1. In 175-200 words, how would you categorize the level of biodiversity in your own hometown? In regards to this specific level, what factors cause this?

I live in Belmar, New Jersey. I would consider my hometown to have an above average level of biodiversity. The area I live in consists of an abundant amount of farms, protected parks, and fulfilling amount of trees, so we are fortunate enough to be provided with such a diverse amount of trees, birds, plants, animals, and insects. Because of our abundant amount of lakes, forests, and open farm fields during changing climates and seasons, we are granted with such a high range of different species. However, what makes our level of diversity above average is the fact that we live a few blocks from the beach, providing our town with a marine biodiversity as well. Unfortunately, due to the excessive amount of overfishing and water mobile entertainment, many of the past fish we used to have are now either extinct or becoming endangered. Our local restaurants have taken the anthropocentric advantage of profit, using the marine life as a popular fish dish for both local and out of state visitors. Belmar used to have a much higher level of biodiversity, but these specific factors of human activity have caused our town just to be slightly above average.

2. As we are well aware, species are being either endangered or extinct on a daily basis. In 175-200 words, please choose one type of species and explain the reasoning behind the specific extinction/endangerment.

One of the most respected birds in our country is unfortunately endangered in the state of New Jersey; the bald eagle. The main reason behind their high decline is persecution. Eagles are sensitive to human disturbance and will abandon their nest sites if people encroach on the area during the nesting season. Since Belmar is growing in population every day, construction workers need to increase the amount of trees being cut down so we can provide a home for our citizens. Unfortunately, cutting down each tree is cutting down the home of the bald eagle. The inability to have a home to live in gives the bald eagle the inability to nest and produce more babies. Though biologists are currently working with landowners to protect their habitat as well as the state’s land use regulations, New Jersey is guilty in regards to to bald eagles dying on impact by electrical wires, followed by the impact of widespread use of the persistent pesticide DDT. Thankfully, the ban of DDT combined with restoration efforts by biologists within the ENSP increased the number of New Jersey bald eagles to 146 active pairs in 2014.

3.  In your personal opinion, explain in 200-250 words upon ways/ideas we can protect the future of biodiversity.

In order to protect the future of biodiversity, there are several different ideas our township can pursue. Specifically for Belmar, one of them is to make stricter regulations in regards to water mobiles and overfishing. Though jet skiing and wave running are two popular water activities during the summer for tourists that produce most of our profit, the excessive amount of oil entering the ocean releases dangerous toxins and poisons to our fish. If we set certain days to use these devices or a specific number of minutes in a day, we could save so much potential to our ocean and reduce the amount of oil entering the ocean. In addition, Belmar needs to set a law upon how much we are allowed to fish. Even if this means a specific size of a fish we are allowed to keep or let go back into the water, we could save the lives of so much of our marine life.  My hometown also consists of a large capacity of people, even though our town is very small. This causes construction workers to cut down trees to fit more apartment buildings into our community. If we preserved specific areas and turned them into protected parks or land, we could save a significant amount of forests, which is potentially saving a high amount of birds, insects, and even the possibility of plants that could be used for the future of a kind of medicine to a specific cure.

CassandraOresko_Module9

Above is the link to my diagram.

