1. Use the factors noted in this module (physically diverse habitat, moderate disturbance, large area, and longevity of system) to describe species in your hometown. How do these factors play a role in the species present in this particular area? Use approximately 100 words to describe each factor. Note some popular species in your hometown, and be sure to note what your hometown is.
   1. I live in Wyomissing, PA, which is on the more southeastern side of the state. I live in a suburban town, with some shopping centers and many residential neighborhoods. Some very popular animals in my hometown are birds, skunks, bats, and squirrels.
   2. Physically diverse habitat: Because of the mild climate in Pennsylvania, a large amount of species can live in Pennsylvania year-round, but some do hibernate for colder months. There is also plenty of water for the animals to enjoy, with many lakes and rivers present throughout the state. Pennsylvania has a long summer and also spring and fall weather, so there is plenty of sunlight for some animals, while others enjoy the long, dark nights. Pennsylvania also has a large amount of variability in topography. While where I live is mostly residential neighborhoods, there are many forests with trees and rivers nearby.
   3. Moderate disturbance: Biodiversity in Pennsylvania is in part because of the very little disturbances in the area. Storms in Pennsylvania are very moderate, while we do not get many tornadoes or hurricanes. There has also never been a tsunami or volcano eruption in my hometown. Forest fires are not very frequent either. I would guess that humans cause the largest amount of disturbance in my hometown. There are frequently being new homes built around where I live, and fields are being taken out to put new shopping centers in. Traffic can also become very heavy where I live, which may also cause disturbances.
   4. Large area: Since Pennsylvania is on the North American continent, biodiversity becomes especially high. Animals can move throughout the United States because it is not separated by a large ocean. Specifically in my hometown, I would not think that there are many species coming or going in and out. Because of the high traffic area that I live in, some land masses are now separated by highways, that may have split up habitats that were there in the past. Animals can’t really cross the highways very easily. Not far from my hometown there are also large bodies of water, which may also separate species.
   5. Longevity of system: My hometown was established in 1906. While of course the land was there before the town was established, the establishment brought a lot of development with it that may have affected the biodiversity in the area. Humans are continuing to change the town overtime, by adding more roads and buildings. Where there used to be many fields and forests, there are now neighborhoods, schools, and shopping centers. As the population of humans grows, I believe that the biodiversity of other species must be decreasing.

In my diagram, I started at the top with humans, because without them, there would be very little to no pollution on earth. Humans caused an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases, which also lead to a change in global climate. This was an even larger problem than it should have been because of the lack of awareness and lack of effort in coming up with a solution to the problem. With little to no idea of the problem, humans had little reason to change. Finally the Copenhagen Accord was put into place in 2009, which gave every nation a way to choose the target for greenhouse gas cuts. Larger countries benefited more from the accord than smaller countries, so some developing countries had little reason to support the Accord. The United States is the largest polluter, and a large developed country, so the Accord benefitted them greatly, and they wanted all countries to support the Accord. This caused disagreements and threats between the United States and non-supporters. Eventually, WikiLeak Cables exposed these threats form the United States to other countries that did not support the Accord. In the end, 140 countries support the Accord, while over 20 do not. My diagram points from each spot to what it caused. For example, humans caused an increase in greenhouse gases.

I feel that this is a very tough issues and that my view on the issue differs from time to time. On one hand, I do not think that the cables should have been made public because I think this could have caused a lot of confusion, leading to unwanted rumors and misunderstanding. There is definitely some information in these cables that not every person in the world is going to understand, so rumors could be started about what the information contained or what different countries said. I do though believe that we have a right to know what is going on in the world, I just don’t think this was the best way for everyone to find out. If someone could have explained the material in an un-biased manner that everyone was able to understand, maybe countries would have been better off. I also believe that the United States should not have been manipulating countries into supporting the Accord. I do not agree with every way that the United States tried to get people involved, just to benefit themselves. Instead, I believe that the United States should have met more often in person to talk about their views, or put more agreements in place to get other countries involved. If everyone could have benefitted from the Accord, everyone would have agreed to it. Maybe if less developed countries were benefitting more, the United States could have acted in a more stable manner to increase the support.

