1) Create a system diagram defining one of the elements of H.I.P.P.O.

2) In 150-250 words describe the key ideas of your diagram.

In my diagram, I used the element of pollution out of the H.I.P.P.O. concept. Pollution is putting chemicals, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, into the air or water of an ecosystem. An abundance of chemicals in any ecosystem can to bad consequences. One example of this is “dead zones”. Dead Zones are places in an ecosystem that can no longer sustain life. This happens when the area becomes overrun with chemicals that are not naturally occurring there. These dead zones can ruin complete habitats. An abundance of these dead zones create habitat loss for different animals. The animals have to now search for new habitats, which put extreme stress on other habitat’s resources. This stress can lead to animal extinction. If there are too many animals competing for the same resources, some are not going to survive and could eventually lead to the entire species being wiped out. Pollution can lead to a chain reaction of events that drastically change the animal landscape.

3) In 150-250 words, what threats to biodiversity are in your hometown?

Habitat Loss is one threat that my hometown of Greensburg, Pennsylvania is currently facing. There are new buildings going up in and around the surrounding area of the town. In order to build these new buildings, habitats are being destroyed. They are being destroyed mostly by deforestation. One animal that depends on these forests are the whitetail deer. Their habitats continue to shrink and shrink in order for new homes to be built on the property. They are being pushed and pushed into smaller areas of habitat that cannot sustain their numbers. The habitat and the deer suffer from this new change. Biodiversity cannot be sustained in little small pockets throughout the town, but that is what is currently trending towards. One way to prevent this is to demolish or remodel current abandoned buildings instead of creating new ones. It will help to prevent any more loss of habitat to keep our town as bio diverse as possible.

My concept map covers my interpretation of how the WikiLeaks cables revealed the United States plan for the climate accord. This was brought about through global warming and a plan was needed to fight it. Global Warming brought upon the Copenhagen Accord, which benefited the United States. The United States drummed up support for this bill through the secret cables. They sent messages to poorer and more vulnerable countries promising them financial aid if they supported it. Originally the countries did not support it because they were not polluting the environment like the United States was. But they eventually succumbed to the United States and took the bribe. These countries are trying to develop and the influx of money was too great for them to pass up. The United States knew this and employed this tactic successfully. They also made threats to other countries pressing them to support the Copenhagen Accord. For example, they offered the Maldives $50 million to support their bill. They accepted because they could not turn down their offer to support their economy. The United States also made a threat to Ethiopia. It said sign the bill or the discussion ends now. If they still did not sign it, they would have been cut off from the United States and their wealth. The United States also tried digging up dirt on other countries and blackmailing them with it forcing them to support the bill. Through all of this, there are 140 countries that support or intend to support the Copenhagen Accord. The United States got what they wanted to happen with the Copenhagen Accord.

Climate change is an issue in today’s world as we learned in Module 9. There are greenhouse gases polluting the atmosphere and the path we are on might not be sustainable for future generations. Action needs to be taken against climate change and that is where the Copenhagen Accord comes into play. While I do not think the leaks should have been made public, it does shed some light on how the deal happened. There are private diplomatic meetings and conversations that I think should stay between the parties involved. One positive thing about the cables being released is the raised awareness it created. People are now more aware that action is trying to be taken to further prevent climate change. This might make some citizens more proactive in trying to limit their own greenhouse gas emissions. The cable leaks showed that the United States did not go about getting votes for their treaty in a very ethical way. It also did not act in a very trustful way by threatening countries to sign their climate bill. The United States was acting in a way where the bill only benefitted them. That approach works for other situations, but it does not work for a global problem such as climate change. I am sure there was another approach to this problem if the United States took some more time to find them. All the countries need to come together to find a resolution that works for everybody and one that will stop climate change. Until that happens, climate change will continue to be an uphill battle for years to come.

In my hometown of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, there are natural hazards that pose a threat to the town. One threat is a tropical storm or hurricane. According to the map, southwestern Pennsylvania is susceptible to tropical storms and it has happened in the past. It is also in a high zone of hailstorms. In my memory, hailstorms do happen quite often in my hometown. Tornados are also another threat to my hometown as they are a frequent occurrence according to the map. Temperature has also been on the rise lately in my hometown as well as illustrated by the map. The Nathan map is well suited for this kind of assignment as it is descriptive and easy to follow. An improvement though could be to make it more in depth.

I chose a biological disaster in the city of Edmonton, Canada. Last updated on March 31, a family is being quarantined after exposure to measles at their local hospital. This could happen in my hometown because it is a biological disaster and can happen just about anywhere if the correct precautions and procedures are not performed correctly. My hometown is vulnerable because of the hospitals and close proximity to Pittsburgh. The scale of the outbreak is similar to the scale if it would happen in my hometown because of the population numbers. The different people in my town have different levels of vulnerability because it depends on who has and who has not been vaccinated before an outbreak of a known disease occurs. You could reduce my town’s vulnerability by having everyone vaccinated.

