Describe the biodiversity of your hometown in 150-250 words.

Like many other posts we have done I think a good place to start is in your hometown. Having lived in Rochester, PA since I was two years old I am very familiar with the amount of biodiversity in the town, or lack thereof. Covering a land area of approximately five square miles, Rochester does not scream biodiversity. Not much of those five square miles is even wooded areas, I could not find any numbers, but from what I know I would estimate that approximately 1.3 square miles are wooded. Furthermore, there is no farmland in Rochester. If you go to the neighboring towns of Freedom, New Sewickley, even New Brighton, you will be in a much more biodiverse area with farmland and wooded area. The human population of Rochester has steadily been declining since the 1930’s. It is predominantly urban area that was built up in the 1900’s to accommodate the larger population; human population definitely had an impact on the biodiversity in the area.

Describe the biodiversity of your college campus.

Penn State Behrend for those of you who may not know is an arboretum. For those who do not know what an arboretum is, it is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a place where trees and plants are grown in order to be seen or studied by the public.[1] Every tree on campus has a little placard planted at the trunk of it telling you the name and species of the tree. On the reverse side of the campus maps all around campus you will find a satellite image of the campus with all of the different trees numbered and their name and species listed at the bottom. There are more than 200 different species of trees on campus for the students to observe and enjoy.[2] Also, located on the western side of the campus is the Wintergreen Gorge. The Wintergreen Gorge is a densely wooded area with a shallow stream running through it. There are numerous amounts of different trees and plants in the Gorge, it is a great place for students to take a break from their studies and enjoy a nice hike when the weather is nice.

Compare the two entries.

While Rochester is a small town in the center of Beaver County, Penn State Behrend is a not necessarily a town of it’s own. The buildings are more spread out, allowing greater usage of the land between them for things such as plants and trees to grow. The campus is in full swing for nine months of the year, but the increased population during those nine months does not have an affect on the ecosystem. The more urban nature of Rochester gives the ecosystem little to no chance of increasing biodiversity. A potential way to begin increasing the biodiversity in Rochester would be to start tearing down abandoned buildings, then planting trees or other plants in their place. This would not be a cheap task however and the population may not be able to afford the increase in taxes to make it happen.

[1]http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arboretum

[2]https://psbehrend.psu.edu/about-the-college/the-arboretum-at-penn-state-behrend

The idea behind my diagram is as follows. Greenhouse gases and emissions are outlined in red for the obvious reason of them being harmful to the environment. The presence of greenhouse gases lead to “climate change”. Due to this “climate change”, it leads to the world to get together and discuss a plan to appropriately and effectively slowing down or decreasing greenhouse gases and emissions to in turn decrease the “climate change”. The United States are brought into the equation because they support the plan that was discussed during the Copenhagen Accord, but due to differences in political views, not every country in the world agrees, particularly the poorer countries that are a part of the United Nations. Which leads to the U.S. taking the necessary steps to swing votes in favor of the Copenhagen Accord. Upon spying and attempts of spying on countries that are a part of the United Nations, the United States targeted the countries the felt were in most need of financial support in order to further persuade them to come to terms with the Copenhagen Accord. Wikileaks later reveal that the United States pulled these “stunts” if you will and expose the United States for essentially bribing underdeveloped and poorer countries in order to get them to vote in favor of the Copenhagen Accord. In the end 116 countries in favor of the accord and 26 other countries intending to be in favor of the accord. And, Japan opted out of an extension of the Kyoto climate treaty in order to join sides with the Accord.

