Module 10 Blog Post

1.Choose a current event that is happening in your local community or anywhere around the world that is having a detrimental effect on biodiversity and is hazardous to the ecosystem in that given area.
2.Create a system diagram representing the current event and the hazardous elements as to why the biodiversity in the ecosystem in struggling.
3.Explain why this current event deeply matters to you and how you can personally make a difference in the situation in 150-200 words.
1.The current event I chose was the loss of biodiversity that is currently happening in our oceans and how this is a major impact on marine life.

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3.This current event matters to me personally because being someone who doesn’t live close to an ocean makes it that much more enjoyable when I get to go on vacation to somewhere that does! I also have a love for animals and the ocean so I thought this topic and current event would relate to me on that level as well. I think that we as humans have so much power to control the loss of biodiversity that is currently happening and the reasons as to why they are. Everything is a waterfall effect and as we take the time to fix one issue, eventually it will help the other issues as well such as global warming affects water warming, which then affects the chemical levels of the ocean and it also affects the deoxygenation as well. We can personally make a difference in this situation by trying our best to live in correlation with the animals and the ocean and think about what we do on a daily basis and the outcomes of what we do and how they will eventually effect our world and ocean.

Zoe Schulte – Climate Diplomacy Blog

1.

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2. My diagram shows what I thought was most important to address about the situation that occurred between the U.S and several other nations regarding global warming. First, I would like to mention that global warming has been an on-going issue and I thought it was important that the U.S took initiative to try to change this. Wanting to take charge, the U.S created the Copenhagen Accord. This address offered to solve many of the U.S issue when it came to global warming, but did not relate to the issues that other developing nations were going through. In order for the U.S to pass the Copenhagen Accord, they needed to get other nations on board, and they didn’t care how they did it. After manipulation, bribery, lies etc. the U.S got many nations to sign off on this deal. As I put in my diagram, the U.N was already on board. Late this espionage was leaked and I think this has a detrimental effect on the relations between the U.S and other countries. What the U.S did was unfair and never had the intention of helping the other nations only getting them to agree with what they had planned. Eventually, the plan did not work because the U.S lost the trust of the countries they needed most to support them.

3.I do believe that these cables had a right to be made public. Leaking the way the U.S was manipulating other countries just gave more insight to the way our government operates and we as citizens need to be aware of that. It was completely unfair the way the U.S tried to get their way especially because the Kyoto Protocol was already enacted, but they had to make a new law that they intentionally knew would not work for other developing countries. Those countries didn’t have the necessities that larger countries could get easily and I don’t believe the U.S had any intention of helping the other nations with that.The fact that this led to even a further lack of trust between all countries made things even worse. Global warming is a very serious matter and it needs to be addressed in the right way in order to solve it. Otherwise, it will never be solved. The U.S did not keep this in mind which in the end hurt everyone more than it would have if they would have seriously kept the needs of other countries in mind. Every country needs to be on board and participate in a way that suites them and they are able to contribute to the situation.

Natural Disasters and Vulnerability Blog Post

1.It was harder to tell the different natural hazards in my specific town on the Nathan World Map because they only gave general regions on the map of different areas. I live in Erie, Pa and we are known for our very intense winter storms which I am surprised the Nathan Map didn’t show. It did show however medium frequencies of Tornados and low frequencies for wildfires. Hailstorms were also show in the middle, which surprises me because of the amount of snow we get every year. Overall, it was hard to exactly tell what the weather is like for a specific town as this task asked,because the map only gave a general overview. Also, it didn’t seem accurate for Erie,PA in particular.
2.

