Human Drivers of Environmental Change
We live in a complex world and deal with a variety of environmental problems. Being able to create concise summary papers on environmental issues is an important skill. Summary papers provide relevant information about environmental issues, how the issues were created, and ramifications of the issues.
As we have learned, human activity is the driving force behind environmental change today.
For this course, you are asked to prepare a summary paper on a local environmental issue, tying it to the human drivers responsible for the underlying environmental changes and ramifications of the issue you summarized.
Please write a concise summary paper addressing the following:
- Briefly describe the environmental issue and its history (10 points).
- Identify two to three major stakeholders, such as local residents and groups interested in the issue, and briefly describe the problem from the perspective of one of the stakeholders (15 points).
- Identify major environmental and human health concerns related to this issue (15 points).
- Discuss how the issue is tied to each of the human drivers of change we learned about:
- human population growth and consumption (10 points);
- energy use (10 points); and
- land use (10 points).
- Briefly discuss the ramifications of not addressing this problem (10 points).
Each section of your paper should be clearly and concisely written and based on supporting evidence and scientific principles. In addition, you will also be assessed on the following:
- Writing style (10 points): Your paper should be written in your own words, with no grammar or spelling errors. You should use of topic sentences for each section and have clear transitions between sections.
- References and citation (10 points): You should use reliable sources, include in-text citations where necessary, and create a references list in APA format.
The summary paper assignment is worth 15 percent of your overall grade