I believe the steps the United States took in order to accomplish their goals are completely acceptable. Politics are a dirty game and they always have been. The country that sits there and is complacent is never going to accomplish anything and they certainly are not going to get things to happen the way by which they want them to. This comes back to the ethics discussion from module three. The United States followed a path of action ethics, where the end goal of getting the remaining countries on board to support the plan by which they believed had the best chance of slowing down climate change was in fact more important than the consequences of the actions needed in order to achieve this. They steps in which they took may seem intrusive or as though they have overstepped boundaries, but just because there were wikileaks of evidence against the United States making attempts to spy on countries and negotiate with them, does not mean that they were the only country doing it. They also are not the first country to do it and will not be the last country to do it. The State Department cables should not have been released to the public for the exact reason of negative and ignorant criticism of the course of action taken by the United States. A job needed to be done and the United States took action in order to complete that job, the “climate change” is not going to disappear or lessen unless somebody steps up to the plate and makes an attempt to limit the greenhouse gases and emissions worldwide.

Rochester, Pennsylvania is located in Western Pennsylvania. Based on the Nathan Map, the natural disasters most likely to have an impact on Rochester are zone 3 hailstorms, zone 1 extratropical storms (winter storms), and zone 2 tornadoes. Due to the geographical location in Western Pennsylvania, each of the hazards is low risk. I feel the map is well suited for this task based on the representation of Pennsylvania. Living there my whole life I have never encountered more than one hailstorm per year. Winter is normal and only once every so many years will Rochester gets nailed with a bad winter storm. Northwestern Pennsylvania tends to get a generous amount of snowfall due to the lake effect. But generally winters are manageable. Tornadoes in Western Pennsylvania have happened, but they are very rare, I believe a zone 1 rating would have been more realistic.

I selected a forest/wildfire that occurred in New Mexico. Rochester can experience a wildfire, but the vulnerability is extremely low due to generally wetter conditions than those that fuel wildfires. The scale of this wildfire was small; about 125 acres[1] of trees and tall dry grass were damaged. Rochester is 445 acres[2], so the fire would have consumed 28% of the town. The location where the fire took place was about a mile and a half south of a town named Ruidoso, NM. The location of the fire would impact Rochester much more negatively because there is very little wooded area. Homes would be destroyed and lives potentially lost. The fire affected nobody in Ruidoso and no buildings were either. The severity would ultimately depend on the location in which you lived in Rochester, in the borough, houses are extremely close to one another so there is a greater chance of more homes and families being affected by the fire. If you are in the township however there is more land between houses so the number of people that would be affected is much less.

To prevent or decrease the vulnerability of Rochester to natural disasters, proper preparation should be taken by the community. Residents should stay informed by watching the local news stations or going online to check the weather forecast. Preparation must be taken more than just a few days in advanced, bottled water and canned goods should be stocked up. The town officials can be contacted and plan town information sessions on what people can do to prepare for a natural disaster. Overall, the vulnerability of Rochester to natural disasters is about as low as it possibly can be.

[1] https://nmfireinfo.com/2016/03/29/moon-mountain-fire-fire-update-2-32816-828-pm/

[2] https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Rochester%2C+Pa

My hometown is Rochester, Pennsylvania. Located in Beaver County, where the Beaver River meets the Ohio River. With an approximate population of 3,600 and an average graduating class of about 65 at local Rochester Area High School we are a comfortable small town. No matter where I go in town I am guaranteed to see at the very least five people I know. I would consider it more of a combination of a pedestrian oriented town and an automobile suburb. Some of the adults in the community commute out of town to go to work everyday, while there are also local businesses where some walk to work everyday. The local grocery store is a light to moderate walk from any given location in town. All year round there is a steady balance of both foot traffic on sidewalks and automobile traffic on the roadways.

The first city from the reading I’d like to discuss is Rochester, New York. I have now lived in Rochester, New York since the first of the year and have grown familiar with the area. A larger population than that of Rochester, PA increases the amount of traffic almost everywhere. Within the city there are many places in walking distance, but as mentioned in the reading it is an automobile suburb. Surrounding neighborhoods not but five minutes out of the city is where the majority of the population resides. During my morning commute you are able to see the amount of people heading into the city for work.

Next, I am going to discuss Beacon Hill, Boston. Beacon Hill is the example of a pedestrian oriented city where people choose to walk rather than drive. I mentioned that Rochester, PA was a combination of both a pedestrian oriented town and an automobile suburb and this example gives a good comparison. In Beacon Hill, there are places to work and shop. People do not necessarily need a vehicle in order to get to these places. Rochester, PA has the unique ability allow people to enjoy a nice walk to the store if they so choose or drive out of town to a nearby shopping mall.

I have never had much of a palate for watermelon. Growing up every Sunday in the summer was spent at my uncle’s house because he had a pool. Fortunately too, he grew his own watermelon. All of us kids would grab the pieces of watermelon with the most seeds so that we could see who could spit their seeds the furthest. I’m competitive by nature, so I would eat the watermelon just in order to beat my family members in a game as dumb as spitting seeds. In this situation the food choice was healthy and homegrown. If there weren’t any watermelon of my uncles we would go to a local home owned market with all locally grown produce. The food choice came from our parents wanting us to eat healthier but also, the competition that can with consuming the watermelon.

The social norm I mentioned above deals directly with nutrition. A major societal issue that I feel connects to this social norm is the lack eating healthy or choosing to eat healthy snacks. Junk foods and sugar filled snacks are more readily available now more than ever before. Everywhere you look you see kids grabbing candy instead of fruit and pop instead of water. In the previous paragraph I stated how we would choose watermelon as competition. Now, kids will have a competition of who can consume the most sugary sweets. Part of the problem is parents providing an abundant amount of sweets and allowing children to make their own decisions. I think more healthy snacks should be provided regardless of whether or not you are at a party.

The water supply in Rochester Pennsylvania begins its journey in the Beaver River. A dam collects water for two water treatment plants owned by the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority. These two plants are both conventional rapid sand mixed media filtration plants. The river has always been readily available allowing the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority to produce up to 8.5 million gallons of water per day for the local communities. After the water complies with the appropriate protocols it is then dispersed through piping systems to the neighboring communities, including Rochester. Upon usage at our home the water then follows home drains to the sewer, which travels a short distance to the Rochester Township Water Treatment Facility. There are a total of three water treatment facilities in Rochester for each of the respective neighborhoods, Rochester Borough, East Rochester, and Rochester Township. These facilities go through a similar process as the two Beaver Falls facilities in order to filter the bacteria and waste out of the water before releasing it back into the Beaver River.

Water Consumption on Sunday February 7, 2016

My attempt to live on two gallons of water in one day proved unsuccessful. Due to a daily routine that my body is synchronized to a morning shower and restroom use were all it took to surpass that 2 gallons. I tried to cut my shower time down by not running the water before I got in and also by running cooler water in order to decrease my likelihood of standing around long. My three minute shower produced 15 gallons of water ending my hopes of living a day on two gallons. I put personal hygiene above all else on my priority list, which limited my water usage the remainder of the day. I still wanted to challenge myself to use less water so I did not run my dishwasher or make coffee today. I also only drank one bottle of water. Geography plays a large role in water use because if there isn’t a consistent body or flow of water nearby you are going to have to ration your consumption. In areas where water is readily available it leads us to collectively be selfish with our water consumption. Individual action in limiting water consumption can be a small step towards preventing scarce water supply but ultimately for the future generations to have clean and readily available water a greater collective action must be sought out.

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

To me action ethics build off of virtue ethics. In order to perform good acts you must ultimately already be a good person. The example in the reading about someone who cares about the environment or someone who takes action to help the environment is a good example of how you must have virtue before action. Somebody who does not care about the environment more than likely is not going to take any necessary actions in order to help preserve the environment. However, if you believe the environment is worth saving and you care about it you will decide to start taking the beginning steps to help preserve the environment, whether it be small steps like just recycling, or larger steps like spending a day or two collecting waste in a local park. If I had to choose one as more important over the other, I would have to say that it is more important to be a good person.

