Directions

1.Create a systems diagram showing how one of the HIPPO threats can be a danger to biodiversity. You may choose any one of the threats to focus your diagram on, or even combine two of the threats and show how they are related.

2. In a paragraph of 150-250 words describe the key ides behind your diagram.

3. In a paragraph of 150-250 words, describe what you could personally do to help lessen the affect of the threat that you created your diagram about. Ideas can consist of physical actions, ways to get people aware of this issue, or ideas of how to contact people in higher positions who can implement changes.

2.

My systems diagram shows how two threats of biodiversity: human population and overharvesting are connected and how they hurt the biodiversity of the Earth. The human population has been growing and continues to grow with every generation. When the population grows, we need more resources to sustain ourselves such as more places to live and more food to eat. Therefore, we build houses on open land that previously belonged to great numbers of different species and ecosystems and if they are not resilient enough, they will die out and become extinct. With more people humans also need more food to eat. However we do not look at all plants and animals as options to eat, only a small percentage of these things make it into the human diet. This is disastrous because if humans continuously eat a lot of the same animal or plant, then eventually we will kill them off, and have no replacement. In the end, the human population and use of overharvesting come together to show that both of these things are related and they are both hurting biodiversity all over the planet wherever humans are present.

3.

Unfortunately, when talking about the actions of the whole human population, there is not a lot that one person can do to change everyone’s actions right away. However that does not mean that we are powerless. I can not slow down the rate of growth that the human population as, but I can help to make sure that everyone is aware of the individual impact that they are having on biodiversity. I think the major problem is that most people do not think about this issue in their everyday lives even though it is very important. I want to start a biodiversity club or organization in my hometown in New Jersey that will help spread the word of this important issue. We would set up fundraisers and different events to hopefully make the whole town aware of biodiversity and how they affect it. I would also contact the town council and the higher government officials and make sure they have plans to protect areas of land in my town. I live very close to New York City so often times there are apartment complexes built in areas that used to be woods to fit more people in my town. I will make sure that this stops happening because it will help protect the biodiversity of my town, which I’m sure, has already lost so much due to the growing human population.

My systems diagram shows the connection between the leak of the cables to climate change. It starts off with how humans have started releasing more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere as time has progressed. This is bad for the environment as it can cause the climate to rise. With this serious problem on the rise the world came together and had the United Nations climate change convention. At this convention, no solid plan was developed to solve global warming, so the US created the Copenhagen Accord, which was a plan developed to mitigate climate. The accord needed to gain support from many countries in order for it to pass. To gain support, The US started using bribery, threats, and violence in order to convince other countries to sign up to support the accord. The communications of these threats and bribes were released to the public when the cables were released. When these cables were released the public and other powerful countries, who were against the accord, were upset with how the US was negotiating. Even after the cables were leaked, countries were still demanding high amounts of money in order to support the accord. With the United States needing support, they paid the other countries and gave in to their demands. This led to 116 countries joining the accord with 26 more saying that have intentions to. With all of these countries supporting the accord, it puts into place a plan to help mitigate climate change. It is not the best solution, but it is something that will help for now until the United Nations can come together again and form a better, strong plan of action against greenhouse gasses and global warming.

I do not agree that the State Department cables should have been made public. The way our country talks to other countries should be kept private. The public does not know about government affairs and how to interact with other countries. Also, by only leaking a portion of the cables, the whole conversation between some of the countries was not seen. By only seeing parts of the conversation the wrong message can be received. Before the United States created the accord, the United Nations was in the middle of a collective action problem. If all of the countries worked on reducing their greenhouse gasses emissions, it would help the entire planet, however it is easier for individual countries to not change anything they are doing. If they all came together with one plan, the Earth would benefit, and that’s what the US was trying to accomplish with the accord. Also, I believe this is a matter that can be related to something we learned earlier in the year, which talks about ethics. This is an example of how the ends can justify the means. The United States wants a system in place to help mitigate climate change and protect the Earth. To accomplish this, they took some questionable measures to get the support they need, but in the end they gained enough support to start doing something about the climate changes. The means of bribing and using threats justify the end of having a system to place to help fight/reduce global warming.

1. By looking at the Nathan World map of natural disasters, I was bale to tell that my hometown of Wyckoff NJ has a medium-low risk of winter storms, which makes sense because there are some winters where my hometown gets a great amount of snow. The map also says that my town has a low risk of wildfires and a medium risk of tornadoes. I think the map is better suited to tell what areas of the world face which natural disasters rather then seeing individual towns. The map was to large scale and the colors were to close together to be able to see the different natural disasters that are specific to each small town or area.

