Many Texas cities have experienced substantial growth in population over the last 20 years. The growth of Houston, Texas, since 2015 is shown in the scatterplot. A least-squares equation that relates the number of years since 2015 to the population of that year (in millions) is given by Population = 0.025 (year) + 2.01.

Based on the residual plot, is a linear model suitable for modeling the population growth of Houston?

A linear model is suitable because a pattern is evident in the residual plot.
A linear model is not suitable because the residuals do not cluster around zero.
A linear model is not suitable because the residual plot shows a curved pattern.
A linear model is suitable because the residuals seem to be randomly scattered.