Population and Environment writing paper

the question of whether population growth poses a threat or a potential opportunity is not new. Not long after Thomas Robert Malthus made his prediction that more people would doom us to “gigantic inevitable famine,” an opposing camp of population “boomsters” emerged, highlighting the potential benefits of reproduction. More people, they argued, meant more labor, technological innovation, and economic growth. Now, scientists have proposed that we have entered a new era – the Anthropocene. They have named it as such because this era is defined by how humans have affected the Earth. In this writing assignment, you will explore the ways in which human activities have affected the environment. Drawing from the article (Chapter 5) by Steffen et al. (2005):

1. Explain how the greenhouse gas effect contributes to climate change
2. List the gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and describe their sources.
3. Describe the trend that you observe in CO2 concentration over time.
4. Explain why there is a difference between the levels of CO2 during different seasons?
5. While a growing population presents challenges, can it actually be a positive thing?

Length: One page (references, maps, graphs, tables, and other such supplements are encouraged and do not count against the page length limit) with a one-inch margin.

Spacing: The title and first paragraph should be separated by two spaces. Each paragraph should be separated by a single space (the first line should be indented), all lines within a paragraph should be single-spaced.