The document discusses human population growth and its environmental impacts. It notes that the world population grew from 300 billion in AD 1 to over 6 billion in 2000 and is projected to reach over 9 billion by 2050. This rapid growth is called a population explosion. The explosion is driven by decreased mortality rates due to improvements in food production, public health, and medicine. Effects of the explosion include overstressing natural resources, increased pollution, food shortages, and unemployment. Air and water pollution increase as industries and vehicles grow to serve larger populations, which also leads to deforestation for new lands. Managing this explosion will be a major challenge going forward.