In 250-350 words, first define what H.I.P.P.O. means. Then using the biodiversity threats that have been described, compare any which apply to your own hometown. Then, use a diagram to link the biodiversity threats to how they affect your hometown. State College students use your home address not State College. Be sure to use information from the module in your response.

1.

H.I.P.P.O. is an acronym used to describe the many threats to biodiversity today. The acronym stands for Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Pollution, Human Population, and Overharvesting. My hometown of Wilkes-Barre, PA can be related to many of these topics. The first being habitat loss. The definition of habitat loss from the module is when an area is converted from usable to unusable habitat. Two of the contributors for Wilkes-Barre would be agriculture and mining. The outskirts of Wilkes-Barre are known to have farms and large fields where crops are grown, which takes away from the habitat to be used seeing as it is already filled. Wilkes-Barre is also known for its coal mining many years ago. This has left polluted waters which are also unusable. Wilkes-Barre is also guilty for its pollution. Between the crowded inner city with cars and trucks, and the industrial factories which produce things such as steel or junkyards melting metals, Wilkes-Barre is far from an eco-friendly city. Not many ride bikes because they do not share the streets with cars. Aside from pollution in the air, there is also fertilizers which are polluting river runoffs. This is resulting in bioaccumulation as discussed in the module. Bioaccumulation is when chemicals become increasing in animal tissue as they move up the food chain. This can be seen in our river where fish are exposed to the toxins of fertilizers and coalmine runoff. Should another animal eat any of these fish, they obtain all of the persistent organic pollutants, or POPs. This is a growing concern that the citizens of Wilkes-Barre need to be aware of and take action.

1.

2.

My diagram starts with climate change, a growing concern on our planet today which is very overlooked. Once people realize what a major issue it is, the diagram then moves to the next stage which is wanting to do something about it. I chose my second branch to be about the US wanting to take charge because the WikiLeaks article is more about US involvement. The Copenhagen Accord is then proposed and it does not receive much backing from other countries. In the diagram, an arrow goes from the proposal of the accord to the US needing other 7countries support.  Because the US needs other countries support, officials used bribes and threats to try and get other countries to support. This results in about 75% of countries backing the accord. The US needing the help of other countries also leads to another branch of the diagram. This branch states that although the US needs more support, less developing countries are willing to give it because they believe the accord only benefits larger countries. This leads to the others 25% of countries not joining. Both the threats, bribes and the smaller countries opinions are all leaked on WikiLeaks. The WikiLeaks article being connected to climate change is all through politics. This is very concerning considering the fact that the accord was so difficult to pass. If smaller countries are hesitant on supporting the issue, the future could be an ongoing process in the fight against climate change. Politics should not be the determining factor of why climate change is such a major issue.

3.

After reading Module 9, it is clear that climate change is a growing concern in our world today. Impacts of climate change can be as unnoticeable as slight weather changes to as drastic as shifts in ocean levels which consume much of the arctic every year.  The growing concern needed to be tended to, which is why the Copenhagen Accord was proposed. The US needed support to pass this proposal however, and they used very unethical tactics. I believe the people have the right to know what goes on through the politics side of major issues. It is very unfortunate that such a major issue like climate change has to be held down to politics and government. I believe that the cables should have been released to the public as they were. Even though it does not shine light upon the US in a good way, we deserve to know what our officials are doing to treat the issue, and if they go about it unethically, we may need to look into it further. To help the issue without politics, I believe everyone can chip in to help stop climate change. If we were to bypass politics by taking action ourselves, we could avoid the mess that was needing votes for the Copenhagen Accord. Waiting for support also takes a lot of time which is valuable when talking about climate change. Also it may take an extended amount of time to end up with no support which would be the worse-case scenario. Future generations will be severely impacted if we do not take action now.

My hometown is Wilkes-Barre, PA which is located in northeast Pennsylvania. The Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards showed Wilkes-Barre was in the moderate range of tornadoes, hailstorms, and winter storms. Wilkes-Barre appears to be in the zone 4 for hailstorms, 3 for tornadoes, and 1 for winter storms. I would have to disagree with the tornado rankings and say that Wilkes-Barre experiences more winter storms than tornadoes. The Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards is a nice generalization for seeing where things are likely to occur, but as far as in depth detail, I think it could be a little more specific than the broad generalization it gives to a region.