The core ideas behind my design relate to the idea of how climate change is actually occurring and the relationship to the consequences. Most individuals ignore the idea on ways we can change our ways to help the climate, but we have became so dependent off these fossil fuels that it’s almost impossible to think of an alternative solution; which eventually we will have to face. From the start of the Industrial Revolution, we have seen an increase in how few of an amount of people nowadays actually make resources by hand. In addition, my diagram focused on what types of molecules fossil fuels burn off in the atmosphere; a harmful consequence known as greenhouses gases. Though the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect makes the life as we know it possible, this increasement of fossil fuel burning has intensified greenhouse gases, causing global warming, or as discussed from the module and diagram; temperature shifts. By introducing these changes, I wanted to stress the attention to adaptations and ways that we can reduce fossil fuel burning. Though the collective action problems has caused individuals to refuse to reduce their emissions, global collective action has taken action. The Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding document negotiated by US and other countries, was reached in order to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions. An international treaty is difficult due to the large amount of opinions from other nations, each nation wants to focus on the solution that is best for themselves. You would not expect a poorer country to pursue the same actions that the US would, since they are trying to produce a better standard of living. The overall failure of this accord led to the conclusion that we as individuals need to come up with a smarter and more realistic way of transitioning to sustainability, as shown by the amount of harmful consequences located in my diagram and how they impact our impact our growing society.
My views on the climate change issue are on the border in regards to how the United States conducted the diplomacy. Climate change is a growing issue, and isn’t stopping anytime soon unless we make both individual and collective action changes. The cause of human emission in greenhouse gases has caused an overall dramatic change in water shifts, temperature, and extreme weather. Though I believe the United States was trying to be as productive as possible in regards to The Copenhagen Accord, I believe they took it too far. Spying and threatening on other countries was clearly not a success nor the best possible solution. It is so difficult to negotiate on a compromise when each nation is so different. You cannot expect a nation trying to raise their standards of living to decrease their fossil fuel use when this is something they clearly need, while a country like the United States would rather decrease their fossil fuel use since they are in such a high standard of living. Instead, it would of been a smarter idea for the State Department to negotiate on ideas that would be fair for each nation. Whether it be a moralized meeting with the leader of each nation, or even a conference, this would of been a more ethical and reasonable way to negotiate. As stated in module 9, collective action is something that needs to spread across all of humanity. Climate change isn’t just happening in one area, it’s happening worldwide, and we need to come together in a mutual and supportive agreement in order to successfully change our ways for the better.

There was a heat wave in Kenya on March 25, relatable to Belmar New Jersey, which also experiences this same type of disaster. However, due our high level of vulnerability, my hometown would not be in risk whatsoever. In relation to vulnerability, we are lucky enough to have a high level of education. Since New Jersey tends to get extremely hot in the summer, heat waves are common. However, health classes in school systems  educate us on ways we can prevent any risk of dehydration, or even fatality. We live in a community with young adults, so unlike children and the elderly, they have the health and strength to go about this specific disaster. On social media and television news, our Governor Chris Christie informs us upon the arrival of a heat way, and ways our community can prepare for such a hazard. Additionally, our wealth is primarily one of the most significant reasons why our hometown is vulnerable to heat waves. If a heat wave ever approached, our communities are wealthy enough to afford a pool to keep our bodies at as healthy temperature, as well as using air conditioning at a rate where we do not worry about the bill at the end of the month because we can afford these high costs.

Though there was no scale information to Kenya’s heat wave, I can easily say that there is no relevance to how extreme Kenya’s is compared to Belmar’s. The rising heat waves in Kenya are due to rising atmospheric temperatures beyond human tolerance. A heat wave is a killer occurrence. Without the knowledge and abundance of water, people will become dehydrated very easily, and people will die. This compares to Kenya because the continent of Africa is increasingly rising in temperature. Without a proper education upon ways to stay safe and clean water, something Kenya struggles with, the degree of deaths and the scale of the event will keep rising. If the same scale were to occur in my hometown, the impact of the disaster change would obviously be at a higher number of affected people/humanities loss, but we will be able to tolerate this disaster. Because of our high education, awareness, governance policies, and healthy stability of the young adults, Belmar’s community would at first be in shock by this scale, but eventually be able to be vulnerable from it; due to our pre-event preparedness and emergency responses Chris Christie informs.

Different people in my hometown have different levels of vulnerability due to their age and wealth. For example, would you assume to expect an eighty year old elderly to be more vulnerable in a heat wave compared to a fit twenty five year old? Absolutely not. Because of declining physical strength, hearing, and vision, it is difficult for an elderly person to be able to cope well with a heat stroke, compared to a healthy twenty five year old who the physical strength and healthy heart to be able to survive in this type of disaster. During the summertime at the shore, we tend to have many females travel here from other states, so heat waves can be difficult for this specific gender. As mentioned in the module, women tend to to be less educated and take care of younger children during times of hazards, so they are more vulnerable during these situations. To reduce my town’s vulnerability in such a disaster, I highly believe that we need to increase awareness and education. In order for us to be individually prepared for a hot summer and hazards such as this specific one, television, mayors of the town, school districts, these are all such intelligent ways to spread awareness and knowledge in order to be fully prepared. As an assessment, I was taught appropriately at a very young age upon how to prepare for a heat wave. By hydrating constantly, staying indoors, as well as being close to air conditioning, these are the best ways to go about a hazard such as this one. For more information upon resources and useful tips, please use the citation provided!

