SOC 450 Assignment 1 Whitepaper on the Impact of Population

SOC 450 Assignment 1 Whitepaper on the Impact of Population

SOC 450 Assignment 1 Whitepaper on the Impact of Population

Whitepaper on the Impact of Population

There is no question that the world’s population will grow dramatically in the next decade. The members of the United Nations are working to understand the impact that population growth has in developing countries. For this assignment, imagine you have been hired by the UN to help assess the social impact of population growth. Your first project as a consultant with the UN is to develop a whitepaper on three issues related to the population growth faced by a developing country of your choosing. Read the overview below, then write a whitepaper addressing the questions below.

I. Overview

Our obsession with continual economic growth deters us from studying the role that an expanding population plays in global warming. (1)

About 3 billion years ago, the earth suffered a mass extinction caused by catastrophic volcanic activity in Siberia and wildfires that covered the entire planet. Since then, four more mass extinction events eradicated up to 80% of all species each time. The world’s community of climatologists and scientists overwhelmingly agree that we are now on the verge of a sixth mass event that, over the next few tens of thousands of years, will wipe out nearly all living species on Earth, including mankind. This is not the stuff of science fiction or speculation, but rather the studied view of the experts who are most qualified to make this kind of assessment. As anthropologist Richard Leaky, author of The Sixth Extinction, wrote in 1995, “Homo sapiens might not only be the agent of the sixth extinction, but also risks being one of its victims” (2).

This leaves us with two issues worth reflecting on:

1. Does the rate at which people are reproducing need to be controlled to save the environment?

2. To what extent does human population growth impact global warming, and what can be done about it (3)?

The answer to the first is quite simply “yes,” but the solution to the second is more problematic. The damage humans do to the climate is ruining the atmosphere surrounding the planet; at the rate this damage is increasing, there will eventually be no atmosphere left to protect life on Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Compared with other planets in our solar system, Earth has mild temperatures, thanks largely to an atmosphere protected from harmful gases. However, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1775), damaging gases have become stuck in the atmosphere. This causes some of the heat radiating from the sun—that which does not exit into space—to reflect back to Earth. The result is that oceans have become warmer, and glaciers are melting, including parts of Antarctica. If we think of Antarctica as the stopper in a bottle, its disappearance by melting away will release the water it holds, raising sea levels to uncontrollable levels and flooding coastal regions for miles inland. The two main culprits for this warming trend are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). These gases, called “greenhouse gases,” are trapped by the earth’s atmosphere and, in turn, heat up the entire planet. It is worth noting that warming oceans are killing off kelp beds throughout the earth’s oceans and coastlines at a prodigious rate. Not only do hundreds of millions of people depend on the fish that thrive on this ecosystem, but kelp is a natural absorbent of CO2 and purifies both the water and the air we breathe.

A growing population that consumes natural resources is partially to blame for the release of greenhouse gases, as are deforestation, soil erosion, and farming (overturned dirt releases CO2). However, the real issue is the burning of fossil fuels (hydrocarbons) such as coal oil and natural gas, which is produced by the organic remains of prehistoric organisms. The release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) such as refrigerants, propellants in aerosol sprays, and solvents contributes heavily to the depletion of the ozone layer in the earth’s stratosphere. At the current rate at which these gases and CFCs are released into the atmosphere, affecting the earth’s ecosystems and level of biodiversity, the earth’s surface temperature will increase by about two degrees Fahrenheit. This will cause a change weather patterns across the globe. In December 2017, the World Bank stated, “Climate change is an acute threat to global development and efforts to end poverty. Without urgent action, climate impacts could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030” (4).

Sources:

1. George Gitlitz. 2018. Opinion: The pernicious climate dictum–don’t mention population. https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/06/19/opinion-the-pernicious-climate-dictum-dont-mention-population

2. Gemma Tarlach. 2018. Mass Extinctions. http://discovermagazine.com/2018/jul-aug/mass-extinctions

3. Larry LeDoux. 2018. Does Population Growth Impact Climate Change. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/population-growth-climate-change/

4. Bill McKibben. 2018. A Very Grim Forecast. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/22/global-warming-very-grim-forecast/

II. Assessment

The world’s population is expanding at a such a fast rate that some natural resources are being stripped from the environment. Global institutions are working to prevent both the loss of these resources and the consequences of not having access to them.

In this first assignment, research the impact of population growth on society. Write a whitepaper for the UN that consists of a minimum of four pages (not including the cover letter). Your assignment is to assess the impact of population growth, citing at least five credible sources in your research. As you compose the whitepaper, review the United Nations list of developing countries (available on the United Nations website).

Select one country from the United Nations list of developing countries to use as an example throughout your assignment. The completed version of this assignment will include the following items:

Cover page: Include your name, course title, the country you have selected from the UN list of developing countries, current date, and the name of your instructor.

Introduction: Introduce the topic of the whitepaper (half-page minimum).

One-page (minimum) answers (for a total of three pages) to each of the following questions:

What are greenhouse gases, and how do they contribute to global warming?

What economic, security, political, and other challenges do these emissions pose to the people of the developing world, and who are the biggest offenders?

Is there a way to control the growth of population on a global level?

Note: Give examples in your responses to each of the above questions as it relates to the developing country you have chosen.

Conclusion: Provide a minimum of a one-half page conclusion.

Cite at least five credible sources excluding Wikipedia, dictionaries, and encyclopedias for your assessment. A brief list of suggested resources has been provided at the end of the course guide.

This course requires use of Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different compared to other University courses. Please take a moment to review ?the SWS documentation for details. (Note: You’ll be prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

Evaluate the impacts of population growth and its negative impacts on global societies while considering multiple perspectives.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric:

Lopes Write Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

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Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource