1. Create a systems diagram that links HIPPO to the loss of biodiversity.
2. In a paragraph of 200-300 words, explain the ideas behind your diagram.
3. In another paragraph of 200-300 words, draw on concepts from this module and others to determine what we can do to decrease the loss of biodiversity.

In my systems diagram, I illustrated how the concept called H.I.P.P.O. impacts the loss of biodiversity. With the large increase in population over the last two-hundred or so years, there has been an increase in many industrial activities. Through this, there has been an over-harvesting of many plants and animals just to feed the population. This action has led to the endangerment and extinction of many animals. Mainly because they are being killed but because their habitats are being taken away. Since there is a huge loss of habitats, many animals are dying off because they do not have a place to live. Another setback of industrial activities is the increase in pollution. This increase in pollution has lead to many things such as bioaccumulation which impacts many of the animals that are higher up in the food chain because they are consuming other animals that have been impacted by pollution. Bioaccumulation also leads to a larger loss in biodiversity. Pollution also leads to a huge increase in climate change which aids in the destruction of habitats. Another impact that climate change has is the migration of animals to different parts of the world. Since many parts of the world are getting warmer, more species that can migrate large distances are finding their way to said places. Because they are new to these places, the species that are already there are not used to some of them. These new species can have a detrimental impact on animals leading to a larger loss in biodiversity.

There are many things that we can do to impact biodiversity. When looking at the previous module, we can take what we learned about different ways climate change has impacted the world and try and find ways to decrease it. Climate change happens for many reasons, most of them are because of the greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere. By looking for different ways to cut down on them, we as humans can help save biodiversity. Although we can not undo what we have done, we can move forward and make a huge difference in the animal kingdom. A major thing that we can do is to stop destroying habitats and start building them again. By planting trees in the rain forest, we can preserve the homes of the animals that live there. Through using less fossil fuels, we can stop releasing so many greenhouse gases into the air which will help with the issue of global warming. This can help preserve the home of those animals that live in the arctic and need a cold climate to live in. We can help developing countries towards their goal of a better standard of living that way they can stop the harmful things they may be doing to the environment such as cutting down trees to fuel their homes. If we all work together as a team, we can help save the planet and the biodiversity that comes along with it.

Through the use of my diagram, I illustrated how the burning of fossil fuels can have an impact on many things throughout the world. Since our world is so dependent on the industry and the burning of fossil fuels, there has been a significant increase in the emission of greenhouse into the atmosphere. Due to the increase in greenhouse gases, there has been a great climate change as well. As humans have become more intelligent over the years, there has been notice taken to the severity of our impact on the planet with the emission of greenhouse gasses. Therefore there has been many plans to try and mitigate greenhouse gases to solve the crisis of climate change. Through the efforts of the leaders of the world, the United Nations became involved which lead to the creation of the Copenhagen accord. The accord was created to gather a plan from each country on how they would mitigate greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere. This accord benefits the United States in many ways so the United States spied on leaders of the United Nations to get more information. Through these efforts, the United States blackmailed and bribed poorer countries to agree with the accord even though they had not caused any of the greenhouse gas emissions or climate change. Soon their efforts became validated and the other countries were all on board with the accord. Through the raised support of other countries, the accord was adopted and the mitigation of greenhouse gases began.

When thinking about the different things the United States did to try and get the Copenhagen accord to become adopted, the measures the United States will take is clear. The United States held a great interest in many of its allies supporting the accord it created in order to save the environment from greenhouse gases. I think that the American people have a right to see the measures that the United States took in order to get what they wanted accomplished. Many citizens already have an idea of just how sneaky their government can be when they want something to be done. The release of the information just validates that point greatly. While the United States should not have used blackmail and bribery to achieve their goal, it did help the process of convincing the leaders of the world to support the accord. The United States realized there was a problem with human sustainability on earth and that there has to be more actions they need to take in order to solve the problem. Since climate change impacts the entire world, the world population must take action collectively with similar plans instead of individually. One country can not solve the climate change for the whole world. The leaders of the world have to work together to make sure that life is still sustainable on earth. Instead of bribing the poorer countries to get on board with the accord, the United States could have recognized the fact that the poorer countries are trying to develop themselves so that they can have a better quality of life than they already have. Those efforts would have been more honest and caused less of a fuss than blackmail and bribery.

According to the Nathan World Map, the region I am located in is subject to multiple natural hazard. To start, my town is subject to an increase in heavy rain. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed how much the precipitation has increased. In the summertime, the heavy rainfall brings a deep fog that can block one’s view in an extreme way. In the winter, the heavy precipitation comes with more snow and ice storms. Due to the high level of precipitation, there is also a higher chance that my region will get hail storms as well. This is also stated on the Nathan World Map. With high precipitation comes high winds and my area is also more subject to tornadoes. This map has helped me identify the hazards in my area accurately and it has helped me see the increasing trend of the weather patterns.