1. I am from Wyomissing, PA, which is about an hour west of Philadelphia. I am fortunate enough to live in an area where many natural hazards do not happen very frequently. I live in Zone 0 for earthquakes; volcanoes, tsunamis and storm surges, and iceberg drifts are not present in my area; I do not live in an area of high climate impacts. There is a slight risk of tropical cyclones where I live because we are not far from the eastern border of the United States. Where I live, hailstorms are frequent; the map puts us in zone 4 or 5. We are located in zone 2-3 for winter storms, zone 2 for tornados, and zone 1 for wildfires. The Nathan map was helpful, and very interesting to look at, but at times it was hard to decipher which zone my town was in. It would have been easier to look at if I could have zoomed into my state to get a better look.
2. The disaster I chose was a volcano eruption in Mexico on March 31st. The volcano affected States of Puebla, Mexico, and Morelos, and residents are being told to avoid the area. Falling ash may affect nearby towns, and people may have to evacuate if it gets worse. The volcano is only 50 miles southeast of Mexico City. My hometown will not experience this type of natural disaster because there are no volcanoes anywhere near where I live. While the event did not affect many people because of its location, it was still very dangerous. The eruption reached a height of 11,482 feet, and the volcano is one of the country’s most active volcanoes.                 If a volcano erupted in Pennsylvania, I think it would cause a lot more damage than where it did in Mexico. The area around the volcano is Mexico is not too populated, because people are aware that the volcano is active. Pennsylvania is too populate that if a volcano were to just randomly erupt, people would definitely be affected by it.                                                                                                                      People in Mexico are probably much more educated on volcanoes than people in Pennsylvania because they live near them and need to be aware of the possibility of eruption. In Mexico they are more prepared for volcanoes, as we do not have any volcanoes in Pennsylvania. If a volcano popped out of the ground and erupted, no one in Pennsylvania would be prepared, and they may not even be educated enough on volcanoes to know how to act. The volcano would also cause a lot of damage because of the amount of money that people in Pennsylvania have compare to the amount of money people in Mexico have. People in Mexico also know not to build expensive house or have their valuables near the volcano because they would lose everything as soon as the volcano erupted. If we did not know there was a volcano in Pennsylvania and it suddenly erupted, everyone would lose their valuables.                                                                                                                            To decrease vulnerability of volcanoes, people near volcanoes need to be educated on the effects of a volcano. They need to be prepared to get up and leave if a volcano is suspected to erupt, and they also need to keep all of their valuables far from the volcano. People in the area need to know the severity of the volcano and how likely it is to erupt. If there was a volcano is Pennsylvania, people would have to live far enough from the volcano as to not be affected. There would also have to be emergency response teams available just in case of eruption.
3. I chose to specifically look at hail storms in Pennsylvania because they are one of the most frequent natural hazards that affects my hometown. In May 2014, a hail storm occurred in my hometown, Wyomissing, PA, with hail larger than golf balls. The amount of damage was more severe than other storms that had occurred in the city before, including flooding and heavy snowstorms (Joas, 2014). Vehicles and buildings were damaged, but luckily there were no serious injuries (Joas, 2014). Since Pennsylvania is not usually affected by many natural hazards or sever natural hazards such as tornadoes, tsunamis, great amounts of flooding, or large hurricanes, this storm definitely came as a surprise to the people of my hometown. To say we were unprepared is by far an understatement.
   1. Joas, J. (2014, May 23). Pennsylvania Insurance Department Works to Help             Victims of Hailstorm. Retrieved from http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-berks/Local/pennsylvania-insurance-department-works-to-help-victims-of-hailstorm/26143438.
4. While my hometown does not experience many natural hazards, it is definitely important to decrease vulnerability in any ways we can, just to be safe. To decrease vulnerability, people in my hometown should be educated on all natural hazards that could possibly take place there. They should be given information on how to come up with a plan in case of emergency and practice these plans ahead of time. People should also be told to evacuate ahead of time if the hazard may cause a lot of damage. The best way to prepare people for natural hazards is to educate them from a young age in schools and keep them updated through the news and other alerts. If children are taught about any type of hazard when they are young, they will know how to act if it should ever occur. They should be given examples of how to keep themselves safe in all situation. People should also be constantly updated on the news, by radio, and by telephone if a natural hazard is likely to occur in their area. I can prepare my friends and family for natural hazards ahead of time by helping to educate them, and I can also make a plan for my family to follow in case of emergency. I should also have food and water prepared that I have access to in an emergency.

