowned in a lake
Crossed over
Zoe stayed to watch over her sister.

4
Conor Donovan (Sean Maher)
Crashes his bike and hits his head on a rock
Crossed over
Conor stayed to watch over his girlfriend

5
Rat (Lorenzo James Henrie )
Vic (Max Jansen Weinstein)
Marty (Terrence Hardy Jr.)
Homer (Ghost Dog)
All burned to death in a fire
Shiny
Shiny
Shiny
Did not cross over
Rat doesn't want to cross over because he blames himself for the deaths of the other boys.
Vic and Marty follow rat
Stays with Melinda and Jim as their pet ghost-dog. Seen in several episodes, last seen in Season 2.

6
Jason Shields (John Patrick Amedori)
Anaphylaxis due to multiple hornet stings
Crossed over
Jason wanted to meet his biological mom.

7
Hope Paulson (Erica Leerhsen )
Complications from an ectopic pregnancy
Crossed over

8
Julian Borgia (Robert LaSardo)
Robert Hall (G-Man)
Alexis' Aunt Ruth
Vehicular homicide
Shot and killed by police
Natural causes
Crossed over
Lost Spirit
Crossed over
First case of a spirit communicating through Melinda's husband
Died 1963
Reappeared to let Melinda know an emerald necklace was buried with her.

9
Lacy Jensen (Colleen Flynn)
Electrocuted when she fell down a pit
Crossed over
Lacy didn't cross over because she was worried about her son.

10
Serena Hilliard (Laura Regan)
Josh/Best man (David Lipper)
Car went off the road and crashed into tree
Crossed over
Crossed over

11
Estella de La Costa (Sonia Braga)
Inoperable brain tumor
Crossed over

12
Marty Golden (Jed Rees)
Numerous Ghosts
Suicide through jumping off a bridge
Numerous deaths
Crossed over
Stayed at the Comedy Cave.

13
Lyle Chase (Jonathan Banks)
Heart attack
Crossed over
He was searching for his granddaughter's killer.

14
Clete Youngblood (Liam Waite)
Execution by hanging
Crossed over

15
Sarah Applewhite (Abigail Breslin)
Glioma (cancer of the brain's glia cells)
Shiny
Melinda's classmate and first ghost she saw.

16
Dennis McMartin (Matt Keeslar)
Dr. Bob Norris (Josh Daugherty)
Dennis' and Charlie's Father (Michael Fairman)
Fell off a mountain; died in the hospital
Unknown
Heart attack
Crossed over
Crossed over
Crossed over
Andrea's friend
Died two years before; was haunting the hospital.

17
Daniel Greene (David Dorfman)
Reggie Zuko (Scott Rinker)
Car crash after car was hit and slammed into guard rail
Brain tumor
Crossed over
Lost spirit
Appeared in several episodes and seen at the end of Season 2.

18
Edward Pierce (Jonathan Firth)
Ventriloquist and the Dummy (Blair Hickey)
Drowned during Circus act in circus pool
Car accident after car went off road and crashed into tree
Crossed over
Lost spirit

19
Ely Fisher (Giancarlo Esposito)
Rachel Fisher (Femi Emiola)
"Rain Check" Nurse (Sarah Hunley)
Bludgeoned to death with a lead pipe
Heart attack
Unknown
Crossed over
Crossed over
Uncertain but most likely crossed over.

20
Brian Fordyce (Chris Olivero)
Heart attack
Crossed over

21
22
Ken Nilson/pilot (Chris Ellis)
Almost all people killed in airplane crash
At least three people in airplane crash
All died in plane crash due to pilot error
Crossed over
Crossed over
Lost spirit

Season 2
1
Andrea Marino (Aisha Tyler)
Plane landed on her car and crushed her to death
Crossed over
Killed in Season 1 Episode 21, co-owner of Melinda's antique shop.

2
Jamie Barton (Greg Cipes)
Kyle McCall/Mac (Michael Landes)
Unknown
Hit by a car
Crossed over
Crossed over
Was attached to Ned Banks
Melinda's former boyfriend.

3
Emily Morrison (Tatum McCann)
Fell into pool and drowned while reaching for a beach ball
Shiny

4
Dennis Hightower (Kevin Weisman)
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Crossed over

5
Adam Godfrey (David Paymer)
Marilyn Mandeville (Harriet Sansom Harris)
Struck by lightning
Heart attack
Crossed over
Crossed over

6
Eva Kaminsky (Amanda Tosch)
Sevoflurane (anaesthetic) poisoning
Crossed over

7
Anna Fowler (Bess Wohl)
Hypothermia
Crossed over

8
Warren Chen (Tim Kang)
Woman the night Melinda met Jim
Ghost in funeral home
Burned to death in arson crime
Died in building fire
Unknown
Crossed over
Crossed over
Did not cross over

9
Patrick Roth (Norbert Weisser)
Jared (John Paul Pitoc)
Natural causes
Plane crash due to pilot error
Crossed over
Lost spirit

10
Matt Vonner (Christopher Wiehl)
Car crash due to car spinning and crashing into a
light pole

Crossed over

11
Dr. Martin Schaer (Reed Diamond)
Dengue fever from mosquito bite
Crossed over

12
Hugh Bristow (Brad Rowe)
Taken off life support due to Lou Gehrig's disease
Crossed over

13
Eric Sanborn / John Richmond / Oscar Hodges / Richard Ward (David Clayton Rogers)
Aortic aneurysm
Crossed over
Was a spirit that died 4 times after being reincarnated. Melinda believes him staying behind was a sign that he was to be her and Jim's future child they would have together.

14
Gordon Pike (Eric Johnson)
Car crash due to drag racer crashing into wall
Crossed over

15
Tais Baker (Rhea Lando)
Pipe explosion in the high school boiler room
Crossed over

16
Randy Cooper (Chad Donella)
Suffocated due to an asthma attack
Lost spirit

17
Bryan Curtis(Jamie Bamber)
Jason Bennett (Dan Byrd)
Suicide by stepping out into traffic
Muscular dystrophy
Crossed over
Crossed over

18
Valerie Parker (Kathleen Wilhoite)
Abdominal aneurysm
Crossed over

19
Charlie Banks (Fredric Lehne)
Jackson Reynolds (Gil McKinney)
Shot and killed by Milt Charles
Slipped and hit head on rock.
Crossed over
Crossed over
Delia Banks' husband
Naked soldier. (ranked private)

20
Martina Rose (Allison McAtee)
Amy Fields (Rachel Cannon)
Heart attack
Airplane crash due to pilot error
Lost spirit
Crossed over

Amy Fields died in the Season 1 finale.