In my hometown, there is no possible way for a volcano to erupt. There are no volcanoes around to cause harm to my town. If this disaster were to hit my hometown, in the middle of the town, there would be thousands of students and residents misplaced. The scale of the disaster is too big for my town to handle, especially if they are not trained in how to handle it. Since the ashes ruin the buildings in a certain radius, if this were to happen in my town, all of the buildings would be ruined. When looking at the town that it actually happened in, a few schools were damaged and the students were placed in other schools for the time being. If this were to happen at the same scale in my town, then there would be less people to find a place for. The population in my town is closely condensed. If something that spreads quickly were to happen then a lot of people would be impacted. Some people would be more subject to damage than other. Some people live in town houses that are connected to one another so that puts them at a greater risk for spreading the damage to one another. A way to prevent this, is to stop building houses so close together.

In my personal experience from living in my hometown for all of my life, there has been many times that the level of precipitation has been a hazard to the people in the town. There was one situation that I will never forget. When I first got my learners permit to drive when I was in high school, there was a night that I was driving home from work with my mom. On this night, there was a rain that was so heavy I could not see more than 5 feet in front of my car. In this particular situation I was on a windy back road and I had to slow down to below 5 miles per hour to be able to safely drive. There was no shoulder to pull over on and if I had completely stopped in the middle of the road someone would have crashed into me.

In order to prepare for the possibility to driving during heavy rains, there should be shoulders added to different back roads so the cars on the road have the option to safely pull over without driving into the grass. In order to solve this problem, more tax dollars can go to adding these to the roads. Once the state has money to do construction on roads, they can send employees out to create these shoulders to add more safety to the roads that run through the town. In order to get this done, I can get the information out to the people in town and to the state company that is in charge of all of the roads to get this hazard fixed.

I live in a town located in Pennsylvania named Downingtown where the population is roughly 8,000 people. In this particular town there are two different types of neighborhoods it contains. Directly in town where the high school is located, the neighborhoods are designed for the urban downtown part. Through this, the residents of the town are able to walk to different locations as well as drive. Around the outside part of the town, the neighborhoods are designed as automobile suburbs where the goal is to drive in town to the shops, to work or to the city. My metropolitan are is considered Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, which has a population of approximately 6 million people. I was born and raised in Downingtown and I am used to the type of town it is. The way the streets are set up around my high school allowed me to walk to different destinations with my friend after school. The set up of the town allowed my peers and I to find activities to do instead of getting into trouble.

In Copenhagen, the residents have transformed the city in to a pedestrian based city. Some of the streets have been changed so that no cars are allowed on them. Through this, the residents have more places to walk and bike to as well as more of a chance to explore and relax in the city. These aspects of the city relate back to my own home town because of the amount of sidewalks that are directly in town and the trails in the large variety of parks that allow the residents to walk and bike to different places. My particular town can take notes from the city of Copenhagen in how to become more sustainable. I believe that my town would really benefit in closing off streets and parking lots and turning them into a place where the residents of the town can become more active, go outside more and enjoy those around them.

In Bogota, Columbia every Sunday and holiday the citizens experience car free roads from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. This experience allows the citizens of the city to become more active, enjoy activities put together by the cities and to enjoy the outdoor experience. Through this action, the city helps cut down on the pollution that comes from automobiles and overall has created a healthier city. While the streets in my town are set up the same as Bogota, there is not a designated day for cars to be off the road. I feel as though my town can benefit from this more than it could benefit from the set up of Copenhagen because it is more possible to designate a certain day and time frame to these activities. It would allow the residents to become more active, cut down on pollution and bond with one another as well.

I have a few things that I enjoy eating and rarely change my mind on what I like to eat. In middle school, I met my best friend. Her food preferences are larger than mine, she is willing to try many different types of food. When I went to my friends house for dinner one night, her mother made steaks on the grill. I did not know for sure if I liked steaks but my mother taught me that the polite thing to do was to eat the dinner regardless. I decided to eat the steak because my best friend talked about how much she loved them. I knew that if I had told the family that I did not like steak, they would have tried to make me something I did like, which I felt inconveniences the cook. Though the dad would’ve made fun of me for a while as he usually does. This pressure made me choose to eat something I did not like in order avoid being made fun of.

My best friend’s family eats steak and other forms of beef very often. Drawing on the module, Americans consume billions of tons of beef each year and this is causing environmental problems. Yet, knowing this information will not stop people from eating the foods that they love. Although I am not a vegetarian, I choose to not eat a lot of red meat because of how bad it is for the body. Now that I am aware the impact on the environment that cows have, that will also be another reason why I rarely eat beef. I feel as though people should respect the food choices of others rather than make them feel bad for not liking the food that they cook. Society as a whole should make it normal to accept the choices of others and recognize that cows are having a huge impact on greenhouse gases and obesity in America. If one person is making a conscious effort to help the environment and/or their body the response should be respect not bullying.