“Heat Wave Safety Tips | American Red Cross.” American Red Cross. American Red Cross, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. <http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/heat-wave>.

In order to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards in my town, I simply believe we need to be introduced to both knowledge and awareness of what we can do as individuals. For example, in my elementary school health class, I was introduced to several hazards that could be a possibility in my hometown, such as a tropical storm or a tornado. We went over lessons, activities, and were given resources and tips on how to go about this type of situation if it ever occurred. This is best type of way to perform this preparation. Teachers, governors, significant people of the town that people listen to would be the best type of people to perform these actions. These of the type of people we look up to and are inspired by, especially myself when I was learning this education as such a young age. As an individual, the most I can do to reduce vulnerability is simply be smart and use the knowledge I was given. For example, during a tropical storm, I was taught to be food and water in advance, portable outlets for electricity, as well as stay in a safe shelter such as my basement. It is all about using what we learned and taking it into action.

-The town I live is Belmar, Central New Jersey; a few blocks from the beach. Although my neighborhood is generally packed with tourists all summer, I would consider my neighborhood to be both pedestrian-oriented, as well as automobile suburb and non-motorized suburb. The population is roughly 10,000 people in the metropolitan area. All the houses are close together, as well as schools, shops, so walking distance for pedestrians is never an issue. However, the downtown beach area consists of many motor vehicles such as motorcycles, cars, and water vehicles for transportation, so during the summertime the transportation varies. Of course we do have a high amount of pedestrians on the boardwalk and walking around by the downtown beach area, so I do consider this part of my town a non-motorized suburb. Depending on the season at the shore, my type of town changes. I have a close relationship with my town; people consider the beach their vacation, while I consider it home. I have grown up here my whole life in this beautiful environment.

-Just like Beacon Hill, Massachusetts, downtown Belmar is an urban area designed to make walking distances are attainable. The buildings are very close to each other for a specific reason; to make walking, work, social interactions, and entertainment distances accessible. In regards to urban density, Beacon Hill and downtown Belmar are both compact with taller buildings for more families to settle, and have lower use of automobiles because of shorter distance. These are considered mixed-use areas because shopping areas, grocery stores, and residence life are all very compact to each other, reducing the distance. Insights from Beacon Hill would help Belmar’s sustainability in such significant ways. Beacon Hill makes the environment more sustainable because it decreases pollution from car emission, as well as greater health because of high amounts of walking. Though Belmar is comparable to this, we have an issue with a high amount of motor scooters and water vehicles for entertainment, which we can learn from Beacon Hills ideas and methods to reduce this impact in order to stay more sustainable.
-Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, is a comparable area to the township of Belmar mainly because this is what my neighborhood looks like. In my neighborhood, most families commute to the city for banks and businesses, so we consider ourselves a streetcar suburb neighborhood just like Jamaica Plain. Although there is a larger amount of spacing between houses compared to Beacon Hill and downtown Belmar, we are still somewhat close and consist of local shops a few blocks away that are convenient and accessible. On a similar note, Jamaica Plain and the township of Belmar are both related to the idea of physical infrastructure, which makes the idea of sustainability a little more difficult for us. We have adapted and grown to the idea that roads and automobiles are our main way of transportation and operating in our daily lives. Transitioning to a less automobile concept would be difficult because this is the way our areas were created! Unless we cognitively consider carpooling, this sustainability idea for both these areas is far too complicated.

