Population growth is one of the major man made causes of global warming. As the amount of people in the population increases, the demand of food, vehicles, accommodations and every other human requirement increases; this puts pressure on water demand, space demand and vulnerable natural resources demand. The increase in these demands leads to the release of more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, increase in thermal pollution, causes more forests to be cut down and increases agriculture which also leads to global warming.
Now you’re probably thinking, "Wait a minute, did you say agriculture is going to cause Global Warming?" Yes indeed, have you ever been in a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible? You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure. Methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas as it has a high global warming potential. Therefore, because more food is needed we have to raise food, and animals are a source of food which means more manure and methane.
Next, more people also means more vehicles, and more vehicles means more greenhouse gases. The vast majority of vehicles worldwide are empowered by of fossil fuels, usually gasoline or diesel. When fossil fuels are burned, they contribute to global warming by releasing greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Of all the gases, carbon dioxide is released in the largest quantity from vehicles. A common understanding many people may have is that the release of carbon dioxide isn’t a serious issue, as plants have the ability to absorb carbon dioxide and transform it into oxygen. This understanding isn't wrong, however with the increase in population more trees that convert our carbon dioxide to oxygen are being cut down as the demand for space is increasing. Therefore, this simply shows that by the increasing population demands, we are increasing the factors that are causing global warming and demolishing the resources that are preventing global warming.
