Overberg, P., & McCormick, J. (2022, December 23). U.S. population growth remains sluggish despite uptick this year. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-population-growth-remains-sluggish-despite-uptick-this-year-11671723045 

In the year 2022’s population increase of 1.3 million, the number of births exceeded deaths by about 245,000; an occurrence the article described as, “a surplus that has long supplied much of the nation’s growth.” Though population growth had reportedly slowed over the past decade, it had averaged an annual increase of about 2 million. During this shift, however, the country’s westward and southern movement continued; with Tenessee overtaking Massachusetts as the 15th most populous state. Kenneth Johnson, a demographer for the University of New Hampshire commented on the recording of 24 states having higher death rates than birth rates, describing the actual amount as a “staggeringly high number”; a natural decrease Johnson had said was strange for even 5 states to have recorded. With this decrease present in almost half the states in the US, Johnson hypothesized the increase needed to restore the previous US population would need to come from outside sources, most likely other states or countries; a growth which seems to be coming from the central region.

 

This population growth article relates to Environmental science as it introduces a new possibility for Tenessee to be a large contributor to the GHG release from the United States. Though California is one of the most populous states, contributing to its large impact on the US’s part in climate change, the introduction of Tennessee as an additional state to add to any pollution released in the same large amounts of GHG creates a larger concern for how to handle decreasing those numbers. As we focus on converting different sources of elements such as Carbon or Methane, this article infers that the focus on larger states such as California might not solve as many problems as previously intended. After such a large increase in a smaller state such as Tennessee, this poses the question as to whether we should shift our focus to less centered upon states, or if any other states might experience a sudden increase such as Tennessee had.