1. I live in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, which is located in southeastern PA. I would describe Wyomissing as an automobile suburb, where most people drive their cars to work, the store, school, etc. In 2013, the population of Wyomissing, PA was 10,481 people, and the population density was about 2,336/ sq mile. Also, the borough holds a good mix of population by age. Wyomissing holds many large shopping centers and corporations, and in turn, a good amount of job growth. I have lived in Wyomissing for about 5 years, and I really enjoy living there. It is a very clean, friendly town, made up of many families. I have noticed that not many people use transportation other than cars in my town. There are hardly any busses that run efficiently to where you need them to, and roads are not really suited for biking or walking.
2. My favorite video from this week’s module was about the cycling day in Bogota, Colombia. Every Sunday and holiday from 7am-2pm, streets are closed for cars and open for all pedestrians to just go out and enjoy the streets how they’d like to. Pedestrians feel safer this way, and it is much more convenient for them to go out and exercise. They even offer aerobics classes right in the middle of the street. I think this would be an awesome thing to implement in my own town because most people in my town drive everywhere every day of the week. It would be harder to do this in my town because most streets are only one lane, where in Bogota there were three or four lanes and one was left open to normal traffic. To stop all normal traffic in my town may not work for some people, but it would definitely be great to get people moving and walking or biking to most of their nearby errands. Having less traffic would also lead to less pollution from cars, making my town an even cleaner place to live.
3. The other video that I really enjoyed watching was the urban agriculture video from Haiti. I thought it was amazing how the changes being made to Haiti are making them much more of a “greener” place to live. The woman in the video said that she used to be able to provide bread and soup for her children, but she’d have to go to the market to buy vegetables for them. Now that she’s growing her own vegetables, it saves her the time and money to buy them from someone else. This would be great to implement in my town because now most people buy fruits and vegetables from grocery stores, where they may have no idea where they are even coming from. By growing fruits and vegetables in our backyard and selling them inside the town, we are keeping the money in the town, and even making it more convenient to buy these goods. While my town does not have a lot of farmland, it may even be an interesting idea for only people that have enough land to grow certain fruits and vegetables and sell them throughout the town.

1. As a college student, I am usually too busy (or broke) to go out and eat a good, healthy meal. And as a college student AND an American, I find it easy, and acceptable, to eat pizza at least a few times a week. Americans are known as unhealthy eaters, eating mostly typical American food like hamburgers and hot dogs. This is clear from the video we watched in this module about all of the consumption of beef in our country. Most Americans like myself are typically “on the go” and too busy to sit down and eat a family dinner. I consider it a social norm in our country, especially as a college student, to eat cheap, fast food meals at least a few times a week. For me, I find it especially easy to eat pizza, another food that Americans have taken as their own and made even more unhealthy, about 5 times a week. It’s quick, easy, and really, it’s the college student way.
2. I think that pizza, just like hamburgers, is hurting our planet. Pizza does take less plant products than beef does, because the dough is made from flour and yeast, the sauce is made from tomatoes, and the toppings are sometimes vegetables. Cheese though, just like beef, needs cows to be made. This means we must feed the cows to get the milk from them, and then the milk must be transported and made into cheese. Although, no other ingredients in a pizza need to be fed themselves, except for other meat toppings. Pizza still takes a lot of transportation to be made and to bring all of the ingredients together. It takes big tractors to plant these vegetables and to harvest the wheat. Especially in college towns like State College, pizza is delivered very frequently, which again is releasing these toxic fumes into our atmosphere. I think that pizza is really great, but maybe we shouldn’t have made it into a “fast” food. The social norm should be as it is in other countries; pizza should be eaten in a restaurant, maybe once a week or a few times a month.
3. Here is my system diagram. In my system diagram, all of the arrows point towards what they are affecting. For example, pizza (over)consumption leads to greenhouse gases from delivery vehicles, and unhealthy food choices leads to pizza (over)consumption.