21
Dana Clark (Vivian Wu)
Boat sinks due to hull being torn by rocks
Crossed over
Prophet ghost, wife of Ethan Clark.

22
Dana Clark (Vivian Wu)
Boat sinks due to hull being torn by rocks
Crossed over

Season 3
1
Ray Billings
Scott
Carbon monoxide explosion
Unknown
Crossed over
Lost spirit
Originally haunting Melinda's mother
Haunts the archives; portrayed by Kris Lemche.

2
Rachel Fordham (Mae Whitman)
Heart attack
Crossed over
Thought she was Bloody Mary.

3
Hector Sanchez
Steve Simmon
Dekker
Killed in landmine explosion
Crossed over
Crossed over
Crossed over

4
Colleen Finn (Sarah Utterback)
Shane Carson (Josh Hopkins)
Falling over stairway railing
Suicide by overdosing
Crossed over
Lost spirit
Shane stalked Melinda and Colleen.

5
Tessa Lucas
Several Other Ghosts
Burned to death after being accused of witchcraft
All burned to death in a fire someone caused after eating diseased bread
Crossed over
Lost spirits
Melinda's great-great-great-grandmother that died in 1848. Lost spirits are in the old Grandview.

6
Kevin Graham
Car crash due to car colliding with another car
Crossed over

7
Sydney Drake
Overwhelming withdrawal symptoms
Crossed over

8
Liz Sinclair (Stacy Edwards)
Matt Sembrook (Matthew Morrison)
Vivian Sembrook (Kathleen York)
Falling off a cliff
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Crossed over
Lost spirit
Lost spirit
Liz Sinclair sacrificed herself so her husband could save their daughter.

9
Daniel Asher
Audrey Asher
Sam Asher
Burned to death in a car crash
Car crash due to car colliding with gasoline tanker
Car crash due to car colliding with a gasoline tanker
Shiny
Crossed over
Crossed over

10
Alan Silver
Heart attack
Did not cross over
Thought he was Santa, realized he wasn't, but decided he liked helping kids so he stuck around.

11
Thomas Benjamin
Hit his head on a chalkboard
Crossed over

12
Peter Harrison
Requested euthanasia via lethal dose of isonitrile
Crossed over

13
Karen Benzing
Cancer
Crossed over

14
Justin Yates
Julie Anderson (Katie Lowes)
brain aneurysm
Drowned on boat she capsized for an insurance scam.
Crossed over
Lost Spirit

15
Toby Bates
Fell out of a window
Crossed over

16
Kate Payne (Rachel Shelley)
Zach
Crushed to death by a crane
Crashed his bike and hit his head on a piece of debris
Crossed over
Crossed over
Rick Payne's wife, seen in previous episodes.
Web episode

17
Michael Wilkins
Fell off a tree and was hanged by the cape he was wearing
Shiny

18
Paul Eastman
Tom Gordon
Bludgeoned to death with a stair post
Thrown down the stairs
Crossed over
Lost spirit
Melinda's father, killed pre-Ghost Whisperer
Melinda's stepfather.

Season 4
1
Fiona Raine
Burned to death in a fire
Crossed over

2
Lucas Marston
Accidental drug overdose
Crossed over
Melinda's classmate.

3
Larry Jones
Heart attack
Crossed over

4
Lorelei (Peyton List)
Betty (Katherine LaNasa)
Several other ghosts
Fell to her death in a ship duct
Heart failure
Various deaths
Crossed over
Refused to cross over
Crossed over

5
Diana Morrison
Blood clot in lung
Crossed over

6
Owen Grace
Jim Clancy
Accidentally drowned due to leg brace
Air embolism due to being shot in the shoulder
Shiny
Living in Sam Lucas' body
-
Melinda's husband

7
Sam Lucas
Caitlin Mahoney
Dan Clancy
Car crash due to car colliding with other car
Died from complications of Anorexia Nervosa
Fell off a roof and died
Crossed over
Crossed over
Crossed over
-
-
Jim Clancy's brother, seen in the pilot episode. Crossed over in this episode.

8
Allen Walters
Car crash due to hitting a motorcycle
Crossed over
Was the driver of the car that hit Sam Lucas' motorcycle; he was angry that "Sam"/Jim came back to life.

9
Gretchen Dennis
Fell down a well and drowned while reaching for a note she stuck on the inside-wall of the well
Shiny

10
Tammy Gardner/ Sarah Evers
Murder via being drugged and carbon monoxide poisoning
Crossed over

11
Josh Bancroft
Exsanguination after being thrown from a riding mower and cut up
Shiny

12
Angela Hollensbach
Myrna Cooperton
Frank Whitaker
Drina
Hit by a car
Natural Causes
Truck gave way while fixing flat
Unknown
Crossed over
Crossed over
Crossed over
Did not cross over
Delia's old friend from high school/First ghost that Eli crossed over without Melinda

13
Carl Sessick
Edwin Hathaway
Numerous Ghosts
Died of lung cancer
Stroke
Various deaths
Did not cross over
Crossed over
All crossed over
Followed the Watchers, on the quest for good
Died in the hospital but dumped into the lake due to furnace problems at funeral home
Dumped into a lake due to furnace problems at funeral home

14
Deborah Marks
Tripped and hit her head on a fireplace post
Crossed over
Had to let the son she gave up for adoption know that she was his mother. He had been falling for his half sister. Her daughter though Deborah had a crush on him.

15
Rebecca Kelly
Caught in a rock slide, pushed off a cliff face and was hanged by a net
Crossed over

16
Jeffery Crocket (Carrie's Dad)
Natural causes
Crossed over

17
Grier Clarkson
Numerous Ghosts
Botched shock therapy treatments
Botched shock therapy treatments
Crossed over
Crossed over

18
Joseph Webb
Calvin Byrd
Leukemia
Natural Causes
Living in Ben Tillman's body
Crossed over
Became a "step-in", living in Ben Tillman's body

19
Rick Hartman
Committed suicide by jumping out of a plane
Crossed over

20
Miles Maitland
Prop gun backfired and shot him in the side of his head.
Crossed over

21
Stanton family
Marc
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Crossed over
Did not cross over
Web episode

22
Andrew Carlin
Thrombocytosis
Crossed over

23
Zoe Ramos
Fell down the stairs
Crossed over
Eli's girlfriend; guardian of the Book of Changes

Season 5
1
Amber Heaton
Aortic rupture during childbirth
Crossed over

2
Gwen Coritter
Paula Coritter
Scarlet Breslin
Hit by an SUV
Inoperable brain tumor
Accused of slanderous gossip, eyes and mouth were stitched shut
Crossed over
Crossed over
Lost Spirit
Scarlet made Julia Miller create the "Sally Stitch" website.