The disaster which I chose to monitor is in the states of Wisconsin / Michigan. There is a biological hazard which is infecting people across both states. It is a level 2/4 (medium) biohazard level and has been in effect since March 5, 2016. Forty-four people were confirmed to be infected with 17 already dead. The description of the hazard is bacteria and viruses that cause mild disease to humans or are difficult to contract. It is very possible for an outbreak of disease to hit a town like mine with the risk being mass amounts of infections or deaths. The difference which my town would experience would be the magnitude of infection compared to a large city. Wilkes-Barre, while it is a city, has more suburbs with houses not right on top of one another. Larger cities like Detroit, Michigan would have a tougher time battling an infection with a greater population. The benefit of Wilkes-Barre being a less populated city is there is less people to infect, and you’re not as close to people as you are in a major city. Wilkes-Barre also has a larger population of elderly people. Most who grow up in Wilkes-Barre still live there when they grow old, so a large population of elderly people would be more vulnerable to an outbreak of disease. The only way to prevent a major outbreak would be to caution people  to seek medical treatment instead of being out in public and infecting more people.

The biggest concern which Wilkes-Barre faces would have to be flooding. Located on the Susquehanna River, Wilkes-Barre is very susceptible to flooding. After hurricane Sandy, there was major flooding which demolished entire neighborhoods all along the river for miles. Schools and businesses were closed for weeks, many went without power, and many never returned to their business or homes almost 5 years later now. I can only imagine what it would be like to leave your house and start over somewhere new. The national weather service has a website which records river levels and warns about the dangers of flooding in our area.

Resource: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=bgm&gage=wbrp1

The best way to prevent either major flooding or widespread disease is caution and awareness. For flooding, major levees have already been built to keep a majority of the flooding down. As for the disease, the only prevention would be to tell people to seek help instead of unknowingly infecting others. The best people to perform these actions would be trained professionals such as doctors, or in the case of flooding, city officials, firemen, police, and anyone else trained for disasters. As for what I can do, I can gather resources my family might need in case of one of these disasters occurring so we are prepared and ready.

1.

My city is Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and it is located in northeastern PA. I live in a township within the city named Hanover Township. Where I’m from has a more automobile suburb feel to it, although it is not exact to the definition in the module. There are many streets for traveling into and around the city, and the township I live in has few sidewalks in residential areas because most people travel by car. In the downtown area of Wilkes-Barre, there are however many sidewalks for people. The setup of the city is that it has many parking garages so people can drive to the city to go to work, park their car in a garage, and walk to their office building or job location. The population of Wilkes-Barre is around 40,000 with a land area of about 7 square miles, so it is decently populated for how big the city is. My connection is that I have lived there all 20 years of my life

2.

The first city I chose was Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen has implemented a more efficient space for pedestrians to walk, bike and do recreational activities without the worry of traffic from automobiles. Wilkes-Barre is much like Copenhagen, where we have many people walking around downtown with a lot of traffic in the form of automobiles. I believe it would be in my city’s best interest to come up with a similar traffic control plan so that pedestrians can coexist with automobile traffic in a more safe matter. I also would like to see the idea of more speed bumps in Wilkes-Barre much like Copenhagen has designed. Many people drive too fast in the suburb areas of Wilkes-Barre making it not safe for pedestrians especially when there are less sidewalks.

3.

The second city I chose is Bogota, Colombia. Every Sunday and holiday, streets for 75 miles are forbidden to have cars on them. This allows for people to walk and use their bikes to get more exercise and reduce pollution produced by automobiles. I believe this would be efficient in my hometown much like the work done in Copenhagen would make a huge impact. If Wilkes-Barre denoted just even one day a month, people would be able to get more exercise, and it would reduce the amount of pollution especially with the amount that is trapped in the city by tall buildings. The module stated that it is more likely to be unhealthy if you live in an automobile suburb because you use your car everywhere you go. This would be an easy yet effective way to get some exercise in the city.

1. A time when I can remember where food was chosen because of social norms would be in high school. The food from the cafeteria in high school was by far the best food available both health and appetizing wise. However, when you are a high school student, almost no one brings a lunch from home. The feeling of not wanting to be left out leaves you with only one choice of lunch. The school lunches are not only costly, but they are also not healthy. The lunches are fatty or fried foods with a side option of chips, cookies or any other treat you can afford on your meal plan. The social norm here is kids wanting to be like everyone else and buy a school lunch at the expense of a costly and unhealthy lunch.

