Assignment

Answer each of the following questions thoroughly. Provide each answer with scientific/technical detail. Some questions you may need to supplement your answers with statistics or relevant examples. Be sure to acknowledge and cite your sources properly, preferably in APA style.

1. What role does population growth play in water supply problems? Identify three ways in which humans are negatively affecting the water cycle. (200 words)

2. Summarize the public health concerns related to fresh drinking water worldwide. Why is there a shortage of clean water for the world's population to consume? (200 words)

3. Use the second law of thermodynamics to explain why a properly designed source-separation recycling program takes less energy and produces less pollution than a centralized program that collects mixed waste over a large area and hauls it to a centralized facility where workers or machinery separate the wastes for recycling. (200 words)

4. We are using available freshwater unsustainably by wasting it, polluting it, and charging too little for this resource. Worldwide, 1 out of 6 people does not have sufficient access to clean water and this is likely to get worse. Imagine that you have unlimited power. What three actions would you take to provide sustainable supplies of water for the world's people? (100 words)