2. The hazard that I decided to find out more about was the biological hazard that is taking place in Nigeria. In the state of Lagos, there is an unknown disease that has started killing children very fast. Some children are only sick for two days before they die. My hometown could experience this kind of disaster, but we are not very vulnerable to this happening. My area is a pretty wealthy area, and if someone got sock from an unknown disease they would be able to get the proper medical care. The scale of the disaster in Nigeria is much bigger because it is affecting a whole state of about 25 million people, whereas my town has around 17,000 people. Also, some people believe that the disease is caused by the number of fisherman that live in the area, so my town would not have that problem. If this disaster happened on a scale of my hometown it would be disastrous because many children in a small area would be killed and it would cripple the community. The number of deaths would lower the population of my hometown, but the disease would not spread as quickly. Perhaps the people who live closer to the nearest hospital would be less vulnerable then people who live farther away. However everyone in my town has access to a hospital, so this disaster would not be as large as it is right now in Nigeria where they don’t have access to a hospital. To reduce the risk of a disaster in my town I would make sure that everyone knows as soon as a child or anyone gets sick they should receive medical help so the disease does not have time to spread.

3. Since I have lived in Wyckoff my whole life I know a lot about the common disasters that could occur such as flooding and blizzards. Because of this I decided to do some research on less common disasters like earthquakes and tornadoes. I would’ve thought that Wyckoff New Jersey has a zero chance of having an earthquake but that is not the case. The earthquake index average for the US is 1.81, and for Wyckoff it is 1.02 (usa.com). So the chance of an earthquake is less then average, but I was surprised that the number is that high. I have first hand experienced a few small tornadoes in Wyckoff. When these happen we are usually well prepared and stay inside to remain safe. By doing these things we limit the damage caused by the tornado.

Resources

http://www.usa.com/wyckoff-nj-natural-disasters-extremes.htm

4. Natural disasters will always be around and we will most likely never find a way to stop them, so the only thing we can do is better prepare ourselves for when they happen. Wyckoff can have severe snow and rainstorms, which at times can cripple the town. To reduce the effects of these disasters we can make sure that all of the trees are not hanging over power lines and that if a tree is dead or weakened it is removed. The department of public works would be the best people for this as they are in charge of these issues and keeping the streets clean and safe. As for me I can listen to local authorities and watch the news to be well prepared for natural disasters. Also, I can inform all of my friends and neighbors to do the same, so they will be less vulnerable as well.

I live in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Wyckoff is located in the northern part of New Jersey, and it is only about a 30-minute drive from New York City. There are about 17,000 people who live in my town, and most of them are families. Since most of my town’s population is made up of families, the most prominent type of houses are single-family homes. There are only a few sidewalks in my town, so it is definitely an automobile suburb. You need to drive in order to get almost anywhere, including New York City. There is a main road that runs through the town called Wyckoff Ave, and any kind of store or restaurant you will need is on that road, which is very nice luxury to have. I think my town is in a perfect location. It is a suburb so it is not as crowded or as a busy as a big city, but we are close enough to New York City so we can still get a taste of the city when we want to.

The first city I want to talk about is Beacon Hill and Boston. This area is designed to promote walking, even though it is an urban area. I wish my town was made more like this, so more people could walk to get to their destinations. Right now there are not many sidewalks in my town, and it is very dangerous to walk on the side of busy roads. If more sidewalks were built in my town, then people would be able to walk more, and that would reduce the amount of cars on the road. With less people driving, my town would become more sustainable. My neighborhood too is a pretty wealthy area, where most people can afford cars, so currently everyone drives to get everywhere in my town. The addition of only a few new sidewalks would help dramatically.

The second city I want to talk about is Curitiba Brazil. Curitiba has an excellent bus system, and that is the main form of transport in that city. There are not as many people living in my town as Curitiba, however a better bus system in my town would still help make us more sustainable. Right now there are a few busses that go into my town, but they are very few and far between and usually only bring people to New York City. If there were more busses in my town, and they brought people to more locations, my town would be more sustainable because less people would be driving. I believe my town has enough roads, and they could fit busses on them, so the only thing needed is the busses themselves. This seems like a pretty simple thing to accomplish, and would make sense for everybody. I am going to look into seeing who I need to talk to in order to get more bus lines running through my town.