3
Ray James
Evelyn James
Heart attack
Aneurysm
Did not cross over
Did not cross over
Eli's parents. They stayed around to watch over Eli.

4
Dr. Albert Glassman
Ghost in the morgue
Heart attack
Unknown
Crossed over
Unknown
The ghost in the morgue probably cross under just like Greta Hansen

5
Amy Warner
Breast cancer
Crossed over

6
Sean Jackson
Thrown off of a horse
Crossed over

7
Tina Clark
Drug overdose and car accident
Crossed over

8
Kirk Jansen
Rita Jansen
Walked into a crawl space that had aflatoxis, a mold that made him go into anaphylaxis
Fatal electrocution from a light table she smashed with a golf club
Crossed over
Crossed over

9
Julia Miller
Leukemia
Shiny
Originally attached herself to Aiden to keep from going into the light.

10
Dylan Hale
Accidentally bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat
Crossed Over

11
Bruce Adler
Car accident when the car went into the river
Crossed Over

12
Trevor Marshall
Fell and was impaled to death by a metal pike
Crossed Over

13
Vernon Dokes
Marlene Dokes
Lane Dokes
Suicide by exsanguination from wrist cutting due to Fatal familial insomnia (FFI)
Exsanguination by being slashed in the arm
Suicide by jumping off a bridge due to FFI.
Crossed Over
Crossed Over
Shiny

14
Madison Clark
Car accident
Shiny

15
Joey Kale
Joshua Bedford
Numerous Ghosts
Suffocated to death inside an old army storage unit
Died in a bomb explosion
Numerous Deaths
Shiny
Did not cross over
Stayed on the old army base

16
Cassidy Peyton
Greta Hansen
Garrett
Naomi
Sick Boy
Guillain–Barré syndrome
Wheelchair fell down the stairs
Execution by electric chair
Execution by hanging
Disease
Shiny
Lost spirit
Crossed Over
Crossed Over
Did not cross over
Cassidy crossed over but came back to talk to Aiden and revealed that ghost children became shinies
Greta made a deal with the shadows that as long as she feeds them children's ghosts they would not take her.
Greta used Cassidy to lure him to their mansion before he died.

17
Shane Dunning
Fell through an ice lake and drowned
Crossed Over

18
Charles Hammond
Asphyxiated to death on a balloon
Crossed Over

19
Laura Bradley
Poisoned to death with Chloramine gas
Crossed Over

20
Henry Alston
Murdered by Geoff Colson via gunshot wound
Crossed Over

21
Seth Farber
Sharon Farber
Fell to his death off a roof
Died in the plane crash
Shiny
Crossed Over

She crossed over when all of the spirits in the plane crash crossed over at the same time in the Season 01 episode 22 "The One"

22
Pete Murphy (Billy Unger)
Numerous Children
Hodgkins Disease
Polio
Shiny
Shinies

text: Lost spirits[edit]

text: These are some of the spirits who either did not cross over or went to the Dark Side (Hell).

text:
Laughing Man (appears with Romano and is a ghostly agent for the dark side. He wears a two-piece suit and is usually seen laughing. He was portrayed by Douglas Bierman; death was from accidental ingestion of water dropwort)[8]
Bleeding Man (a dark spirit whose right hand is bleeding, hence his name. He was portrayed by Lou Glenn; death was from exsanguination)
Bloody Mary, a girl who was accidentally buried alive and died in the coffin, scratching her nails off on the seal of the coffin. Seen in the last seconds of Episode 2, Season 3
Giles Nickelburg (plane crash due to pilot error)
Greg Carter (car accident due to car going off a cliff)
Martha Rucker (building collapse)
Unnamed Man (conjunctivitis infection)
Greta Hansen (wheelchair fell down the stairs)
Tom Gordon (fell down the stairs)
Eli's parents (death from natural causes. Melinda helps them see The Light after solving a problem between them. The problem was caused by the fact that Eli's mother was a lesbian and had an affair with a friend. Eli's father thought she was really having a love affair with her friend's husband, making his spirit unable to cross over. They decide to stay to take care of her son, although he disagrees with the idea.)
Shane Carson (suicide to continue stalking Melinda)
Randy Cooper ( asthma attack)

text: Shinies and Shadows[edit]

text: Two different kinds of spirits that appear throughout the series. They are sworn enemies of each other, created by the emotions of ghosts, and feed upon others. Aiden Lucas, Melinda's son, is the only one who has the ability to see both of them while his mother and the Watchers cannot.

text: Shinies[edit]

text: Beings of good who are composed of light energy. Aiden reveals, in Season 5, that the Shinies are ghost children that have crossed over into The Light. He also comments that there are more Shinies than there are Shadows, and that if they were to go to war with each other, the Shinies would win. The Shadows prevent their growing numbers by consuming still-earthbound ghost children, making the Shinies fear them. But in the episode "The Children's Parade", Aiden reveals that if he, along with the other Shinies, use their combined power, they can defeat the Shadows forever.

text: In previous seasons, the Shinies have already revealed their presence to Melinda without her knowing. Carl, a Watcher, tells Melinda that she is surrounded by "light beings" watching over her and they are shown all throughout Grandview, watching over her during her wedding vow renewal. In later events, Melinda notices Aiden talking to himself. But later events reveal that Aiden has the ability to see these spirits (the Shinies), which she cannot see. Cassidy Peyton, a ghost girl Melinda crossed over, becomes a Shiny after going into The Light and becomes good friends with Aiden.

text: Shinies are attracted to "shiny things" such as flashlights, utensils, etc. Also, the Shinies are afraid of the Shadows, as depicted in the season 5 episode "Lost in the Shadows".

text: In the series finale ("The Children's Parade") the Shinies, led by Aiden, destroy the Shadows once and for all.

text: Shadows[edit]

text: The Shadows are ghosts who are seen as beings of darkness. Aiden reveals that the Shadows are either "broken pieces" left behind by ghosts who have crossed over or have "crossed under". Ghosts describe them as cold things and don't like to talk about them. They feed on the negative emotions of ghosts, especially ghost children, break their souls beyond repair, and feed on the rest of them.

text: In previous seasons, Gabriel was working for them, but since he disappeared they could no longer block The Light. They are extremely dangerous and use people, both living and dead, to gather the souls of ghost children so that they may feed; examples are President Bedford of Rockland University to get the Book of Changes, which helps Melinda, Eli and Aiden, but they killed him when he could not complete the task. Another is Greta Hansen, a woman in a wheelchair who helped the Shadows by luring children's spirits into her house (using Cassidy Peyton), but Melinda saved some spirits imprisoned by the ghost Greta.