1) I am from Greensburg, Pennsylvania and it is a distant suburb of Pittsburgh. It is a little under an hour outside of Pittsburgh and has a population of about 15,000 with a population density of 3,546/ sq. mile. I would consider it to be an automobile suburb. Most people use their personal vehicles to get from place to place. There are sidewalks in downtown Greensburg, but you have to drive there to be able to use them unless you live directly in the city. There are businesses, restaurants, banks, and bars all in the city and all easily accessible by foot. Which is convenient if you live in the city but most of the population does not live directly in town. I have lived here since birth and enjoy the small town aspect of while still having close access to Pittsburgh.

2) The first city I will talk about is Rochester, New York. I chose this city because the picture portrayed in the module is very similar to a Greensburg residential neighborhood. In Rochester, businesses and different shopping centers are spread out and require a car to navigate back and forth between plazas. That is a similar setup to my town of Greensburg. You almost have to have a car to get around because of the few sidewalks. A few ways Greensburg could be more sustainable is to have more apartment buildings in the city to increase the population density. This might decrease the use of cars because more people would be located in the center of town and can walk to work or to stores. A change like this would lower emissions from cars and cut down on greenhouse gases.

3) The second city I will talk about is Detroit, Michigan. I chose to write about this city because of their urban farming program. As far as I know, there are not a lot of farms within the city limits of Greensburg. While there are farms in the rolling hills surrounding the city, there are not a lot within the city. Detroit has established urban farms throughout the city and it has helped it become more sustainable. I believe this could work in Greensburg. There are some abandoned lots and buildings that could be turned into gardens or parks. This food could be sold at local food markets or donated to food banks to help with the nation’s hunger problem. An array of urban farms or gardens could make the city of Greensburg more sustainable.

One time that I can recall where my food choice was influenced by social norms was tailgating for a football game this season. My friends and I went to one of their family’s tailgates and I was expecting the typical tailgate food of hot dogs and hamburgers. Instead there was an array of food that I have never seen or heard of before. I felt pressure to consume this food even though I normally do not try a lot of new and exotic food. I ended up eating the food because I was hungry and I did not want to upset or disappoint our hosts. Even though I did not enjoy the food, I went along and never complained so I would not be rude to my roommate’s family.

Apparently, my roommate and his family love trying all types of different food while I am the person that likes to stick with the same food because it tastes great and have no need for change. A societal norm that could be relevant to this situation is food waste. Some people just take the food that they do not want and just throw it away. Instead of just eating it anyways or telling your host that you politely decline is a better option compared to wasting food. In the module 6 readings, it said that there are one billion people who undernourished. They would love to have the food you are throwing away just because you do not enjoy the taste. But instead the food gets tossed in the trash and hunger continues to be a problem in our world continues to be a problem in our world.

Case 1:

The case study I have chosen is the Chad/Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project. The study covers a pipeline being built from Chad to Cameroon’s Atlantic coast. The people of Chad and Cameroon want Environmental Justice since they feel this pipeline could destroy nature and their water supply if there was even one spill because of the seventeen major river crossings. This would in turn destroy the local fishing and tourist businesses that the local villages depend on for survival. While the World Bank and Exxon wanted to build this pipeline, the people of these countries were not all for the construction of it. The pipeline will now be buried instead of above ground and it being built to limit environmental harm unlike before. This case study shows that developing countries might not always be the best choice of action. The link (http://www.umich.edu/%7Esnre492/Jones/pipe.htm)

Case 2:

The second case study is about improving the health of the poor in Mexico. The poor people of Mexico are extremely unhealthy and it causing illness, poor reproductive outcomes, and infant mortality. If they did not live in unsanitary living conditions and have poor nutrition, this might not be happening. While the people of the country want and need help, Mexico cannot give it to them. It will cost astronomical amounts of money to solve their problem. The study had a program to see if this method would actually work and were successful. Children under the age of 5 in the program were twelve percent less likely to contract an illness compared to the children that were not in the program. Adults had a nineteen percent less chance of illness compared to those not in the program. This program will work if it receives funding. The link (http://www.cgdev.org/page/case-9-improving-health-poor-mexico)

Case 3:

I live in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where there has been a boom in new oil wells going up. This is similar to the Chad/Cameroon pipeline because they have brought jobs and development to my town. It is different because the wells were welcomes unlike the pipeline going across Africa. The Mexican case study is similar to my hometown because people get sick everywhere. But unlike Mexico, we have a healthcare system that can prevent and cure these diseases and poor reproductive outcomes. One thing we can learn is to make sure development is wanted and just so a Chad/Cameroon issue does not happen. This could be made possible by town hall meeting to discuss the outcomes of a new pipeline. But it all boils down to the time and place. The time and places you try to develop are a huge factor if a project will be completed or not.