2. Do the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans(speciesism)?

Yes, non-human animals pain and pleasure are just as important. At some point or another most people have owned a cat, dog, or some kind of compassionate pet. Those that have not, may have had the opportunity to play or grow close to one of their friends. Where I’m going with this is these household pets grow and adapt, they show emotion, and many develop the ability to read your body language to comfort you when you’re in need of comforting. Now, I realize there are more than simply house pets. Testing commercial products on animals is also a quite controversial topic. It is to my knowledge that there have been developmental technologies that allow us to test products on man made devices that have sensors that relate the pain tolerance as well as potential for adverse reactions to the human skin. As humans being at the top of the food chain should only mean what it says, top of the food chain.

6. Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less?

As much as I would like to say the same or less I would have to say my life is worth more. I have never been faced with a life or death situation nor have I ever been faced with a situation where not only my life but the lives of others were at stake. In my head I imagine in the latter scenario that I would risk my life to save that of others. But also in my head I imagine doing whatever it takes to save myself. There are a handful of people that I would put in front of myself as more important; my immediate family, close friends that I know would risk their lives for me, and lastly children. Children are more important than me because they still see the world in all of its glory. They tend to look past all of the bad there is and look for the good in everyone and everything. They are our hope for the future and still have so much to see, do, achieve, and learn.

Figure 1 illustrates first all the negative affects (Red) that wood burning stoves have on not only the household but also on the ecosystem in the surrounding rural areas of Bangalore, India. Highlighted in green are the biogas system and the benefits on the local landscape and environment due to the biogas plants. Finally, the economical benefits that are reaped due to the biogas plants are highlighted in purple. From an economic standpoint families have increased financial stability to help afford schooling for the children that were once arriving late and with uncompleted homework assignments. Also, farmers are yielding higher amounts of crops and vegetation increasing the amount of money they bring in. Not to mention the local businesses that are being supported when construction supplies are purchased to build the biogas plants. The ripple effect of benefits that is caused by just one biogas plant is huge on a local landscape. Grounds are cleaner and crops grow healthier. Plus the humans living there are no longer as prone to illnesses. Marten’s diagram differs from mine in the sense that it does not really show the problem that biogas generators are solving. It more or less shows how the biogas plants benefit the landscape. They are similar in the sense that the benefits all fall directly back to the family and the economy nearby. What can be taken from the comparison is that there will always be a demand for the biogas system because the population will continue to grow and if there is decrease in the amount of shrubbery available to burn, the biogas alternative is the best option.

Figure 1. Landscape benefits of Biogas in Bangalore, India.

Good evening everyone, my name is Ian Duchene. I am currently a junior at Penn State Behrend studying Plastics Engineering Technology. I am from Rochester, Pennsylvania, a small town North of Pittsburgh right where the Ohio River and Beaver River intersect. Rochester, PA holds an incredibly special place in my heart as the entire town has shaped me to become the person I am today. I currently reside in Rochester, New York (Ironic, I know) as I am employed as a full time Co-op at Bausch & Lomb. Upon graduation I hope to make a career in the snowboard industry developing new products such as snowboards, boots, bindings, and helmets. Snowboarding is a passion of mine and I hope to leave my mark on the sport anyway I possibly can. From this course I look forward to exploring parts of geography I had never thought of before based on your posts and the modules provided. I am very interested to learn about the affect that humans have on geography because as the human population continues to grow many turn a blind eye to what is happening to the world around them as a result, myself included.

Human-environment interaction is what stood out to me the most. Since I am following a career path that directly correlates to the environment and that many fear harms the environment the most. To me it is important to pay close attention to how geography and landmasses are impacted by the production and consumption of plastics. Many people are pushing towards biodegradable polymers or “green” polymers in order to limit the negative influence that polymers have on the planet. An aspect to these types of polymers that is often overlooked is the raw materials that it will take to produce them predominantly corn. If the change is made it may cause a more positive impact on our planet at the end of a plastic bottles life, but what about the resources used to produce that same bottle? How will it impact sustainability of both food resources and polymer resources? Overall, it may seem like a beneficial substitute but may have negative consequences elsewhere in the ecosystem.