1. A social norm I have personally experienced in regards to food choice would be college. Back at home, I would consume only organic food because my family and I believed in staying away from GMOs. However, college made this difficult. Dining halls only contained food with GMOs, and a trip to an organic store was too inconvenient. I didn’t want to sound strange and refuse to eat this type of food, so I just went with it. I was striving to meet new friends, so not following this social norm and sounding like I was weird would only make my reputation weird. The social norm is that Americans are cheap, and Americans want to spend as little money as possible in the most convenient way. I didn’t blame this norm for saving money because I understand times are tough, but my food choice desired proper nutrition, safety, and sympathy for livestock. Even though I still believe in organic consumption, I have a very limited and pressure choice at PSU because of norms and limited availability.

2. The food choice from paragraph one reflects upon the societal issue of an industrialized agriculture. In order for farms to produce larger quantities of food such as meat, farmers inject hormones into innocent animals that cause them to grow at an abnormal rate. More meat means more profit, which is why fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s serves this meat at such a low price. When we consume this, we are not only consuming the dangerous chemicals injected in the animal, but a poor amount of nutrition and high intake of calories and salt, which leads to the epidemic of obesity; another societal issue. This is connected to food choice because Americans are so focused on convenience and cheap prices that we don’t think about what we are consuming nor what this is doing to our bodies. My view of social norms is focused on proper nutrition. Though prices for safer food may be higher, I believe having a healthy diet with no GMOs is worth every dollar spent, leading to a healthier, longer life.

1. The first case study is from Costa Rica, a serious topic on deforestation and the effect it has on the environment and the native people. From the source of ‘The Gaia Atlas Of Planet Management’., this article focuses on the goals of development that follow along the lines of sustainability. At an alarming rate, Costa Rica has been losing its cultural diversity, land, and forests due to action such as logging, ranching, and the development of large scale commercial agriculture. As discussed in the module, sustainability focuses on what’s important for the present, rather than pursuing further ideas to benefit the future. As a result, many natural resources we use cannot be used in the future, which is why growing a new tree in Costa Rica is simply too difficult. Because of the monetary incentives, Costa Rica has one of the highest rates of deforestation. Thanks to the Development Agreement that was signed, Costa Rica is proposing the use of economic incentives to achieve environmental goals such as preserving future conservation, like the rainforests.

LINK: http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/defor-costa.html

2. The second case study is from New Jersey, a topic about preserving a specific wildlife seal; the pinnipeds. Because of the high use of motor boats, kayakers, overfishing, and overhead aircraft, these seals have limited mobility both on land and in water. This source stresses the development of preserving this species, and how end uses are affecting marine life. In New Jersey, this specific economy is so focused on the the idea of fishing and making profit for local restaurants that they’re not thinking about the punishments for the marine wildlife. The first step that New Jersey pursued to develop a conservation plan is to detail the challenges the species, or group of species, face in their habitat. Due to entanglement in fishing nets, oil spills, and mortality caused directly by other pollutants, this weakens the immunity and causes mortality in not only pinnipeds, but other wildlife species. This is otherwise known as another way the module looked at development; a facet of determining mortality, health, and life expectancy, that will save the marine wildlife.

LINK: http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/species/spotlight/pinnipeds/

3. I live in Belmar, New Jersey, directly a few blocks from the water. The two cases from paragraph 1 and 2 relate directly to the development in the place where I live. In regards to similarity, my hometown is so focused on ends use that we don’t really think about the future consequences of what we do until they slowly start to show. For example, we can learn from the first case study that there are better ways to save trees rather than overcrowding my hometown. New apartment buildings are being built every month, and we used to believe this was a great way to increase our town’s population until we realized more roads and houses were visible than trees and grass. Trees give us oxygen, store carbon, stabilise the soil and give life to the world’s wildlife. In order to advance development in wildlife, my town simply needs to be more smarter about overfishing and the overuse of boating. It may be fun, but we clearly don’t think about these effects until they start to occur.