1A-

I live in Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. My water comes from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC). I accessed the information needed for this assignment from their website. The majority of the water supplying the county is from the Youghiogheny River or the Beaver Run Reservoir. The main traits of my tap water include chlorine and ammonia. Fluoride is not added to our water like other water systems are. The chlorine is added to disinfect the water and rid it of water-borne diseases such as cholera. In the summer, ammonia is combined with the chlorine to help carry the chlorine over the entire distribution system and reduce taste and odors caused by the warmer water. The wastewater is then sent back to the rivers as sewage. It goes back into the river after being treated and disinfected by one of the various sewage plants. The water is reintroduced into the river to be used again.

1B-

1C-

Post experiment, I realized I use most of my water in the bathroom. Drinking and cooking did not consume as much water as my bathroom habits did. To cut back on water, I would not be able to spend a lot if not any water on my personal hygiene. I would not be able to shower, brush my teeth, or even flush the toilet. I would have to have an outhouse so I could use the bathroom since I cannot use all my water to flush the toilet. I would spend my two gallons on drinking and cooking water. If I had any leftover I would wash my face and hands. My hygiene would have to take the backseat in order to just survive if I lived in a third world country. And sadly this is how must third world countries operate every single day. I would fail in this experiment. I am not used to that little of a daily consumption of water. I use around 86 gallons more everyday then a third world country native in Haiti does. Geography matters to water use because every spot in the world does not have water be easily accessible like Africa. While in the United States, I can just turn a knob and I know I will have water.

1.

It is more important to be a good person then to be a person who performs good deeds. I think that virtue ethics are superior then action ethics. This is because you can perform good deeds day in and day out but you might not actually be a good person. Someone might be doing this everyday just for show, publicity, or because they have to. The people who do good acts just to have the recognition are not good people. They might be out and doing stuff in the community but deep down they know this is all a lie. Instead a good person is good at heart. A good person does good acts at the same time as just being a good person. They know what they are and so does their creator and they do not feel that they have to perform good acts, but they want to. Just because you perform good acts does not mean you are a good person, and that is what is most important.

5.

The pleasure and pain of non-human animals do not matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans. I believe this to be true because humans are entirely different than animals. We are all after life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and in order to attain that goal, some animals will be hurt along the way. I do believe that all beings are created equal, but in order to live animals are going to get slaughtered. They are going to be eaten in order for humans to survive. If I had to make a choice I would inflict pain to an animal over a human every time. I do not go out looking to hurt animals whatsoever, it is just what I believe. I look at animals as food not as equals in that regard because we are at the top of the food chain. But once again I do believe we are equal as having a right to the Earth. So I do value a human’s pleasure and pain over an animal’s.

6.

I believe my own life is worth the same as anyone else’s. When it all boils down, all that matters is who the guy is next to you. No human is in the position to say whose life matters more than another. All lives matter. Yes,there are times when I just lookout for myself and do what is right for me, but I do not make the decision because I think I am better than someone else. I make it because it is what is best for myself. In order to help others, I have to make decisions for myself first to even be able to begin to help others. Also my family is important to me, but someone else’s family does not have any less importance. We all should take that into consideration. Equality is key to a happy world.

My diagram starts out with the process of wood gathering. In order to wood gather, you must have someone to do it. That responsibility in the village falls mostly on the children. Since the children spend most of their time wood gathering, there is not a lot of time for their studies. This will put the children in the same position as their parents since they will not be educated. Another problem is a wood stove burns the wood. A burning wooden stove puts off smoke. If there is a constant amount of smoke in the house, your health will deteriorate. Changing your energy source to biogas can solve this problem. Biogas is a clean alternative to wood burning. This is because you can have a gas powered stove instead of a wood burning one. There will not be smoke to pollute the house unlike the wood stove. Children also do not have to gather wood. Instead they can spend this time improving their studies. The biogas also has a byproduct of compost. The compost can be collected and sold to farmers to earn extra money to buy food or further educate children. This biogas brings stability to a home because they will always have fuel. My diagram is similar to Gerry Marten’s because we both talk about cooking fuel in our diagrams. They are different because he uses irrigation water in his. There are similarities and differences because we each view things differently. What can be learned from the diagrams is that biogas ties it all together

Hello, my name is Ryan Hegedus and I am currently a junior at Penn State, University Park. I was born and raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a town 40 miles south east of Pittsburgh. I am an Environmental Systems Engineering major and would like to work somewhere in that field. I am interested in this course because geography overall interests me, and it is a major requirement. I think this course will be very interesting to see how geography affects the entire world and the role that it plays. Some facts about me are that I am a diehard Penn State football fan, and my family owns a gas station. I have also been an engineering intern at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the past two summers.

From reading module 1, there have already been numerous geographic matters that I did not know about. Cartographic projection is a fascinating topic to learn about. These projections are distorted all the time to make map viewing easier. If the map were true to scale, it would be very large and difficult to understand. Which is why distorting maps make them easier for people to read. An example of this was found in the module was the London Underground map. The one that’s distorted is not accurate in distance but it makes reading it and finding all the stops a lot easier compared to the other one presented. This is important because cartographic projection makes map reading a lot easier for the average person.