text: Ravens are their symbols, and they fear lights, shiny things, and the Shinies.


document_title: World population

question_text: when is the world population expected to reach 8 billion

question_tokens: when is the world population expected to reach 8 billion

root

text: World population

text: Population by region[edit]

text: Six of the Earth's seven continents are permanently inhabited on a large scale. Asia is the most populous continent, with its 4.3 billion inhabitants accounting for 60% of the world population. The world's two most populated countries alone, China and India, together constitute about 37% of the world's population. Africa is the second most populated continent, with around 1 billion people, or 15% of the world's population. Europe's 733 million people make up 12% of the world's population as of 2012, while the Latin American and Caribbean regions are home to around 600 million (9%). Northern America, primarily consisting of the United States and Canada, has a population of around 352 million (5%), and Oceania, the least-populated region, has about 35 million inhabitants (0.5%).[24] Though it is not permanently inhabited by any fixed population, Antarctica has a small, fluctuating international population, based mainly in polar science stations. This population tends to rise in the summer months and decrease significantly in winter, as visiting researchers return to their home countries.[25]

tag: p

text: Population by continent[edit]

text:
Population by continent (2016 estimates)

Continent
Density
(inhabitants/km2)
Population
(millions)
Most populous country
Most populous city (metropolitan area)

Asia
96.4
4,436
1,382,300,000[note 1] -  China
35,676,000/13,634,685 -  Greater Tokyo Area/Tokyo Metropolis

Africa
36.7
1,216
0186,987,000 -  Nigeria
21,000,000 -  Lagos

Europe
72.9
738
0143,439,000 -  Russia;
approx. 110 million in Europe)
19,468,664 -  Moscow

North America[note 2]
22.9
579
0324,991,600 -  United States
23,723,696/08,537,673 -  New York Metropolitan Area/New York City

South America
22.8
422
0209,567,000 -  Brazil
27,640,577/11,316,149 -  Metro Area/São Paulo City

Oceania
4.5
39.9
0024,458,800 -  Australia
05,005,400 -  Sydney

Antarctica
0.0003
(varies)
0.004 in summer
(non-permanent, varies)[25]
N/A[note 3]
0000001,200 (non-permanent, varies) - McMurdo Station

tag: table

text: History[edit]

text: Estimates of world population by their nature are an aspect of modernity, possible only since the Age of Discovery. Early estimates for the population of the world[26] date to the 17th century: William Petty in 1682 estimated world population at 320 million (modern estimates ranging close to twice this number); by the late 18th century, estimates ranged close to one billion (consistent with modern estimates).[27] More refined estimates, broken down by continents, were published in the first half of the 19th century, at 600 to 1000 million in the early 1800s and at 800 to 1000 million in the 1840s.[28]

text: Antiquity and Middle Ages[edit]

text: Estimates of the population of the world at the time agriculture emerged in around 10,000 BCE have ranged between 1 million and 15 million.[29][30] Even earlier, genetic evidence suggests humans may have gone through a population bottleneck of between 1,000 and 10,000 people about 70,000 BCE, according to the Toba catastrophe theory. By contrast, it is estimated that around 50–60 million people lived in the combined eastern and western Roman Empire in the 4th century CE.[31]

text: The Plague of Justinian, which first emerged during the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian, caused Europe's population to drop by around 50% between the 6th and 8th centuries CE.[32] The population of Europe was more than 70 million in 1340.[33] The Black Death pandemic of the 14th century may have reduced the world's population from an estimated 450 million in 1340 to between 350 and 375 million in 1400;[34] it took 200 years for population figures to recover.[35] The population of China decreased from 123 million in 1200 to 65 million in 1393,[36] presumably due to a combination of Mongol invasions, famine, and plague.[37]

text: Starting in 2 AD, the Han Dynasty of ancient China kept consistent family registers in order to properly assess the poll taxes and labor service duties of each household.[38] In the year 2 AD the population of Western Han was recorded as 57,671,400 individuals in 12,366,470 households, decreasing to 47,566,772 individuals in 9,348,227 households by 146 AD, towards the End of the Han Dynasty.[38] At the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, China's population was reported to be close to 60 million; toward the end of the dynasty in 1644, it may have approached 150 million.[39] England's population reached an estimated 5.6 million in 1650, up from an estimated 2.6 million in 1500.[40] New crops that were brought to Asia and Europe from the Americas by Portuguese and Spanish colonists in the 16th century are believed to have contributed to population growth.[41][42][43] Since their introduction to Africa by Portuguese traders in the 16th century,[44] maize and cassava have similarly replaced traditional African crops as the most important staple food crops grown on the continent.[45]

text: Around 300 BCE, the population of India was between 100 million and 140 million.[46] The population of India in 1600 was around 100 million. Hence, from 300 BCE to 1600 CE India's population was more or less stable.[47]

text: The pre-Columbian North American population probably numbered somewhere between 2 million and 18 million.[48] Encounters between European explorers and populations in the rest of the world often introduced local epidemics of extraordinary virulence.[49] According to the most extreme scholarly claims, as many as 90% of the Native American population of the New World died due to Old World diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenza.[50] Over the centuries, the Europeans had developed high degrees of immunity to these diseases, while the indigenous peoples had no such immunity.[51]

text: Modern era[edit]

text: During the European Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically.[54] The percentage of the children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5% in 1730–1749 to 31.8% in 1810–1829.[55][56] Between 1700 and 1900, Europe’s population increased from about 100 million to over 400 million.[57] Altogether, the areas populated by people of European descent comprised 36% of the world's population in 1900.[58]

text: Population growth in the West became more rapid after the introduction of vaccination and other improvements in medicine and sanitation.[59] Improved material conditions led to the population of Britain increasing from 10 million to 40 million in the 19th century.[60] The population of the United Kingdom reached 60 million in 2006.[61] The United States saw its population grow from around 5.3 million in 1800 to 106 million in 1920, exceeding 307 million in 2010.[62]

text: The first half of the 20th century in Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union was marked by a succession of major wars, famines and other disasters which caused large-scale population losses (approximately 60 million excess deaths).[63][64] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's population declined significantly – from 150 million in 1991 to 143 million in 2012[65] – but by 2013 this decline appeared to have halted.[66]

text: Many countries in the developing world have experienced extremely rapid population growth since the early 20th century, due to economic development and improvements in public health. China's population rose from approximately 430 million in 1850 to 580 million in 1953,[67] and now stands at over 1.3 billion. The population of the Indian subcontinent, which was about 125 million in 1750, increased to 389 million in 1941;[68] today, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are collectively home to about 1.63 billion people.[69] Java had about 5 million inhabitants in 1815; its present-day successor, Indonesia, now has a population of over 140 million.[70] In just one hundred years, the population of Brazil decoupled (x10), from about 17 million in 1900, or about 1% of the world population in that year, to about 176 million in 2000, or almost 3% of the global population in the very early 21st century. Mexico's population grew from 13.6 million in 1900 to about 112 million in 2010.[71][72] Between the 1920s and 2000s, Kenya's population grew from 2.9 million to 37 million.[73]

text: Milestones by the billions[edit]

text:
World population milestones in billions

Population
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Year
1804
1927
1960
1974
1987
1999
2011
2024
2042