1A:   There are two sources of water in Wall New Jersey: groundwater and surface water. Groundwater is stored in underground areas called aquifers, which supply wells and springs. The wells range from about 15 to 2,000 feet deep. Surface water comes from the Manasquan Reservoir, a 4 billion gallon water storage reservoir formed by a main dam and road embankment. Both sources of  water are piped underground to the Manasquan Water Treatment Plant. Here the water is filtered and treated with chemicals like chlorine, fluoride and other types are added to the water and tested to meet state and federal standards. From the treatment plant the water flows through a transmission system approximately 7 miles of various size pipes of types of material (copper, cast iron). The water then enters our house from the water main at the street through a 1 inch copper pipe, then through various smaller copper pipes that end at the faucet. Wastewater departs my house through plastic PVC piping and enters the sanitary wastewater system through pipes and flows to pumping stations to the municipal treatment plant. Here, the wastewater is processed by employing trickling filters and stabilization ponds including sludge digestion and outfall sewer.

1B:

1C:  The ability to live on two gallons of water for one day was an absolute failure for myself to accomplish. In this experiment, I focused on essential daily tasks with the activities provided above in 1B. In regards to priorities, I put hydration and sanitation as a necessity. In order to properly function throughout the day, hydrating yourself and staying clean are two important tasks in this process. In this experiment, some strategies I used to cut down water footprint were shutting off the water while I was brushing my teeth, setting a four minute shorter timer during my shower, avoiding cooking and laundry for the day to avoid water and dish washing, as well as persuading my roommates these same strategies. Comparing to the 1B results, this experience shows even with the best of my efforts to preserve water, using two gallons of water in a single day is simply impossible. Based on population and consumerism, geography affects water use significantly. For example, with over 40,000 students at State College, water use is going to be extreme because of the need for dining commons dish washing, dorm showers, water fountains; a few water footprints we can easily conserve.

1. Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?

Without a single doubt, I think it is more important to perform good acts rather than be a good person. Growing up with strict parents, I was raised to succeed with my own efforts. I could be an intelligent, kind girl, but how can I prove to others I was this type of person? This is why I believe in action ethics; it’s not about who you are, it’s all about what you do as an individual. In this case, what you do with your actions as an individual will show others the type of person you are, which is why I believe action ethics creates virtue ethics. For example, our current society today is highly competitive in regards to education. You need much more than a Bachelor’s degree for a job. So without a master’s degree, would you show up to a job interview and expect the interviewer to know you are an excellent worker even though you only have a Bachelor’s degree? Absolutely not, it’s all about action; striving for something not only because it’s something you want to do, but it will make you the person you want to be, the virtue. If you want to be something special in such a competitive world, you need to prove to yourself you are with much more than just assuming in your mind that you are. If you want to be the change you wish to see in the world, that takes action, and will then show you who you can be.

3. Does the process by which decisions are made matter more than the outcomes of these decisions (procedural justice vs. distributive justice)

I believe that the decisions you make matter more than the outcomes of these decisions mainly because I believe in development. No one is perfect, and everyone makes bad decisions occasionally, but we can practice how we approach a situation. By practicing a positive decision-making process, we have the ability to grow and develop to brainstorm new ideas. However, I do believe the outcomes of these decisions is still important. Distributive justice gives us the ability to feel the outcome, to experience the consequence and have a sense of the pain we felt in this result. From this standpoint, we can learn how our decision-making choices brought us to this result, and what we can do to change for future decisions. Consequences are not something we want to experience, but I do believe that they are necessary to go through in life. We need to feel pain and not always have the outcome we want to have in order to learn and develop. We need to realize what decisions work, and what decisions don’t work. The ability to compare and contrast our ideas will not only lead to a positive practice of decision-making, but the ability to express our thoughts to others. We can learn from others, see benefits from the decisions they made, and even share with them our thoughts and help them improve from us. This process matters much more than the outcomes mainly because it gives us the ability to grow, develop, and learn in order to better ourselves.

6. Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?