1. The case study I read was from allafrica.com, and it talked about Tanzania’s Free Education Policy and the challenges that it is facing. In January 2014, President Ali Mohamed Shein of Tanzania declared a Free Education Policy, which started in July 2015. His goal was to encourage parents to keep their children in school, at least for a basic education, and it really took off a lot faster than they expected it to. They are facing a few challenges that they hadn’t expected before, including congested classrooms, limited facilities, and a shortage of qualified teachers. The families in Tanzania did not have the money that they used to have to pay for education, which included money for fees, learning materials, and uniforms for their children. If we looked at Tanzania’s GDP as we did in the past module, I would question that while the parents did not have money to pay for the education, does the country have enough money to provide an education that is of high enough quality?    http://allafrica.com/stories/201602240982.html
2. The second case study I chose was from the Center for Global Development, and it talked about curbing tobacco use in Poland. There was a really high rate of smoking tobacco in Poland, causing numerous health problems such as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and low birth weight. After research in the 1980s had been done to look at health impact of smoking and the link between smoking and cancer, the Polish parliament passed new legislation in 1995.  It included larger health warnings on cigarette packs, a ban on smoking in health centers and workplaces, a band on electronic media advertisement, and a ban on tobacco sales to minors. This relates to our last module because it takes into account the quality of life over Poland’s GDP. “In 1990, the probability that a 15-year-old boy born in Poland would reach his 60th birth­day was lower than in most countries, and middle-aged Polish men had one of the highest rates of lung cancer in the world.” http://www.cgdev.org/page/case-14-curbing-tobacco-use-poland
3. My hometown is Wyomissing, PA, which is right outside of Reading, PA. Reading, PA has a pretty high crime rate, and in November 2011 it was named the poorest city in the nation.  The Reading school district has about 18,000 students, and I got to do some observation hours in one of the elementary schools in the district. In Pennsylvania we pay a school tax, although we don’t have to pay for things like learning materials or uniforms like they do in Tanzania. The elementary schools in Reading were so over-populated that teachers sometimes had over 30 children in their classes, and it was often hard to find enough space for all of the children or find substitute teachers. While over 30 students does not compare to the 200 students in some Tanzania classrooms, it does show how having less teachers and equipment and more students has an impact on the quality of education.  Reading school district is still developing at this time, just as Tanzania schools are, but because of its geographic location near many more affluent school districts in Pennsylvania, I do believe Reading has an advantage.

In my hometown, we get water from a public water supply. This water comes from groundwater that comes from rain and snow. Water wells are used to harvest the groundwater, and it is treated and sent through a filter. Then it is pumped into pipes and tanks, then into our homes, then through the tap. After water is used or goes back down into the drain, it is carried by gravity through sewer lines and pumped into a treatment plant. Here the water is retreated to be used again.

Here is my average water usage:

Flush toilet: 4 times = 12 gallons

Wash hands: 10 times = 10 gallons

Take shower: 1 time, 15 minutes = 75 gallons

Drinking water: 8 cups = .5 gallons

Brush teeth: 2 times = 1 gallon

Wash dishes by hand: 1 load = 20 gallons

Wash laundry: 1 load = 30 gallons

I use approximately 148.5 gallons of water per day. I may not do my dishes or laundry every single day, but this does not account for other things I might do in a day like water plants, wash fruit or use water for other food preparation, or give water to pets.

Two gallons of water seems like a very crazy amount of water to live off of per day, since I am spoiled with the almost 150 gallons that I use everyday. I did try to cut down on my water usage though, and my priorities included washing my hands, brushing my teeth, and drinking water. In all types of washing, it is important to turn the water off as much as you can. I had never really had to do this before, and it was a challenging thing to remember to do. As soon as I got my hands wet to wash them, I turned the water off while I scrubbed my hands with soap. Then I turned the water back on to rinse. I also turned the water off while brushing my teeth and as much as I could while I showered. I tried to use only half of a gallon of water for drinking purposes and food preparation. I pretty much failed at using only two gallons of water in one day right away. It was pretty much impossible for me to use so little water, mostly because I use the bathroom, and flushing the toilet takes a lot of water.

Geography is important in water use because depending on where you live, you may have a lot less water to use than other people. Water in some places in the world is not as clean as it is here. It is not as readily available as it is to me, and some people have to travel very far on foot to retrieve it. I am very fortunate to live in a place where I don’t have to worry about getting water, I just have to turn the tap on. Although, this spoils me, and I am not as conscious about my water usage as others are.

1) Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)? I think that performing good acts (action ethics) is more important than being a good person (virtue ethics). If you’re a good person, you may feel empathy for others, have less harsh judgements towards others, or think better about situations, but if you’re not going to do anything about it, then it won’t make a difference. You won’t make a difference. I do believe that actions mean more than words in every way. You can say that you believe something or that you will do something over and over again for someone, but if you never do it, then how does anyone know that you really mean it? You can only truly show people how you feel and what you mean if you perform good acts that reflect how you feel. Performing good acts will be remembered longer than just being a good person. While this may not always be important, I do believe that acts have a greater impact than just virtues.

4) Do ecosystems matter for their own sake, or do they only matter to the extent that they impact humans (ecocentric ethics vs. anthropocentric ethics)? I believe that ecosystems matter for both their own sake and for the impact that they have on humans. If ecosystems are destroyed, everything inside the ecosystem, including the plants and animals, will also be destroyed. Even with a decrease in the amount of food or animals or the slightest change to an ecosystem can cause a total crash. When ecosystems are damaged, humans suffer as well. Ecosystems provide food, shelter, and even recreational activities for humans too. Although humans are impacted by the health of an ecosystem, I think that ecosystems matter for their own sake more. A single ecosystem is home to tons of animals, so of course their impact is larger than only to humans. The extent that they impact humans is definitely important, but not nearly as much as they matter for their own sake. They impact the organisms that live in the ecosystem far more than they impact humans.

6) Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)? I think that my life is worth the same as other people’s lives, although I do think that children have lives more worthy than adults. I don’t think your life is worthy based on who you know or what you know. Your life is not worth more if you have more money or if you’re famous. Children have an entire life ahead of them. Children are full of innocence, so I believe that their lives are worth more than mine. I believe that children practice altruism more frequently than selfishness and more frequently than adults do. They may not always know right from wrong, but they do what makes them happy, in a selfless way. For this reason, I think their lives are worth more than mine. They may not have the money, skills, or education that adults do, but they do what they do for the good of other people, even if they don’t always notice it. Their innocence is something that most people will not have their entire life because of what they know, what they’ve experienced, or what they’ve done. That makes a life more worthy to me.

In my diagram, the object has an impact on the object that the arrow is pointing towards. For example, the fertilizer made by the biogas impacted women by providing job opportunities and doubling their income. It also impacted the economy because it was being sold. The landscape of this town included both the social system and the ecosystem of the town. The social system side of my system diagram includes women and children, health, time, technology, job opportunities, and the economy. The ecosystem includes compost (fertilizer), cow dung which powered the biogas, gas produced from the biogas, and new crops, like coffee plants. All of these social systems and ecosystems were inseparably part of the landscape. This also explains the human ecology of this town. For example, women and children were impacted highly by the income of the fertilizer produced by the biogas. The video took place in the technology capital of India, where new job opportunities pulled people from rural areas.

My system diagram is similar to the system diagram in the Marten reading because of the major technology component that the social system had. Without the new technology and the invention of the biogas, women in India would have to keep using firewood, causing health problems and an increase in time use. Compared to the Marten diagram, my social system did not show a huge impact on the population in India. The Marten diagram also connects the human activities and the ecosystem services. This includes the energy, material, and information. There was a need for the biogas mainly for convenience, not because it was hurting the population.  There are similarities and differences because of what is being compared. My diagram is from biogas in India, but the location, beliefs, objects, and more can determine what is in the diagram and how they are compared. By comparing the two diagrams, we can see what truly impacts the social systems and the ecosystems. My location does not have a lot of the objects that the Marten diagram does. By comparing them, I learn about the many ways they impact each other.

Hi everyone,

My name is Sarah, and I am a sophomore at Penn State’s University Park campus. I am from Reading, PA, and this is my first year in State College. I am an Elementary Education major, and I want to be a teacher. I have enrolled in this course mainly because I need an economic geography course, although I am excited to be taking a geography course that talks a lot about human interaction and not just about landforms and weather (I had one of those last semester). I also love online courses, so when I saw this one was offered online, I couldn’t really pass it up.

One issue that I think is important to address is climate change. When reading about scale this week, it really amazed me when the passage said that “When we change the climate somewhere, we change it everywhere.” Every little impact that we have really does affect the entire planet, and it really puts things into perspective. Another passage said “we need to think about the types of impacts our individual decisions have for the natural world.” It really is a huge issue when we, as humans, don’t realize the impact we have on the earth.