This is a very interesting time for this module to come up because I am currently not eating any meat in my diet. For the religious holiday of Lent, which lasts for 40 days, I have given up eating all meat. This has been a very interesting experience because I am going against the social norm. The social norm in this area, (Penn State, University Park), is that everyone eats meat. When you choose not to eat meat you are in the minority of people, and often times people treat you differently for it. Whenever I tell someone that I am not eating meat they look at me like I have 5 heads. No one wants to feel as if they are different or acting weird, so they just go along with the social norm. They will do anything to be “normal” even if it means eating certain foods, which is how this social norm affects food choice. I am going against the norm, and trying to stay strong with my own eating habits.

The social norm in this situation is that everyone eats meat. If this is the norm and people want to be “in the norm” then this leads to more people choosing to eat meat. By choosing to eat meat, this effects many societal issues in the United States, a major one being climate change. The world’s climate is constantly increasing, and eating meat has a lot to do with that. Not only does transporting the meat create pollution, but cows produce methane gas while digesting the food the eat. In the US, cows produce more greenhouse gas then 22 million cars in a year. All of this greenhouse gas goes up into the atmosphere and plays a huge role in the climate change. The social norm should be that everyone eats more fruits and vegetables, and not meat. If the social norm was to not eat meat, then less people would do it, and the demand for meat would decrease. This would lead to feeding less cows, and ultimately les green house gas released into the atmosphere.

I looked up the deforestation problem in Madagascar, and how that effects the country’s development. I used the Colby website to find my information and the link is https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog030/node/355. This case study talks about the historical and present day problems in Madagascar caused by deforestation. In 1896 the people of Madagascar used shifting cultivation to survive. They would plant and grow crops on a certain area, and then burn the fields when they became not fertile anymore. This destroyed the land and made it useless for future generations to farm on. The government realized this was a problem because eventually there would be no more land left, so they banned this practice. However the people did not comply with this ban and it was very hard to enforce. This relates to the idea of sustainable development that was discussed in the module. The Madagascar people are developing by crowing crops and selling them, however this is not sustainable development because they are ruining the land and future generations will not be able to use it.

The second case study I looked up is about deforestation in India. I used fao.org as my site for information and the link is http://www.fao.org/docrep/article/wfc/xii/0250-a1.htm . The deforestation of the tropical rainforest in India has increased greatly in recent history, and it has come to the point that if something isn’t done the entire rainforest will be destroyed. I find it interesting that people in India are using the forest and its different resources for different things, such as firewood and grazing, to try to develop, but they are really just killing the forest, and hurting their development in the long run. They are taking too much of the forest to fast and soon it will all be gone. The goal of the development is to be able to use the forest in a healthy way that helps the people, and will keep the forest alive for future generations. This would be sustainable development, which was talked about in the module. To help the government has created initiatives for protecting the forest, and has removed subsidies that encouraged deforestation.

These two case studies talk about deforestation, which is a topic that can not be directly related to my hometown which is Wyckoff, New Jersey. However my hometown is only about a 30 minute drive from New York City, so it seems as if about every year a new proposal is created to build more apartments or townhouses in my town. Sometimes these projects get approved and more apartments are created. This helps development because it beings more people into my town, which create more cash flow which increases the equality of life. However if every project like this was approved, we would use up all of the land and trees on my town and that would hurt our development. We would kill all of the natural resources around us, just like what is happening in the case studies that I looked up. It is very important to have a balance in order to create sustainable development.

My hometown, Wyckoff NJ, receives its water from the Ridgewood Water Department. Ridgewood water consists of 56 wells, one purchased groundwater source, and one purchased surface water source. The aquifer that is used by this company is the Brunswick aquifer. After being taken from one of these wells, water it is then sent to the homes that the Ridgewood water department services. After the water enters and goes through the house, it goes down the drains and into the sewer system. The sewer system, made up of pipes, takes the water that has gone down the drain and connects it to the pipes in the street. Here the water from my house meets with the water from my neighbors and travels to even bigger pipes. Eventually the wastewater goes to the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Ridgewood.

2/6

TOTAL: 106 Gallons

2/7

On February 7^th, I tried to live on only 2 gallons a day. This experiment proved to be much harder then I thought it was going to be. I still showered and did many of the normal things I do with water, but just reduced the amount of water I used during those activities. I needed water to drink, so that was at the top of my priority list. I did not do laundry on this day in order to save water and I reduced my shower time by almost half. However, I was unable to keep my water usage under 2 gallons. I showered and flushed the toilet a few times which put me over 2 gallons. However, but trying this activity, and listing out how much water I use on an average day, I realized that there are many things I can do everyday do reduce my water usage. I may not be able to get to less than 2 gallons, but I can definitely reduce it a lot. Geography plays a major rule in water use because some people do not have access to water based on the geography around them. The people who do not have access to water will use less because they are worried that their limited supply might run out.