This may come off selfish, but I do believe that my life is worth more than others, depending on what you do with it. I grew up with parents who taught me to help others, to constantly give helping hands to friends and show random acts of kindness. However, I was also taught a sense of selfishness here and there. From my standpoint, I do believe it is okay to be selfish. If we let people constantly walk all over us, how can we expect a happy life? Altruism is great in a sense of sacrificing for others, but we must remember we need to make sacrifices for ourselves. I am content with being selfish, such as not spending enough time with specific friends because I choose to go to the library and study. In the long run, I know that these choices will give me a great job, and I will be able to make a difference in the world. That’s why my life is worth more than specific others, because I strive to get a great job that will help others who chose to go out and party rather than staying in like I did and making the most of my life. Doctors have a life worth way more than a truck driver for example because the doctors chose to study for countless hours and be the caregiver for these truck drivers, for the ones who weren’t as motivated to make the most of their lives.

One of the core ideas in regards to my diagram is the effect that cow dung has on both the environment, education, and workforce of India. The human-environment system clearly shows that while humans impact the environment, the environment affects humans as well. For example, due to the use of cooking gas, this impact led to itching of the eyes, as well as cough/chest health issues. When children and females in India were collecting sticks for the use of cooking, this impact led to the decrease of trees; an overall unhappier environment due to our impacts upon each other. Once positive changes were made, for example, cow dung mix; the use of less gas and sticks caused an overall increase in the health of the humans and a cleaner environment. The use of the sticks and gas was a disturbance to both the humans and the environment, but the resilience, our ability to recover after this disturbance, led to positive changes such as increase in the workforce, education, and health. In comparison in the Marten reading “What is Human Ecology?”, both our diagrams have the two main components of social system and ecosystem. Our idea of using two-direction arrows indicates that the Marten diagram and mine both have the same general idea of the human-environment system and how they both impact each other. This is a similarity that can be learned by realizing this is a system diagram that is consisted of several components that interact, and affect each other; a systems perspective. In contrast, Figure 1.5 focuses more on the possible future benefits that biogas has towards villages, while my diagram is based upon benefits that already occurred to the villages because of the positive changes. His introduction to these benefits could lead to unknown thoughts and discussion that maybe wasn’t possibly thought about.

Hi everyone! My name is Cassandra Oresko (Cassie for short) and I am currently a sophomore at Penn State Main Campus. I am from Belmar New Jersey and live only a few minutes from the beach, so I spent most of my time at home on the beach, boardwalk, ocean avenue, etc. One of my main interests at home is working out, I am addicted to the gym and love to go here to clear my mind and stay healthy. I am very cautious about what I consume and try to stay as healthy as possible. Many people ask me why I decided not go to school in New Jersey; it’s mainly because I am very independent and wanted to leave my tracks somewhere different, and I’m forever thankful for this decision. I came to Penn State with originally a major in nutrition (I wanted to be a nutritionist for the players in the NFL, i LOVE football) but switched over to administration and education, I tend to pursue a career in the administration of schools and hopefully work my way up from there. Since I am from a beautiful hometown with several types of land, I hope this course teaches me how land has changed over time, what global warming is doing to the Earth, how we can help, ecosystems, natural hazards, etc.

One of the issues I would like to talk about would be ecosystems, which has been an unfortunate effect on my hometown for the past couple years. The natural envrionment back in New Jersey has caused most our transportation heavily on boats and bridges. Because of the heavy use of boating, our oceans and beaches are heavily polluted with oil that has effected marine ecosystems harshly. The normal fish that fishermen would look for are declining year after year because of this unfortunate cause. In regards to tourism, we have lost popular restaurants back at home that used to have many of these fish because we are simply polluting away their innocent lives. My hometown is also popular for beach house rentals every summer, so our air is heavily polluted as well. If we could just focus on sustainability and ways that us as individuals can reduce the use of these transportation systems, perhaps riding a bike, then hopefully we can reduce this issue. This in an environmental impact on both humanity and vise versa. We effect wildlife and the oceans, but at the same time, they effect us. Without these fortunate assets, our hometown would not be well-known for the role it has on tourism. This is an important issue to myself because this is something that is so close to my heart. I’ve watched my hometown change drastically as I grew up, and want to know ways that both myself individually and my hometown can do to save this beautiful place I’ve had the pleasure of growing up in. I am looking forward to a wonderful semester and new knowledge in this course!