The natural disaster I chose was a forest wildfire in New Mexico. I wanted to choose this disaster because my hometown would never experience this type of disaster. My hometown, in Pennsylvania experiences all four seasons of summer,winter,fall,and spring. Each season obtaining the natural weather circumstances. Erie, does not have particular dry seasons or strong enough dry seasons with the climate to allow this disaster to happen. Also, Erie is more city oriented so there are very little large forests great enough to cause a wildfire or be known as a forest fire in general.
Erie is very large compared to Ruidoso, New Mexico so the scale of the disaster would not be nearly as large as the area of my hometown. The disaster didn’t show a specific scale of the wildfire fire.If this disaster were to happen in my hometown it would be a lot more damaging than it potentially is in New Mexico. This would be due to the fact that Erie is more populous and city-like so if a wild fire were to break out, it would destroy a lot more buildings and homes than somewhere with a smaller population.
Different people have different vulnerability levels in my town because of the storms that we experience here. Like I said before my town experiences an immense amount of snowstorms during the winter so people here are more vulnerable to the natural disasters that don’t typically occur such as a tornado or earthquake. Although we can get pretty intense storms that can include flooding, tornadoes are very rare. If a tornado would occur my hometown would be very vulnerable. We could reduce this vulnerability by becoming educated on what to do if this type of situation were to happen. Although rare, they can occur and knowing what to do in that type of situation and how to take shelter/repair the town after the damage would be very important.

3. From my personal experience and the experiences of those that have lived in Erie for a long time, know the damage that can occur from the snow storms we face. Car accidents and being snowed in are only two of the disasters that can happen from these storms. Thankfully, Erie citizens know how to deal with these circumstances. We have plows on our streets 24/7 when we are warned of a snow storm approaching. Most of us know how to safely drive on the streets to avoid any accidents and what areas should heavy be avoided during that time. When an Erie winter comes along, we all know what to prepare for and how to stay safe. Those who have never lived in Erie before would be the most vulnerable. You can not safely travel in an Erie snowstorm unless you are educated on how to and have done so before. Also, dressing for the climate is a drastic difference than other places in Pennsylvania as we have had up to negative 20 degree whether before.

References -Zoe Schulte (me)
4.
To reduce vulnerability in my hometown, everyone should be educated on the winters that we have. They should know to prepare and take the storms seriously. If there are slippery roads, negative climates, and up to 10-12 inches of snow after one storm it is not to take lightly. Everyone in Erie needs to be aware of the circumstances of every storm and how to prepare for them.Some actions that can be done are to have the snow plows ready to go, and news casters prepared to warn the city of the storm approaching. Also, to have the right clothing options and right car to drive for the safest way to get around if necessary.
The best people to perform these actions would be snow plow companies and the news.
I can educate myself on the best ways to stay safe. Since I know personally how bad the weather can get I can warn those who don’t so they are less vulnerable to the harsh circumstances.

Zoe Schulte- Week 7 blog post

I live in Erie,Pa. It has a population of 100,671 people and is the home of one of the great lakes (Lake Erie). Erie is great because anyone that loves a city feel or is more of a suburban type of person can find a home here. There are many town-homes,condos, and apartments located in the downtown area of Erie. These neighborhoods are more in the heart of all the action,sporting events, or work places. Although you can find many things to do downtown, there are also great factors to living in the more suburban part of Erie, too. There are several neighborhoods that are close to schools and other work places that are not located in the downtown area. Also, neighborhoods on the Lake are a huge benefit living in the Erie area. Overall, Erie is a mix of every suburban and urban place out there.
The first city form the module I will be discussing is New York City. I have been to this city numerous times, and although it is no where in comparison to my hometown, Erie, there are many things that are similar. Although Erie doesn’t have too many high sky rises, it is still a city where the downtown area is filled with people in the work force, as is New York. Anytime you enter New York City you see people who have traveled from the outskirts such as Connecticut or New Jersey that take the commute just to work there.Erie is a working city especially in the downtown area, but New York has a better way of making their city more sustainable. The subways, trains, and ferry’s make it easier for those commuting workers to make their way to their destination. If Erie incorporated better jobs with better means of transportation it would make living in the downtown area overall easier.
Like the Boston Harbor, Erie makes a great income and has great cultural sustainability from living near the water. This allows Erie to develop and have more advantages over other cities that wouldn’t necessarily have a body of water near them. Although Erie has not become a major city such as Boston, the lake does allow for more environmental aspects to grow and flourish. One thing that could make Erie more sustainable like Boston, is opening up more ports to allow for more fishing which will make that industry grow. I think we are very fortunate to have a lake near us, but the only time you hear about the fishing companies are in very few restaurants. We should learn from Boston and grow the amount of imports we can get from outside sources.

