First Paragraph: Find and choose one area that fits under a category of the IUCN protected areas. In 100-150 words, describe what category it fits under and what makes it fit under this specific category.

Second Paragraph: Choose one type of species that has either gone extinct or is on the endangered species list. In 100-150 words, explain what is causing the extinction and how the biodiversity is being affected or will be affected after extinction.

Third Paragraph: In the module we learned that biodiversity matters for both anthropocentric and egocentric reasons. It seems that many people do not care for the egocentric reasons.  In a short paragraph, 100-125 words, explain why these reasons are important. If you do not agree, give your reasons behind the argument.

1. The Yellowstone National Park is one of the most commonly known national parks in the United States. It is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, but is also located in Montana and Idaho. As the name suggests, this reserve fits under Category 2 which is the national parks. The description for this category includes an area that is intended to balance the ecosystem with human recreation. The Yellowstone National Park is exactly this. It is an area that has been set aside for permanent protection, but humans often vacation here. The Yellowstone National Park is the oldest national park in the United States.

2. One animal that is well-known is the White Rhino. However, it may not be known that these animals are titled as “critically endangered”. There is more than one cause of the decline of these animals which includes habitat loss, illegal wildlife trade, and poaching. White Rhinos are important to the ecosystem. It has been discovered that “short grass” grows better and there is a higher quantity of short grass where the Rhinos graze. Short grass is important because where there is short grass, there is a higher diversity in the landscape. Without rhinos, the function and dynamics of the Savanna ecosystem is said to become threatened.

3. Egocentric reasons to value biodiversity is based on the idea that biodiversity has essential value beyond human use. In the module, an example given was that a redwood should be protected in order for future generations to appreciate it. This is exact example is also brought up a lot when talking about climate change, which is another aspect of biodiversity. I believe that it is important for future generations to see and appreciate the environment and wildlife as much as we are able to. I believe that egocentric reasons for conserving biodiversity is important because the different species and wildlife on this Earth are beautiful and should be treated the same as human life.

The main idea of my diagram is obviously surrounding the idea of climate change and climate mitigation. In the article, it was talked about how the United States had a major problem creating greenhouse gases which are affecting the climate. After realizing this was a problem, the Copenhagen Accord was produced in order to fix the problem at hand. The Copenhagen Accord was a plan produced by World Powers to mitigate climate change. Overall, the United States needed support for the plan and was bribing, spying, and threatening other countries in order for this support. However, the United States wasn’t the only country that was using unconventional means in order for support. There are other incidents reported through the article that show how China uses spear phishing. A major let down to this accord was that the Dutch refused to join due to the fact that they didn’t want to use financial aid for political reasons. However, on the positive side, Saudi Arabia joined the accord which was a major benefit. Being the number one producer of petroleum, Saudi Arabia agreed to join in order to diversify the economy and take the economy solely away from petroleum. Saudi Arabia agreed that it was good thing and no key economic interests were going to be compromised. In the end, the Copenhagen Accord had 140 countries supporting the plan with more countries that intend to join. The statistics say that 75% of the countries that are involved in the Accord are responsible for over 80% of the greenhouse emissions.

In this module, we learned that it is clear that climate change is a problem and a growing problem in fact. If continuing our ways that involve greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability may not be possible in the future. There is direct information within the module that says we won’t be able to keep using fossil fuels at the same rate without depleting them fully. It is obvious that something needs to be done in order to mitigate climate change. I believe that there may have been a better way to conduct the climate change diplomacy by the United States. However, I am not sure what this way would be. I imagine that it would be difficult to gain interest and support from other countries on an issue that may not seem to benefit these countries right away especially if it is changing their economy. Even though it may be difficult, I do not believe we should ever threaten another country for something of this matter. Since we talked about how climate change is often a collective action problem, it is important for countries to want to take part in this accord. If they are being bribed or threatened, they may not want to be apart of this for the right reasons. To solve a collective action problem, the people must want to change and reduce the problem. I believe that the State Department cables should be made public to an extent. It is a right for the citizens to know what is going on in the country to a certain extent. I do not believe that the public knowledge of these cables would be harmful. However, it may have been executed in a different fashion.