In two refugee camps in Kenya named Kakuma and Dadaab, there has been an effort to get solar cookers into these camps. Through demonstrative workshops, the women in these camps have been taught how to use these cookers. Since the cooker is made from local materials, it is inexpensive and easy to use with little to maintain. These characteristics help with how successful these cookers have been. The goal of this cooker is to try and help those in these camps save their rations of scarce food which they often trade for fuel wood and to give them an alternative when they run out of fuel wood. Through the use of these cookers, the cooking food can often be left unattended which give women more free time to do other tasks. In this module, there is talk about unsustainable development, which is doing things we cannot do forever suck as use fossil fuels. These cookers help future Kenyans because once fuel wood runs out, they will have these cookers to fall back on. (http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/sol-ken.html)

In Paris, France there has been an agreement to end the use of fossil fuels because of the climate change that has been happening. In an effort to get the world to use clean energy for 100% of their energy and to have no greenhouse gas emissions, there has been an agreement between countries in the United Nations. This agreement between about two-hundred countries protects many places around the world. Through the agreement the goal is to “avoid super-droughts, rising tides, dangerous floods, deadly heatwaves and other ills associated with run-amok global warming.” The world is starting to realize that through the use of fossil fuels the environment will not be able to stay sustainable. They are working towards all clean energy between 2050 and 2080. This huge change will not happen fast but it will help save the planet and the human race itself. (http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/12/opinions/sutter-cop21-climate-reaction/index.html)

In a suburb that is located right outside of Philadelphia, there have been some record breaking weather patterns. Between the largest snow since the 1980s to the highest temperature in decades, Downingtown, Pennsylvania has been impacted by great climate change. Through the expansion of the town, there has been a large flow of people that come to live in this place. With the expansion of the population, there has been an effort to try and cut down on the use of fossil fuels. New houses are being build with solar panels on their roofs. This turns the house from using fossil fuels to using clean energy. Although the use of these does not save us time like the cookers do in Kenya, it does save money and energy. It helps with the greenhouse gas emission and brings us one step closer to cleaner air, similar to the world effort. Through these cases, we can see the impact we have on the planet and how we can eventually change our habits to keep sustainability on Earth.

In my hometown of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, many of the residents are on a private water system. Through this system, the rain water is filtered through a well to provide clean water for the residents. The water comes through the tap and is used. It then goes down the drain, through the pipes and into a septic tank. In this tank, the contents of the disposed water are separated. On the bottom layer, there is the heavier waste which is solid. In the middle layer is something called grey water, which is essentially just the dirty water. On the top layer is a sludge layer of oils and other things that are lighter than the rest of the waste. Since the waste just sits in the septic tank, someone has to come out and pump the grey water out. When a company pumps a septic tank for the grey water, they either dispose of it or they take it to a plant to be treated so it can be reused.

Water usage for a day:

Shower: 1 time, 15 minutes = 75 gallons

Brush teeth: 2 times = 1 gallon

Hand washing dishes: 1 time, 7 minutes = 14 gallons

Toilet flush: 5 times = 15 gallons

Wash hands: 5 times = 5 gallons

Drinking water: 10 cups = 0.625 gallons

I use approximately 110.625 gallons of water a day. This does not account for when I wash my clothes or do other things using water.

If I had to live off of 2 gallons of water a day, I think I would struggle tremendously. I drink over 25% of that in a day alone. The main places that I need to prioritize my water use are in the places where i absolutely need them the most, cooking and drinking. Those activities keep me alive so they get the most water. I would have to cut my drinking down by a lot which means I would have to monitor my diet and activity. Salty foods and activity that needs a lot of energy make me drink more water. Although I was supposed to cut down on how much water I drink, I failed to do so and drank my normal amount. I also need water for showering and flushing the toilet. I had to continue to do that. I tried showering with turning the water off when I was not rinsing. This was easy for me to do because I have had to do it before. When washing my hands, I turned off the water while I was scrubbing and while I was brushing my teeth I turned off the water while brushing, as I normally do. Overall I failed. The moment I first flushed the toilet I failed because I went over the amount of water I was allowed.

Geography is important to how much water one uses because of the amount of water that they have access to. There are many places that are in a drought and have to limit their water usage because of this. In places that do not have access to much water, they need to alter their life style in a way that allows them to survive off of what they have. For those that have access to a lot of water, they use a lot of it and do not even notice. I’ve always lived in a place that is affluent in their water supply and I never noticed how much water I used until now.

