Exponentially

From Ross Douthat's column in last Sunday's New York Times:

 A recent Vatican estimate suggests that 100,000 Copts may have fled the country since Mubarak’s fall. If Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood consolidates political power, that figure could grow exponentially.

Without in any way wishing to be dismissive of the sufferings of the Coptic Christians, I think that Mr. Douthat might want to think about the word "exponenentially". One hundred thousand is 10 to the 5th power; if the exponent is two (about where I might start using the word exponentially), well 10 to the 10th power is 10 billion.