Years elapsed
––
123
33
14
13
12
12
13
18

text: It is estimated that the world population reached one billion for the first time in 1804. It was another 123 years before it reached two billion in 1927, but it took only 33 years to reach three billion in 1960.[74] Thereafter, the global population reached four billion in 1974, five billion in 1987, six billion in 1999 and, according to the United States Census Bureau, seven billion in March 2012.[75] The United Nations, however, estimated that the world population reached seven billion in October 2011.[6][7][8]

text: According to current projections, the global population will reach eight billion by 2024, and will likely reach around nine billion by 2042. Alternative scenarios for 2050 range from a low of 7.4 billion to a high of more than 10.6 billion.[76] Projected figures vary depending on underlying statistical assumptions and the variables used in projection calculations, especially the fertility variable. Long-range predictions to 2150 range from a population decline to 3.2 billion in the "low scenario", to "high scenarios" of 24.8 billion.[76] One extreme scenario predicted a massive increase to 256 billion by 2150, assuming the global fertility rate remained at its 1995 level of 3.04 children per woman; however, by 2010 the global fertility rate had declined to 2.52.[13][77]

text: There is no estimation for the exact day or month the world's population surpassed one or two billion. The points at which it reached three and four billion were not officially noted, but the International Database of the United States Census Bureau placed them in July 1959 and April 1974 respectively. The United Nations did determine, and commemorate, the "Day of 5 Billion" on July 11, 1987, and the "Day of 6 Billion" on October 12, 1999. The Population Division of the United Nations declared the "Day of 7 Billion" to be October 31, 2011.[78]

text: Global demographics[edit]

text:
80+
  77.5+
  75+
  72.5+
  70+
  67.5+
  65+

  60+
  55+
  50+
  45+
  40+
  less than 40

text: As of 2012, the global sex ratio is approximately 1.01 males to 1 female. The greater number of men is possibly due to the significant sex imbalances evident in the Indian and Chinese populations.[80][81] Approximately 26.3% of the global population is aged under 15, while 65.9% is aged 15–64 and 7.9% is aged 65 or over.[80] The median age of the world's population was estimated to be 29.7 years in 2014,[82] and is expected to rise to 37.9 years by 2050.[83]

text: According to the World Health Organization, the global average life expectancy is 70.5 years as of 2012, with women living an average of 73 years and men approximately 68 years.[79] In 2010, the global fertility rate was estimated at 2.52 children per woman.[77] In June 2012, British researchers calculated the total weight of Earth's human population as approximately 287 million tonnes, with the average person weighing around 62 kilograms (137 lb).[84]

text: The CIA estimated nominal 2013 gross world product at US$74.31 trillion, giving an annual global per capita figure of around US$10,500.[85] Around 1.29 billion people (18.4% of the world population) live in extreme poverty, subsisting on less than US$1.25 per day;[86] approximately 870 million people (12.25%) are undernourished.[87] 83% of the world's over-15s are considered literate.[80] In June 2014, there were around 3.03 billion global Internet users, constituting 42.3% of the world population.[88]

text: The Han Chinese are the world's largest single ethnic group, constituting over 19% of the global population in 2011.[89] The world's most-spoken first languages are Mandarin Chinese (spoken by 12.44% of the world's population), Spanish (4.85%), English (4.83%), Arabic (3.25%) and Hindustani (2.68%).[80] The world's largest religion is Christianity, whose adherents account for 33.35% of the global population; Islam is the second-largest religion, accounting for 22.43%, and Hinduism the third, accounting for 13.78%.[80] In 2005, around 16% of the global population were reported to be non-religious.[90]

text: Largest populations by country[edit]

text:
10 most populous countries

Rank
Country / Territory
Population
Date
Approx. % of world
population
Source

1
 China[note 4]
1,386,440,000
September 19, 2017
18.3%
[91]

2
 India
1,321,450,000
September 19, 2017
17.5%
[92]

3
 United States
325,788,000
September 19, 2017
4.3%
[93]

4
 Indonesia
261,600,000
October 31, 2016
3.46%
[94]

5
 Pakistan
208,958,000
September 19, 2017
2.76%
[95]

6
 Brazil
208,016,000
September 19, 2017
2.75%
[96]

7
 Nigeria
188,500,000
October 31, 2016
2.49%
[97]

8
 Bangladesh
163,162,000
September 19, 2017
2.16%
[98]

9
 Russia
146,773,226
June 1, 2017
1.94%
[99]

10
 Japan
126,750,000
July 1, 2017
1.67%
[100]

text: Approximately 4.3 billion people live in these ten countries, representing around 58% of the world's population as of March 2016. Approximately 3.7 billion people, or half of the world population, live in the six most populous countries.[101]

text: Most densely populated countries[edit]

text: The tables below list the world's most densely populated countries, both in absolute terms and in comparison to their total populations.

text:
10 most densely populated countries (with population above 5 million)

Rank
Country
Population
Area (km2)
Density
(Pop. per km2)

1
 Singapore
5,607,300
710
7,898

2
 Bangladesh
163,160,000
143,998
1,133

3
 Taiwan
23,554,803
36,190
651

4
 South Korea
51,446,201
99,538
517

5
 Lebanon
6,082,000
10,452
582

6
 Rwanda
11,553,188
26,338
439

7
 Burundi
11,552,561
27,816
415

8
 Netherlands
17,160,000
41,526
413

9
 Haiti
10,911,819
27,065
403

10
 India
1,321,450,000
3,287,240
402

text:
Countries ranking highly in both total population (more than 20 million people) and population density (more than 250 people per square kilometer):