Social Norm and Food Choices

Everyday as a college student, my food choices are influenced by social norms. The “freshman fifteen” as we all call it is in fact a real dilemma. It is hard to maintain a healthy diet while incorporating a heavy load of school work and many hours at the library. It is easier for me to stop and get fast food instead of taking the time out of my day or night to cook a healthier meal choice. I think that a lot of college kids feel this way because that is how our society is today. We are given so many options of fast food choices that it is very normal to gain weight during your freshman year and continue on this healthy diet, as you don’t have many other options.

Eating fast food constantly can lead to one very important societal issue that is I think is very overlooked especially here in America. Obesity is so common now days because fast food is such an easy alternative than staying healthy and fit.On major streets in cities you are bound to see a mcdonalds, arbys, or burger king every time you turn the corner, but where are the healthier drive thru options? My point being, there are none to very little.Our social norm instead should be how can we as a society make it more convenient to just add some fruit or vegetables to our diets, instead of a big mac and fries. It is almost disgustingly normal how often we see others start to gain excessive and unhealthy amount of weight just because it is their easiest option.

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Zoe Schulte – Water Usage Post

1-a Water Supply Chain
In my hometown, Erie, PA our water is sourced from the lake. It is then taken from the lake to the waterworks industry that filters it and clarifies it for drinking/its other uses. It is held there in different piping systems that are then directed to where it needs to go for use.If you don’t use a water well system, it is then sent through other piping systems that direct it to homes for use.After the water is used, it is drained and set to a sewage system.

1-b Daily Usage
1 shower- 30 gallons
Brush teeth- 2 gallons
Washing dishes by hand- 40 gallons
Washing hands-2 gallons
Flushing toilet- 15 gallons
Drank at least 6 glasses of water-50 ounces
Total= 89.40 gallons of water a day

1-c Living on Two Gallons of Water
Living on two gallons of water per day seems nearly impossible. When you put it into a visual perspective it makes it even harder to imagine how those in developing countries or anywhere where water is a restricted source can live efficiently. In my life it doesn’t seem as though anything could get done with using only two gallons of water. Necessities such as bathing and brushing your teeth have to be well thought out in order to use such a small amount of water.I cook everyday, drink many bottles of water, and take 1- 2 showers a day. In order to cut down on my water use I had to think about every move I made regarding water. When brushing my teeth I made it a priority to shut off of the water while brushing my teeth and only kept the faucet running when I really needed it on. Instead of taking up to 40 minute showers I cut that down to at most 20 minutes and also washed the dishes in smaller loads instead of washing over 30 dishes at once while leaving the faucet on the whole time. This experiment shows that it is almost impossible in my life to use only 2 gallons of water. Just showering uses more than 2 gallons even if I cut down my time by 20 minutes. This experiment was a failure to me because I do a lot of things through out my daily routine that I need water for.Geography matters to water use depending on many things. If the location is a desert, there will clearly not be as much water as there would be somewhere that has a lot of rainfall. It can also depend on the temperature of the region. If the location is warmer, often times the water can have more bacteria in it then colder water. Those that live in areas that are constantly warm could be using more contaminated water.

