As per the data released by the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the number of Ph.D. degrees conferred in Earth Sciences from the year $1948$ to $1954$ is as given in Table $5$.
$$\begin{array}{|l|c|} \hline \text{Year} & \text{Degrees} \\\hline 1948 & 57 \\ 1949 & 88 \\ 1950 & 125 \\ 1951 & 135 \\ 1952 & 126 \\ 1953 & 146 \\ 1954 & 141\\ \hline\end{array}$$
Based on the average of all available three year moving averages of annual growth rate, and the number of degrees in $1954,$ what will be the (approximate) predicted number of degrees in earth sciences in $2020?$ Note that a moving average or a rolling average is an average of a subset of data points. Choose the best answer.
- $900$
- $9,000$
- $9,00,000$
- $90,00,000$