1. In the area of Western Pennsylvania, it appears that there does not seem to be any risk of earthquakes, tropical cyclones, or volcanoes. There may be a small chance of Earthquakes, but it seems rather unlikely according to the map. However, there is about about a Zone 3 which seems to be about medium when talking about frequency and intensity of hailstorms, a low amount of peak wind speeds when talking about winter storms, a low amount of frequency and intensity when talking about tornados, and a low chance when talking about wildfires. These maps contain a lot of helpful information, but I feel that it is hard to pinpoint your exact location. These maps would be helpful for general areas and trends of hazards, but not if you are trying to determine exactly where you fall on the maps.

2. The event that I picked was a biological hazard that occurred on March 18^th, 2016 in an area of Guinea, Africa. This specific event is related to the Ebola Virus Diseases. It is possible that my hometown could experience the same type of disaster. In fact, there were a few people that were considered to have Ebola in the United States. However, I would not consider that my specific hometown or area would be considered vulnerable. I believe this because there seems to have been lots of research and pre-event preparedness when an outbreak of Ebola was a concern. The only possible way I think this could be a concern would be if someone happened to be abroad and brought back the disease or bacteria with them. This event only was concerning four people which seems to be a low scale event, but is considered a 4/4 level Biohazard. Relative to my hometown, this would be a small amount of people, but it would still be a big concern because people would become worried and nervous about causing an outbreak. I believe that the impact of the disaster is much more intense than it would be if it occurred in my hometown because of resources and other factors such as the fact that Ebola is a larger concern in that part of the globe. In my hometown, I think there would be a high severity of the disaster if it were to occur because of the age of the residents. There is a high majority of older citizens in my hometown. According to the module, the elderly are at a higher risk for hazards. An idea that would reduce my town’s vulnerability could be something such as free screening or testing for the disease at any point because the area is a poor area.

3. Pittsburgh, which is located in Western Pennsylvania, does not have too many threats on natural hazards. However, I am going to focus on one that could be disastrous to the city. This was a great flood that occurred in 1907 and 1936. Because of the location, Pittsburgh is surrounded by three different rivers. When talking about these events, my grandpa was very helpful. He spoke about how he was there working during the 1936 flood and how they were evacuated due to flooded. There were very few casualties reported according to the Brookline Connection, but there was lots of damage in dollars. However, this was fixed with dams and reservoirs in order to provide flood control.

Resources:

Joe Mielecki, firsthand experience of the flood

“Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle – 1907.” Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle – 1907. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

4. I believe that a major way to reduce the vulnerability includes knowledge, communication, and pre-event preparedness that was talked about in the Module. I believe communication and knowledge would have to be promoted by the governors of the town and the people of higher authority. Schools could help educate the young children in case of a disaster such as drills and lessons. The community as a whole could come together to increase knowledge and the importance of being prepared for a natural hazard event. I believe that it would be difficult for myself to be a part of these efforts at my age. However, I believe that once I become a teacher, I would easily be able to educate my students in order to try to prepare them for an event.

I live in a small little town called New Kensington, which is about a half hour north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In my town, the neighborhoods would be considered more automobile suburbs, where automobiles are used to commute into the city of Pittsburgh and to other nearby places for jobs, shopping, etc. However, at one point this town was more of a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood where downtown New Kensington was in walking distance and had every shop imaginable right there. After years of thriving, the little town started to deteriorate and people started commuting to Pittsburgh to find better jobs which allowed drugs and low SES people move into the area creating an abandoned town. I have grown up in this town, but due to the low level education system, I attended a private school in a neighboring town. Pittsburgh has a population of about 305,000 people, but my little town of New Kensington is only about 15,000 people. I personally do not like New Kensington simply because the education system is poor and there is a major drug and crime problem in the area. However, I do wish that I lived there during the time where the city flourished and it was safe and easy to walk downtown and spend the day down there like my parents used to.

The first city that I am going to talk about is Copenhagen. I think that in general this change of the area shows that a choice can be made in order to change a city for the better and make it more sustainable. The aspect of Copenhagen that I think is the most significant part is the fact that the idea of changing transportation seemed impossible, but it still was successful. The idea of transportation in my city is relevant because there are sidewalks and buses available, but people still choose to use automobiles. Indeed, this is a collective action problem in my area because there is the opportunity for urban design to be taken advantage of by choosing to rebuild downtown New Kensington. I feel that my town could easily become sustainable or at least take a step towards sustainability by following the example of Copenhagen’s urban design and transportation.