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

It is definitely more important to perform good acts than to be a good person for many reasons. If a person is someone who is seen as good, they normally have good thoughts. Their opinions are seen as good in the eyes of those in their society or culture. While having good opinions and views contribute to being a good person, it does not make a person better than one who performs good acts. If someone performs good acts it usually means that also have good view points that go along with the actions. These type of people walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. They are out changing the world instead of just sitting around thinking about how they could change the world. Some people might say that if someone that performs only one good act that it does not automatically makes them a good person. That may be true. The said person could be absolutely awful in all aspects of their life in terms of actions and opinions. Yet, in my eyes, they are still better than the “good person” who sits around and thinks about doing good deeds rather than taking action.

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

While I love animals, I do not think that their pain or pleasure matters as much as a human’s matters. Animals are so much more to this world than something to look at. They provide balance in the world. They provide companionship to people as pets. While I do not condone animal abuse or purposefully hunting majestic animals for a sport, I do not think that their pleasure or pain matters as much as humans. Humans have a whole different world than animals, obviously. Humans contribute to society in many different ways, where as animals do not. Humans do many different things that support other human and animal life. While animals do support human life, through consumption and using them for companionship, traveling, farming, and many more uses, they have to be killed or put to work in order to do these things. The uses we need animals for is illegal to do to humans in any way shape or form.

6. Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?

I do believe that my life is worth more or the same as others. In terms of how my life means more than some others, I’m comparing my life to the life of those in prison for committing terrible crimes. I do believe that if someone murders, rapes or abuses another human being or animal, that their life is worth less than my own. Their contribution to society is horrible and it should not even be counted as a contribution. It does not matter what this person did in their life up until the point of the crime, I stand by my beliefs. When I compare myself to other people, I see my life as containing the same worth as theirs. I believe that my life is not worth more nor less than anyone else in society. While some people are influential on a greater scale than me, they do not deserve life anymore than the next person. We all deserve life equally. Even if I do not have a great impact on the entire world, I still can have an impact in my community in the profession I wish to go into.

The main idea that my diagram illustrates is how a small village is impacted by a biogas generator. Through my diagram, one can see that the biogas generator gives off two different products, methane and slurry. Each product has a major impact on different aspects of every day life. Through the production of methane, there is a decrease of wood burning which leads to a decrease in wood gathering, air pollution and deforestation. With the decrease in wood gathering, there is an increase in time that the occupants of these villages have. The children have more time to go to school and do their homework and women have more time to work. With the decrease in air pollution, there is a decrease in health problems and an increase in population. Since there is an increase in population, more people are able to move to the city and help make biogas generators. With the production of slurry from the generator, there is more compost being created. With this compost, women are able to package it and sell it to farmers. with this compost, the farmers are able to grow more crops. Since farmers are able to grow more crops there is an increase in the population. Also a product of the crops is more animal dung, which fuels the biogas generators.

Looking at the Marten model of biofuel generators in India I see some similarities but many differences. When looking at Marten’s model, I can see that we both connect some points on each side to one another, as well as to the biogas generators.We both describe how it leads back to the generator. While we both describe it, we do it in different ways. I take the path of the products that come from the generators while he physically separates them into the social and ecosystems. In his model, Marten uses words to describe what is happening between each of the examples. In my model, I use plus and minus symbols to describe a positive and negative feedback look. The organization of each can lead to different outlooks on each model. From the comparison, one can see how exactly one leads to another through the words on the Marten model. It’s easy to see and learn about the impacts on each system through each of the models. Although it’s not explicitly labelled on my model, the social system and ecosystem are laid out in the exact same ways. Through these models, we can see the benefits the biogas generator has on each village and how it is set out to change life in India.

My name is Joelle Marino and I’m from a town outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania named Downingtown. I’ve lived in the same town my entire life, I have never moved. Although I lived in Downingtown, my grandparents and other family members live in other places close by. I have spent a lot of my time at various houses in my family around Chester County, PA and Delaware County, Pa. These houses were no more than half an hour away from where I lived. Before I came to University Park this fall for my junior year, I started my college experience at Penn State Brandywine, a commonwealth campus that is located in Media, Pennsylvania. At that campus I started my journey in becoming a teacher and I completed two years there before moving up here. I wish to teach at the elementary school level, specifically kindergarten or first grade. I’m very interested to learn more about geography and how humans have an impact on the environment through their every day actions and decisions.

While looking through the first module, I was very surprised by a picture of the drought that hit California. There were two pictures put side by side of Folsom Lake; one picture is from July of 2011 and the other was from January 2014. In the most recent picture ,the lake and all of the land around it is dried up. There are little patches of water and the grass that was once green is dried up and brown. This dryness has resulted in forest fires and water shortages all around California. It not only has an impact on animal life but on human life as well. It is important to look at this event and take into account other events like this because human decisions not only impact this change but are impacted themselves by it as well. I would like to look deeper into this in future lessons to come.