Rank
Country
Population
Area (km2)
Density
(Pop. per km2)
Notes

1
 India
1,321,450,000
3,287,240
402
Growing population

2
 Pakistan
208,960,000
803,940
260
Growing population

3
 Bangladesh
163,160,000
143,998
1,133
Growing population

4
 Japan
126,750,000
377,873
335
Declining population[102]

5
 Philippines
104,620,000
300,000
349
Growing population

6
 Vietnam
93,700,000
331,689
282
Growing population

7
 United Kingdom
65,648,100
243,610
269
Slowly growing population

8
 South Korea
51,446,201
99,538
517
Slowly growing population

9
 Taiwan
23,554,803
36,190
651
Steady population

10
 Sri Lanka
21,203,000
65,610
323
Slowly growing population

text: Fluctuation[edit]

text: Population size fluctuates at differing rates in differing regions. Nonetheless, population growth is the long-standing trend on all inhabited continents, as well as in most individual states. During the 20th century, the global population saw its greatest increase in known history, rising from about 1.6 billion in 1900 to over 6 billion in 2000. A number of factors contributed to this increase, including the lessening of the mortality rate in many countries by improved sanitation and medical advances, and a massive increase in agricultural productivity attributed to the Green Revolution.[103][104][105]

text: In 2000, the United Nations estimated that the world's population was growing at an annual rate of 1.14% (equivalent to around 75 million people),[106] down from a peak of 88 million per year in 1989. By 2000, there were approximately ten times as many people on Earth as there had been in 1700. Globally, the population growth rate has been steadily declining from its peak of 2.19% in 1963, but growth remains high in Latin America, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa.[107]

text:
7–8 children
  6–7 children

  5–6 children
  4–5 children

  3–4 children
  2–3 children

  1–2 children
  0–1 children

text: During the 2010s, Japan and some countries in Europe began to encounter negative population growth (i.e. a net decrease in population over time), due to sub-replacement fertility rates.[102]

text: In 2006, the United Nations stated that the rate of population growth was visibly diminishing due to the ongoing global demographic transition. If this trend continues, the rate of growth may diminish to zero by 2050, concurrent with a world population plateau of 9.2 billion.[108] However, this is only one of many estimates published by the UN; in 2009, UN population projections for 2050 ranged between around 8 billion and 10.5 billion.[109] An alternative scenario is given by the statistician Jorgen Randers, who argues that traditional projections insufficiently take into account the downward impact of global urbanization on fertility. Randers' "most likely scenario" reveals a peak in the world population in the early 2040s at about 8.1 billion people, followed by decline.[110] Adrian Raftery, a University of Washington professor of statistics and of sociology, states that "there’s a 70 percent probability the world population will not stabilize this century. Population, which had sort of fallen off the world’s agenda, remains a very important issue."[111]

text:
Estimated world population figures, 10,000 BCE–2000 CE

Estimated world population figures, 10,000 BC–2000 CE (in log y scale)

World population figures, 1950–2000

Estimated global growth rates, 1950–2050

Estimated and projected populations of the world and its continents (except Antarctica) from 1950 to 2100. The shaded regions correspond to the range of projections by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

tag: ul

text: Population growth by region[edit]

text: The table below shows historical and predicted regional population figures in millions.[112][113][114] The availability of historical population figures varies by region.

text:
World historical and predicted populations (in millions)[115][116][117]

Region
1500
1600
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
1999
2008
2010
2012
2050
2150

World
585
660
710
791
978
1,262
1,650
2,521
6,008
6,707
6,896
7,052
9,725
9,746

Africa
86
114
106
106
107
111
133
221
783
973
1,022
1,052
2,478
2,308

Asia
282
350
411
502
635
809
947
1,402
3,700
4,054
4,164
4,250
5,267
5,561

Europe
168
170
178
190
203
276
408
547
675
732
738
740
734
517

Latin America[Note 1]
40
20
10
16
24
38
74
167
508
577
590
603
784
912

North America[Note 1]
6
3
2
2
7
26
82
172
312
337
345
351
433
398

Oceania
3
3
3
2
2
2
6
13
30
34
37
38
57
51

text:
World historical and predicted populations by percentage distribution[115][116]

Region
1500
1600
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
1999
2008
2010
2012
2050
2150

World
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

Africa
14.7
17.3
14.9
13.4
10.9
8.8
8.1
8.8
13.0
14.5
14.8
15.2
25.48
23.7

Asia
48.2
53.0
57.9
63.5
64.9
64.1
57.4
55.6
61.6
60.4
60.4
60.3
54.16
57.1

Europe
28.7
25.8
25.1
20.6
20.8
21.9
24.7
21.7
11.2
10.9
10.7
10.5
7.55
5.3

Latin America[Note 1]
6.8
3.0
1.4
2.0
2.5
3.0
4.5
6.6
8.5
8.6
8.6
8.6
8.06
9.4

North America[Note 1]
1.0
0.5
0.3
0.3
0.7
2.1
5.0
6.8
5.2
5.0
5.0
5.0
4.45
4.1

Oceania
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.4
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.59
0.5

text: Past population[edit]

text: The following table gives estimates of population in the past. The data for 1750 to 1900 are from the UN report "The World at Six Billion"[118] whereas the data from 1950 to 2015 are from a UN data sheet.[23]

text:
Year
World
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America & Carib.[Note 1]
North America[Note 1]
Oceania
Notes

70,000 BCE
< 0.015

[119]

10,000 BCE
4

[120]

8000 BCE
5

6500 BCE
5

5000 BCE
5

4000 BCE
7

3000 BCE
14

2000 BCE
27

1000 BCE
50
7
33
9

[citation needed]

500 BCE
100
14
66
16

CE 1
200
23
141
28

1000
400
70
269
50
8
1
2

1500
458
86
243
84
39
3
3

1600
580
114
339
111
10
3
3

1700
682
106
436
125
10
2
3

1750
791
106
502
163
16
2
2

1800
1,000
107
656
203
24
7
3

1850
1,262
111
809
276
38
26
2

1900
1,650
133
947
408
74
82
6

1950
2,525
229
1,394
549
169
172
12.7
[121]

1955
2,758
254
1,534
577
193
187
14.2

1960
3,018
285
1,687
606
221
204
15.8

1965
3,322
322
1,875
635
254
219
17.5

1970
3,682
366
2,120
657
288
231
19.7

1975
4,061
416
2,378
677
326
242
21.5

1980
4,440
478
2,626
694
365
254
23.0

1985
4,853
550
2,897
708
406
267
24.9

1990
5,310
632
3,202
721
447
281
27.0

1995
5,735
720
3,475
728
487
296
29.1

2000
6,127
814
3,714
726
527
314
31.1

2005
6,520
920
3,945
729
564
329
33.4

2010
6,930
1,044
4,170
735
600
344
36.4

2015
7,349
1,186
4,393
738
634
358
39.3

text: Using the above figures, the change in population from 2010 to 2015 was:

text:
World: +420 million
Africa: +142 million
Asia: +223 million
Europe: +3 million
Latin America and Caribbean: +35 million
Northern America: +14 million
Oceania: +2.9 million

text: ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Northern America comprises the northern-most countries and territories of North America: Canada, the United States, Greenland, Bermuda, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. Latin America comprises Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.