The next city that I am talking about is Bogota, which is in Colombia. I related my town to this city because of the drug cartel that is associated with the area. Even though this was a problem, the area is still able to be active in sustainable development by changing the transportation system slightly. I relate this idea to my town because even a small step towards sustainability would be extremely helpful. This small step could help issues of transportation and air quality through urban design by forbidding vehicles for one day a week.  I like the idea that you don’t need a lot of money to participate in these events because the town I am from is a very poor town. I like this idea because it allows families and people to enjoy the city and area that they live in and it increases human health and improvement in sustainability.

Coming from a small high school with only about fifty kids in my grade, it was very likely that we all followed the same trends and had similar interests. This became very apparent in the last year of high school especially when all of a sudden all the boys became obsessed with weightlifting and “getting swole”. This lead to that group of boys also becoming very interested in eating what is considered clean. They would bring in food in Tupperware that they heated up in the microwave everyday to ensure they were eating cleanly. Not long after this, almost everyone in my grade was bringing in healthier food to be heated up in the microwave. The social norm soon became that everyone in the grade should eat healthier and workout because fitness was what was desired at the time. This idea of nutrition is explained through this module especially in the Healthy Eating Pyramid. The boys in our class would often talk about getting in their proteins and vegetables for the day.

When looking at this change in the social norm for my high school, one obvious societal issue involves obesity. Through the module, we learned that about 5 million people are considered obese which is an alarming number in my opinion. Through eating healthy and using the proper nutrition, the kids in my class were using their food choice in order to avoid the chance of being obese. I also can agree with the idea that the social norm should be that proper nutrition and healthy food choice is needed. However, I believe it should be done in moderation. It is okay to eat delicious food as long as you are using the idea of moderation. Another small connection to a societal issue that was talked about in the Module was the amount of consumption of beef that is taken in by Americans. The boys in my class often strayed away from beef and focused more on chicken usually. The idea of consuming less beef could help the environment as a whole due to the fact that cows cause a lot of negative emission into the environment.

1. This specific case study revolves around The Narmada Valley Development Project which takes place in the Narmada River in India. This is the link to the case study; http://www.umich.edu/%7Esnre492/Jones/narmada.html. This specific case study is focused on the largest river development in India and considered one of the largest hydroelectric projects in the world. The goal of this development is to create over 3,000 dams in the Narmada River in order to produce power, control flooding, and maintain irrigation especially in an area known for monsoons. However, this developmental plan has major flaws and destructive issues to both the environment and the humans living in that area by destroying biodiversity. The major issue behind the construction of these dams involves economic justice. By creating these dams, many tribal families below the poverty level will be displaced and their homelands will be taken away from them. The downsides to this environmental development is not necessarily in the best interest of the people of the area or the environment in this area.

2. This case study takes place in Laguna San Ignacio, which is a lagoon on the west coast of New Mexico. This is the link to the case study; http://www.mhhe.com/Enviro-Sci/CaseStudyLibrary/International/CaseStudy_SavingaGrayWhale.pdf. This case study describes how a sea salt extraction facility was built in this bay. This facility is considered to be the largest in the world. Plans were made to construct an even larger facility that would surely endanger the Pacific Gray whales in this area. This case study does not specifically point out things such as economic justice, however it does relate to the idea of protecting biodiversity from environmental development. However, this case study could be related to the idea of sustainable development. This module talks about how much of the environmental resources are being depleted in order for the end product. No consideration is taken into account of how the environment is being depleted or being affected because all that is in mind is the end product which is exactly what is happening with the whales and the production of salt.

3. The place I picked to connect these two case studies was my hometown which is New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Just like the first case study which involves people with a low poverty level and a minority group, my hometown has a relatable situation for the area. Not too long ago, there was talks of tearing down an entire area of run down houses and buildings in downtown New Kensington. Just like my first case study, this would displace many people who couldn’t afford to live elsewhere. There was also lots of question as to where the money to do this would come from. The second case was about the conservation of a specific wildlife. For a decent amount of time, there was a lot of poaching and deer hunting in the area that was causing a sharp decline in the species. Action had to be taken in order to stop this decline, however the difference in the case study is that environmental development was causing this decline. This is about as close of a relation that I am able to make to the second case study because since the area is an area with a low poverty level; not often is a new development made in recent years. Examining different case studies and relating them to different areas and different times allows improvements for the future of developments. Also, knowledge about mistakes from previous developments will allow for better developments that have consideration for humans and the environment in order to create a sustainable environment.