2. The social norm here can be connected to the societal issue of nutrition and obesity as discussed in the module. Industrialized agriculture plays a key part in obesity by producing large amounts of grains which produce high-calorie foods which are then distributed in the schools. There have been efforts to reduce the high-calorie and sugary foods in the schools, but none matter without one important factor. Kids are allowed to buy any amount of lunch they desire. My solution to this issue is to not limit the amount of lunch a student can receive, but rather substitute the terrible snack choices like nachos and cookies with more fruits or vegetables. The more options of healthy alternatives you give to a child the more likely it is they steer away from the horror that is a high school lunch.

1. The first case study I focused on is the Texaco oil production in Ecuador’s rainforests. The study was developed by students at the University of Michigan and can be found at, http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/Jones/texaco.htm#Problem. The issue is Texaco was to set up an extraction plan for the oil in Ecuador. The extraction produced what is called “production water,” which is water brought to the surface after extracting oil. Texaco was then to pump the water back into the ground as to not harm the environment. Instead, they dumped the water into over 300 small waste pits. The pending solution to the problem is still ongoing. An issue which relates to the module is sustainable development. The rate of oil being extracted and the environment being polluted exceeds Ecuador’s ability to replenish it. Future civilizations are put in jeopardy by this meaning that the current civilization is not sustainable. The extraction of oil now and the pollution compromises the future country’s revenue as well. This can also influence the GDP in the future if not treated.

2. The second case study I focused on is about the Three Gorges Dam in China along the Yangtze River. The study was developed by the University of Buffalo and can be found at, http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/files/three_gorges_dam.pdf. The case describes how the dam is both beneficial and economically unfit. The dam produces about 84 terrawatt-hours of electricity annually which is four times as much energy produced by the largest US dam. However, the dam was a costly 10.4 billion dollar to build, which put more strain on Chinese citizens who earn an average of less than $5000 a year. The reservoir created by the dam also flooded 156,000 acres of land with more than 1 million residents forced to find new homes and jobs. The observation is that although the dam produces energy for China’s growing population, it might actually be doing more harm than good.

3. My hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania can relate to my case studies because we too have major issues with one of our rivers. The Susquehanna River is highly over polluted mostly due to the runoff of water from coal mines. The orange sulfur water runs off into the river through streams. This is very much like the water pollution issue in Ecuador due to Texaco’s negligence. The “production water” is polluting water in Ecuador and it is all due to production for an energy source in oil, much like the coal in Wilkes-Barre. It does not matter how high a country’s GDP or ends are, it can still have non-economical factors. I feel that it is important to look at development at a more local level to get a better idea.

1a

The water supply of my hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania is divided into two different sources. Part of my town where I live, the Hanover Township section, gets their water from the PA American Water company through pipes in the ground or the sewer system. The PA American Water Company services about 650,000 water customers with approximately 400 communities in over 36 counties. The other part of town, the Warrior Run Township section, gets their water from a well set up by the PA American Water Company. The well is under ground and produces water from rain and ground water through a series of filters, pumps and aquifers. The water leaving the houses from bath tubs, sinks, toilets and all drains goes to the water treatment facility run by the WVSA which stands for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority. This is located near the Susquehanna River and applies for both residents with pipes and residents with the well system.

1b

Water usage for February 8, 2016 (Monday):

• 1 Shower @ 10 minutes = 38 gallons
• 4x Toilet flushes = 20 gallons
• 2x Brush teeth = 2 gallons
• 3x Face wash = 3 gallons
• 1x Dishwasher = 20 gallons
• Cooking = 1 gallon
• Drinking = 1 gallon

Total =                                     85 gallons per day

1c

After calculating how much water I use per day, it was very clear that living on two gallons of water per day would be near impossible. Taking a shower by using soap first and then turning the water on to get the soap off seemed to work at first, but eventually you realize that leaving the shower on for more than 30 seconds you are already wasting water. This is very contradictory to my 10 minute showers. Brushing my teeth and washing my face was cut down more easily by using mouthwash and a more liquid soap that doesn’t need as much water to remove like a normal bar of soap does, so you can just wipe it off your face. The cooking and drinking water is where I had the most trouble. I normally drink 1 gallon of water a day to stay hydrated. That is equivalent to about 7 or 8 water bottles which is more than normal people probably drink in one day. It was probably the easiest to cut back on only drinking 3 water bottles or less than half a gallon, but it was the hardest for me to handle because of how much water I am used to drinking. I would say that I am very fortunate to live in a place where my Geography allows me to use more than 2 gallons of water a day. I am aware that not all regions of the world are as lucky as I am and I will be thinking about that every time I take more than a 2 minute shower. This was a very eye opening experience that should teach everyone that water is something precious that should not be wasted. That being said, I have to admit that I 100% failed the experiment of using 2 gallons of water per day.