tag: ol

text: Projections[edit]

text: Long-term global population growth is difficult to predict. The United Nations and the US Census Bureau both give different estimates – according to the UN, the world population reached seven billion in late 2011,[112] while the USCB asserted that this occurred in March 2012.[123] The UN has issued multiple projections of future world population, based on different assumptions. From 2000 to 2005, the UN consistently revised these projections downward, until the 2006 revision, issued on March 14, 2007, revised the 2050 mid-range estimate upwards by 273 million.

text: Average global birth rates are declining fast, but vary greatly between developed countries (where birth rates are often at or below replacement levels) and developing countries (where birth rates typically remain high). Different ethnicities also display varying birth rates. Death rates can change rapidly due to disease epidemics, wars and other mass catastrophes, or advances in medicine.

text:
UN (medium variant – 2012 revision) and US Census Bureau (June 2015) estimates[124][125]

Year
UN est.
(millions)
Difference
USCB est.
(millions)
Difference

2005
6,514
–
6,473
–

2010
6,916
402
6,866
393

2015
7,324
408
7,256
390

2020
7,717
393
7,643
380

2025
8,083
366
8,007
363

2030
8,425
342
8,341
334

2035
8,743
318
8,646
306

2040
9,039
296
8,926
280

2045
9,308
269
9,180
254

2050
9,551
243
9,408
228

text:
UN 2012 estimates and medium variant projections (in millions)[124]

Year
World
Asia
Africa
Europe
Latin America/Caribbean
Northern America
Oceania

2010
6,916
4,165 (60.2%)
1,031 (14.9%)
740 (10.7%)
596 (8.6%)
347 (5.0%)
37 (0.5%)

2015
7,324
4,385 (59.9%)
1,166 (15.9%)
743 (10.1%)
630 (8.6%)
361 (4.9%)
39 (0.5%)

2020
7,717
4,582 (59.4%)
1,312 (17.0%)
744 (9.6%)
662 (8.6%)
376 (4.9%)
42 (0.5%)

2025
8,083
4,749 (58.8%)
1,468 (18.2%)
741 (9.2%)
691 (8.5%)
390 (4.8%)
45 (0.6%)

2030
8,425
4,887 (58.0%)
1,634 (19.4%)
736 (8.7%)
717 (8.5%)
403 (4.8%)
47 (0.6%)

2035
8,743
4,997 (57.2%)
1,812 (20.7%)
730 (8.3%)
739 (8.5%)
415 (4.8%)
50 (0.6%)

2040
9,039
5,080 (56.2%)
1,999 (22.1%)
724 (8.0%)
757 (8.4%)
426 (4.8%)
52 (0.6%)

2045
9,308
5,136 (55.2%)
2,194 (23.6%)
717 (7.7%)
771 (8.3%)
436 (4.7%)
55 (0.6%)

2050
9,551
5,164 (54.1%)
2,393 (25.1%)
709 (7.4%)
782 (8.2%)
446 (4.7%)
57 (0.6%)

2055
9,766
5,168 (52.9%)
2,595 (26.6%)
700 (7.2%)
788 (8.1%)
456 (4.7%)
59 (0.6%)

2060
9,957
5,152 (51.7%)
2,797 (28.1%)
691 (6.9%)
791 (7.9%)
465 (4.7%)
61 (0.6%)

2065
10,127
5,120 (50.6%)
2,998 (29.6%)
681 (6.7%)
791 (7.8%)
474 (4.7%)
63 (0.6%)

2070
10,277
5,075 (49.4%)
3,195 (31.1%)
673 (6.5%)
788 (7.6%)
482 (4.7%)
64 (0.6%)

2075
10,409
5,019 (48.2%)
3,387 (32.5%)
665 (6.4%)
783 (7.5%)
490 (4.7%)
66 (0.6%)

2080
10,524
4,957 (47.1%)
3,570 (33.9%)
659 (6.3%)
776 (7.4%)
496 (4.7%)
67 (0.6%)

2085
10,626
4,894 (46.1%)
3,742 (35.2%)
653 (6.1%)
767 (7.2%)
502 (4.7%)
68 (0.6%)

2090
10,717
4,833 (45.1%)
3,903 (36.4%)
649 (6.1%)
757 (7.1%)
506 (4.7%)
69 (0.6%)

2095
10,794
4,773 (44.2%)
4,051 (37.6%)
644 (6.0%)
747 (6.9%)
510 (4.7%)
69 (0.6%)

2100
10,854
4,712 (43.4%)
4,185 (38.6%)
639 (5.9%)
736 (6.8%)
513 (4.7%)
70 (0.6%)

text: Mathematical approximations[edit]

text: In 1975, Sebastian von Hoerner proposed a formula for population growth which represented hyperbolic growth with an infinite population in 2025.[126] The hyperbolic growth of the world population observed until the 1970s was later correlated to a non-linear second order positive feedback between demographic growth and technological development. This feedback can be described as follows: technological advance → increase in the carrying capacity of land for people → demographic growth → more people → more potential inventors → acceleration of technological advance → accelerating growth of the carrying capacity → faster population growth → accelerating growth of the number of potential inventors → faster technological advance → hence, the faster growth of the Earth's carrying capacity for people, and so on.[127] The transition from hyperbolic growth to slower rates of growth is related to the demographic transition.

text: According to the Russian demographer Sergey Kapitsa,[128] the world population grew between 67,000 BCE and 1965 according to the following formula:

text: where

text:
N is current population
T is the current year
C = (1.86±0.01)·1011
T0 = 2007±1