1a.)    In my hometown, the Municipal Water Authority collects and distributes water for seven different counties around the area. The water is collected from the surface water of the Allegheny river. Once at the plant, water at the purification plant is treated by coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection. Then, it is further treated with fluoride, chlorine, and a corrosion inhibitor before being distributed to the consumer. From the treatment center, it is transferred using electricity and pumped into pipes that goes straight to the consumers or to a water tower. Where I live, there is a water tower right down the street from me. The water towers are usually only used when a surplus of water is needed for the day. The water that is either flushed or sent down the drains is taken to a sewage system through a different set of pipes. In my town, the sewage system is called Municipal Sanitary Authority of New Kensington (MSANK). Here, the water is put through a few sets of treatment which is then returned back to the Allegheny River. Shown below is the diagram of the sewer system that is used in my hometown.

1b.)

1c.)  Compared to my average use of water in one day (170.375 gallons), living on two gallons was a major challenge. When thinking about how I wanted to use my two gallons, I thought that the absolute necessity for me would to use water as drinking water. However, if I only used water for drinking and a small amount to wash my body every few days, that would mean that I had to completely cut out everything else in my daily activities that involved water. When trying this experiment, it was immediately impossible for me because flushing the toilet once alone was three gallons. This is where geography comes into play. If I did live in a different country where toilets with water were not available, this would not be something that would use water in my daily activities. I feel that it is not easy to use only two gallons of water on a daily basis because it is so readily available. Without any thought, we waste water and just throw it down the drain. This task would be much easier for me personally if I lived in an area with a reduced amount of water. If this was the case, I feel that I would be aware of the amount of water that I was using. Because I have never known any different than having an unending supply of water, I failed very badly at this challenge.

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

1. I personally feel that it is more important to be someone who performs good acts over being a good person. However, I do understand that more often than not, someone who is a good person is more likely to perform good acts. When thinking about this question, my first response was that being a good person is better because performing a good act without the right intentions is frowned upon. Yet, I thought about this thoroughly and decided that action ethics, or performing the good act, is more important because that is helping the person or group in need no matter the intentions. When you’re performing a good act, the outcome will always be beneficial for someone. This topic also led me to think about whether I would want to perform a good act because a good person told me to or because I saw the benefits of someone performing a good act. My answer to this question made me realize that I am going to want to idolize and look up to someone who is taking action rather than just moralizing me.

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

2. My first thought when reading this question was, “Well, what are the circumstances and what is the situation?”. After much thought about the topic, I came to the conclusion that if the ends are something that is a good thing, then obviously the means will be justified. At first, I was very conflicted with this question because I can agree with both sides. But like I stated, I believe that the answer with this question is all circumstantial. I feel that if the end is positive and more rewarding than the means, then it is justified. Without fully knowing the whole situation, I don’t think that I can take a side, but I do lean more towards the idea that the ends do justify the means. I thought a lot about the example in the text that talked about how trees were cut down to prevent forest fires. In the end, more trees would be saved by cutting down a few than losing a lot more trees in a forest fire. In this case, the ends are a good thing. This helped me come to the conclusion that the ends do justify the means, however I do see both sides of this argument clearly.

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

3. As a person who loves animals, I am going to jump to quickly agree that the pain of non-human animals matter just as much as the pleasure and pain of humans. After immediately spitting out my first thought, I realize that this may not be what I really want. I am human and I greatly enjoy eating steak, drinking milk, and eating bacon, etc. Just like all of these questions, there are strong grounds for both sides. I feel that this question involves a little more thought of what humans would want to give up and what it would cost humans to treat animals the same way. This obviously means that there would be an end to killing animals which immediately makes everyone a vegetarian. Would this decrease the nutrition level of humans? Would there be an abundant amount of animals? With consideration to this question, I want to say that there should be consideration to the pleasure and pain of non-human animals, but only to a certain point. I do not feel that humans and non-human animals should be treated the same exact way. There are differences between the two in many ways, so they should be treated as separate species.