It is more important to perform good acts then it is to be a good person. I believe this because if any good act is done, then someone or something will benefit. If you are just a good person and do nothing or make no actions to show that you are a good person then no one benefits. Often times it is good people who are performing the good acts, so these two things typically go together. However, even if a “bad person” does a good deed, someone will still benefit from it. For example, say a millionaire donates money to a charity, however the only reason he does this is so boost his own reputation and he does not care about the charity at all. He should care about where his money is going and who he is helping but he doesn’t. So in this case the millionaire is not really a good person, but his good act still benefits people in need. That is why it is more important to do good acts then it is to be a good person. No one is affected by his thoughts, but they are affected by his actions.

At first I thought I believed that my life was worth the same as everyone else’s. But after thinking about it I realized that I think my life is more valuable then other people. This question was difficult because I did not think of myself as a selfish person, but then when I thought about it I realized I don’t really do a lot to help others. I’ll help my friends and family when they need me, but I rarely help strangers, and that makes me selfish. I put my own feelings and preferences above others, which means I believe my life is worth more and more important. I am aware that I have done nothing to earn or deserve this feeling of empowerment but it is just how I think. I usually make sure that I am happy or comfortable before I go and try to help other people. I think most people think in a similar way that I do, but not everyone views it as being selfish. I didn’t see it as being selfish either until really thinking about it. No one wants to call him or herself selfish, but most of us are.

I do not think the pleasure and pain of non-human animals are as important as the pleasure and pain of humans. I think this way because it goes back to the answer to the previous question that says myself, and most humans, are selfish. We value ourselves more then any of the other species that we share the Earth with. I think that humans do take advantage of the other species, more so then we need to or should, however I am still more concerned about the well being of humans then any other species. I believe that we need to protect non-human animals, but mainly so humans can survive longer because we are reliant on many of the animals that are around us. If all of the other species and non-human animals die, then we will also die. I care about non-human animals, however if I have to choose I will make sure that a human has less pain then a non-human animal.

My diagram shows the chain of negative effects that humans have created for themselves, such as overpopulation and worsening health conditions, and how these effects have affected nature and the ecosystem. I used a systems perspective by having the two different columns represent a social system and ecosystem respectively. By adding bio generators to the ecosystem, my diagram shows how the generators can help improve all of the negative conditions that humans have created in the social system. My diagram is a combination of positive and negative feedback loops. For example, by using the generators, there is less of a need to collect firewood, which is negative feedback. However using the generators also requires people to gather more animal waste, which is a positive feedback loop. My diagram has both similarities and differences to diagram 1.5. Both diagrams talk about the human population and the needs that are created when more people are living in an area. However, my diagram focuses more on personal effects such as health and education whereas diagram 1.5 focuses more on labor and the demand for certain goods. By comparing both diagrams, we can learn that there are many different effects when comparing two different systems and how they interact. There are so many different interactions that most likely no two diagrams will ever be the same, and comparing the two diagrams allows us to see this.

Hi, I’m Chris Solokas. I am currently a freshman at Penn State and am living in University Park. I grew up in Northern New Jersey, about twenty minutes away from New York City. Being that close to the city opened up many opportunities such as going to several Broadway shows as well as ice skating in Rockefeller Center throughout the winter. I am a huge NY Jets fan, and am still recovering after they broke my heart by barley missing the playoffs this season. I am a communications major and plan to graduate with a degree in telecommunications so I can become a television producer, preferably somewhere in the sports field. I have never really thought about Geography in a scientific way, which is why I’m very interested to take this course. I know I am going to learn about many new and interesting things about the surface of the Earth that I had probably never thought of before.

There are many important issues that can be addressed when talking about geography. In my opinion, one of the most important issues to be discussed is how humans are affecting the Earth. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone makes a joke and says something like, “So my grandkids won’t see a polar bear, who cares?” There are so many people who think their own actions won’t affect the environment or geography of the planet at all and that mindset is completely wrong. Social science is what is needed in order for us to understand just how big of an impact we as humans have on the Earth, and that is something that we’ll study in this course. This is very important because everyone should understand what a huge impact their actions can have on the environment. Social science is just as important as environmental science.