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

In my opinion, I believe it is more important to be a good person rather than just someone who does good deeds. I think that the best example in today’s world is in politics. If a politician promises people everything and tells them what they want to hear, does that make them a good person or someone doing good deeds? Would you rather elect a person who does good deeds by promising you something that may not be followed through or the person who knows he can’t promise the world but is the genuinely better person? This does not mean that someone can’t be both a good person who does good deeds. The article refers to the example that most people who care about the environment are usually the ones who take action and vice versa. I believe this can also be true for the politicians as well, but when it comes to the question of which it is better to be, I would say that it is better to be a good person.

2. Do the ends justify the means (ends ethics vs. means ethics)?

I would have to say that the ends do not always justify the means. The ends are how you get to the means, which is the final result. I would say that most ends do not justify the means unless there is a life or death scenario. When you are learning something new or are in school, is it the final result that matters more than the path of learning? If the ends justified the means in this situation, then it would not matter how much you learned during school, but rather whether or not you completed it. As for the trees in the forest, I would say that the ends do justify the means. If it is a life or death situation like forest fires, then the end result of saving lives would justify the cutting of trees, even if it does not seem ethical to cut down hundreds of trees.

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

The question of whether my own life is worth more than others makes you really think about your own life. In my opinion, I would have to say that my life is equal to those who choose the right path in life. What I mean about that is everyone is given the same opportunity in life when you are born. Everyone has the choice to be a good person or to be a criminal. I would compare my life to normal everyday people of society and say that our lives are equal. When it comes to people that commit crimes or are genuinely awful to other members of society, then I would say that my life is worth more than theirs. It sounds awful to say that and it is, but I feel that if you choose to throw your life away or be an awful person, then I can’t allow myself to say that our lives are equal.

My systems diagram consists mostly of the material items/specific people instead of general concepts or a general group of people. I focused on how each essential part of this system reflects another. For example, gathering sticks is essential for cooking fuel, but also results in child labor. The Biogas Technology mixed with women working allows for another source of income with the compost they can sell. The compost comes from the generators, as a result of the cow dung/water mix. The mixture of dung/water stems back to another demand for cooking fuel. The reason I focused on the more material items is because the main issue is producing fuel for cooking. This issue is more thoroughly broken down through inspection of the materials and the people using them. I would say that my diagram is very similar to Marten’s 1.5 Figure with some subtle differences. We talk about most of the same ideas, but my diagram lists the specific items and people involved in the situation, and Marten generalizes topics such as, “Human Population,” or “Farm Fields.” Marten’s diagram also focuses mostly on how the ecosystem affects the Social System, whereas my diagram shows how the Social System interacts with the Ecosystem to produce a better more sustainable energy source. There are similarities because the issues are very eaasy to identify, and differences because everyone has a different view on them. A reader can learn from both of our diagrams that the biogas generators are very useful. They make it easier to produce gas to cook, while allowing the children to get an education instead of gathering sticks all the time.

My name is John Windt and I am currently working on a engineering degree at Penn State, University Park. During the school year and for most of the summer I live in State College, but was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, PA. If you are wondering where this is located like many others are, my usual response is it is in Northeast PA one city over from the famous Scranton, PA (If you are a fan of the show “the Office”). Not much is known about Wilkes-Barre to non-natives, but it is where I will always call home. After completing my education, I plan on returning back to Wilkes-Barre where I will hopefully land the ideal job that will suit my love for creativity and problem solving. My interest in this course stems from my pursuit of an engineering degree, where I can hopefully use my knowledge from Geography 30 to broaden my working abilities.

After reading through the first module, the one thing that stood out as odd or different was the section on Visualization. I was unaware that maps, such as the London subway system that was provided, could be distorted by that much. The question was asked, “which map would you rather have?”  I am very curious as to what other people have to say about this because I know that I would prefer a geographically accurate map compared to the shortened version. I also wonder if the geographically distorted maps cause any problems we are unaware of. On another note, I believe that using the maps to study issues on a local level could be one of the most effective ways of studying areas. I believe that today we generalize regions as a whole more often than not. We are quick to stereotype a region based on where it is located on the map. I feel that localized maps can help to differentiate where problems actually occur and how we can prevent them.