Module 3 Blog Post

Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs.altruism)?
It is easy to believe that when it comes down to it, you would do anything to help the others around you. You would put aside your own basic wants and needs to help the ones you love, but would you help them if it affected something important in your own life? Would you sacrifice something that meant the world to you to the people who mean the world to you.This is what I personally believe altruism is. If my family and friends were in need and what I had to do would effect me drastically forever I would choose my family and friends over anything.This doesn’t just regard my family and friends. Being unselfish can effect anything around you. It is easy for anyone to say that when it comes down to it, the last thing you would be is selfish, but in my case I will always mean it. The people, places, animals, regardless of poor or sick mean something to our earth and lives and sacrifices will always have to be taken to protect them. I think that the way you perceive this view (selfishness vs. altruism) is what really makes you who you are and what your character is. No ones life will ever be worth more than another. It is important to look at each individual as human and know that they impact the world just as much as you do. They have every right and reason to be living on this planet as you do.

Is it important to be a good person or perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?
The first thing that comes to mind when you talk about virtue vs. action is our present day society. I believe that if you think something is truly important to you, you will take action to help that issue or solve that problem. If you simply say “This world issue means a lot to me” but don’t take any action to back that up, does it really mean anything to you? Many people today can put their views all over social media, but never do anything to show why they really feel that way and help society out.If you care about something you should be able to take action to attribute your view and get your opinion across to society. Feeling strongly about something and taking action towards what you feel strongly about are two entirely different things. It is more important to perform good acts than to just think about being a good person.
Do the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans(speciesism)?
Speciesism is a major concept of ethics that I think can get entirely overlooked. As it said in the module, speciesism can relate to things such as racism and sexism and in that case it is more present in our lives because we are always being educated on it. But, we often overlook the feelings and emotions of animals compared to humans. This is one thing that makes it easy to understand what speciesism is. Animal cruelty is an issue that unfortunately spreads across our whole world. Some humans don’t take into consideration that these animals or as they see it “non-humans” don’t have emotions. Scientific research has conducted that animals feel emotions just as strongly as we do, but people will unethically throw them out on the streets, abandon them, or beat them because of their own views. The pleasure and pain of these animals matter just as much as if you saw someone getting beat up on the street or feeling emotional about walking by someone who might be homeless. Each living thing has emotions and feelings and no matter the circumstance, each human, whether person or dog feels pain and pleasure and they all matter.

Blog Post – Module 2

System Diagram

System Diagram

The core ideas behind my diagram incorporate the way humans effect their environment systems. The video shows how biogas is changing the way people are effected in India and the way its also effecting their ecosystem. The system diagram shows how they all relate and how one effect from the biogas leads to another, but in the end they all benefit each other. My diagram is similar to the one from the “What is Ecology” reading because the social system and ecosystem main points relate to the ones in the video. On the social side of the diagram, you see why and how the biogas is effected the values of the people such as more time for studying and working which then effects how their society can make a better income. Whats different about my diagram is the way it is set up. I think that each diagram relays the same information, but can be set up differently depending on the way you want to share your topics or what you might think is most important compared to someone else. This is also why there are similarities and differences. What I thought was most important to take from the video could have been a minor issue to someone else making the same type of diagram.By comparing both diagrams, you can learn what equally effects a social system and an ecosystem.

Getting to Know You

Hello GEOG 030! My name is Zoe Schulte and I am currently a freshman at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pa.I currently live in New Jersey, but I consider Erie my hometown as I have lived here almost my whole life. My major is Early childhood education and I am also pursuing a minor in psychology. My dream is to travel abroad and be able to educate those who are less fortunate and living in countries that don’t have the proper foundations to have the type of education we are lucky to have. I am taking this course for a general education requirement, but one topic that interests me is the way humans impact our world and would like to continue expanding my knowledge on that topic!

As mentioned in my first paragraph, the one topic that interests me the most is human-environment interactions. Something that has had a lot of attention quite recently is global warming or climate change. This has been something that is very interesting to learn about because there are so many factors that go into why the world is being shaped the way it is, and how we as humans are doing so. It is very important to start bringing awareness to those who don’t know much about the decline of our worlds ecological systems and how our living styles can change the way they work or even eventually disappear. Seeing the photo in Module 1 of the drought in California was very impacting and its important to understand how that drought will start affecting the world around it.