τ

{\displaystyle \tau }

 = 42±1

text: Years for world population to double[edit]

text: According to linear interpolation and extrapolation of UNDESA population estimates, the world population has doubled, or will double, in the years listed in the tables below (with two different starting points). During the 2nd millennium CE, each doubling took roughly half as long as the previous doubling, fitting the hyperbolic growth model mentioned above. However, after 2024, it is unlikely that there will be another doubling of the global population in the 21st century.[129]

text:
Starting at 500 million

Population
(in billions)
0.5
1
2
4
8

Year
1500
1804
1927
1974
2024

Years elapsed
304
123
47
50

text:
Starting at 375 million

Population
(in billions)
0.375
0.75
1.5
3
6

Year
1171
1715
1881
1960
1999

Years elapsed
544
166
79
39

text: Overpopulation[edit]

text: Predictions of scarcity[edit]

text: In his 1798 work An Essay on the Principle of Population, the British scholar Thomas Malthus incorrectly predicted that continued population growth would exhaust the global food supply by the mid-19th century. Malthus wrote the essay to refute what he considered the unattainable utopian ideas of William Godwin and Marquis de Condorcet, as presented in Political Justice and The Future Progress of the Human Mind. In 1968, Paul R. Ehrlich reprised Malthus' argument in The Population Bomb, predicting that mass global famine would occur in the 1970s and 1980s.[131]

text: The predictions of Ehrlich and other neo-Malthusians were vigorously challenged by a number of economists, notably Julian Lincoln Simon, and advances in agriculture, collectively known as the Green Revolution, forestalled any potential global famine in the late 20th century. Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the world, grain production increased by over 250%.[132] The world population has grown by over four billion since the beginning of the Green Revolution, but food production has so far kept pace with population growth. Most scholars believe that, without the Revolution, there would be greater levels of famine and malnutrition than the UN presently documents.[133] However, neo-Malthusians point out that fossil fuels provided the energy for the Green Revolution, in the form of natural gas-derived fertilizers, oil-derived pesticides, and hydrocarbon-fueled irrigation, and that many crops have become so genetically uniform that a crop failure in any one country could potentially have global repercussions.[134]

text: In 2004, a meta-analysis of 70 quantitative studies estimating a sustainable limit to the world population generated a meta-estimate of 7.7 billion people.[135]

text: In May 2008, the price of grain was pushed up severely by the increased cultivation of biofuels, the increase of world oil prices to over $140 per barrel ($880/m3),[136] global population growth,[137] the effects of climate change,[138] the loss of agricultural land to residential and industrial development,[139][140] and growing consumer demand in the population centres of China and India.[141][142] Food riots subsequently occurred in some countries.[143][144] However, oil prices then fell sharply. Resource demands are expected to ease as population growth declines, but it is unclear whether mass food wastage and rising living standards in developing countries will once again create resource shortages.[145][146]

text: David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, estimates that the sustainable agricultural carrying capacity for the United States is about 200 million people; its population as of 2015 is over 300 million.[147] In 2009, the UK government's chief scientific advisor, Professor John Beddington, warned that growing populations, falling energy reserves and food shortages would create a "perfect storm" of shortages of food, water, and energy by 2030.[130][148] According to a 2009 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the world will have to produce 70% more food by 2050 to feed a projected extra 2.3 billion people.[149]

text: The observed figures for 2007 showed an actual increase in absolute numbers of undernourished people in the world, with 923 million undernourished in 2007, versus 832 million in 1995.[150] The 2009 FAO estimates showed an even more dramatic increase, to 1.02 billion.[151]

text: Environmental impacts[edit]

text: A number of scientists have argued that the current global population expansion and accompanying increase in resource consumption threatens the world's ecosystem.[152][153] The InterAcademy Panel Statement on Population Growth, which was ratified by 58 member national academies in 1994, states that "unprecedented" population growth aggravates many environmental problems, including rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, and pollution.[154] Indeed, some analysts claim that overpopulation's most serious impact is its effect on the environment.[18] The situation has continued to worsen, as at the time of the 1994 IAP statement, the world population stood at 5.5 billion and lower-bound scenarios predicted a peak of 7.8 billion by 2050, a number that current estimates state will be reached in the late 2020s.

text: Scientists contend that human overpopulation, continued human population growth and overconsumption, particularly by the wealthy, are the primary drivers of mass species extinction.[155][156][157][158] By 2050 population growth, along with profligate consumption, could result in oceans containing more plastic than fish by weight.[157]

text: Population control[edit]

text: Human population control is the practice of intervening to alter the rate of population growth. Historically, human population control has been implemented by limiting a region's birth rate, by voluntary contraception or by government mandate. It has been undertaken as a response to factors including high or increasing levels of poverty, environmental concerns, and religious reasons. The use of abortion in some population control strategies has caused controversy,[159] with religious organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church explicitly opposing any intervention in the human reproductive process.[160]

text: The University of Nebraska publication Green Illusions argues that population control to alleviate environmental pressures need not be coercive. It states that "Women who are educated, economically engaged, and in control of their own bodies can enjoy the freedom of bearing children at their own pace, which happens to be a rate that is appropriate for the aggregate ecological endowment of our planet."[161] The book Fatal Misconception by Matthew Connelly similarly points to the importance of supporting the rights of women in bringing population levels down over time.[162]

text: Overpopulation skepticism[edit]

text: The Population Research Institute (PRI), an anti-abortion, anti-contraception advocacy group, has criticised predictions of overpopulation and attendant resource scarcity, with some describing overpopulation as a "myth".[163] The PRI argues that advances in agricultural, medical, and industrial technology have allowed global economic productivity to keep pace with rising populations despite Malthusian predictions to the contrary. PRI further says that family sizes are naturally declining worldwide due to higher living standards, increased availability of contraception and better economic opportunities for women. However, other commentators have described PRI's arguments on overpopulation as deceptive.[164][165][166]

text: Number of humans who have ever lived[edit]

text: Estimates of the total number of humans who have ever lived range in the order of 100 billion. It is difficult for estimates to be better than rough approximations, as even modern population estimates are fraught with uncertainties on the order of 3% to 5%.[167] Kapitza (1996) cites estimates ranging between 80 and 150 billion.[168] Haub (1995) prepared another figure, updated in 2002 and 2011; the 2011 figure was approximately 107 billion.[21][22][169] Haub characterized this figure as an estimate that required "selecting population sizes for different points from antiquity to the present and applying assumed birth rates to each period".[22]

text: One problem is in regard to the semantic difficulty of deciding the precise meaning of "human". A population of, say, 4 million, with an average lifespan of, say, 10 years (see below), implies a birthrate of 0.4 million per year, which over a period of 100 000 years represents 40 000 million people. Also, robust population data only exists for the last two or three centuries. Until the late 18th century, few governments had ever performed an accurate census. In many early attempts, such as in Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire, the focus was on counting merely a subset of the population for purposes of taxation or military service.[170] Thus, there is a significant margin of error when estimating ancient global populations.

text: Another critical factor for such an estimate is the question of pre-modern infant mortality rates; these figures are very difficult to estimate for ancient times due to a lack of accurate records. Haub (1995) estimates that around 40% of those who have ever lived did not survive beyond their first birthday. Haub also stated that "life expectancy at birth probably averaged only about ten years for most of human history".[22]