1.) In 125-175 words, create an argument to support the preservation of biodiversity through an anthropocentric lens.

The conservation of many natural ecosystems is an important issue facing our society as we know it. Deforestation threatens to alter the landscape and radically change the way we obtain building resources, fossil fuels, and other major aspects of our lives. Our standard of living was heavily influenced by the presence of the biodiverse areas, and without them our way of life will change. Efforts such as urban agriculture attempt to address and mitigate some of these challenges, but these alone are not enough to help maintain the biodiversity that exists throughout the world. Humans enjoy the comforts of live in today’s society because of the natural processes that occur in areas collocated with major population centers. To preserve the Earth as we know it today, Human’s must preserve biodiversity or face a radical change in the way they live.

2.) In 125-175 words, create an argument to support the preservation of biodiversity through an ecocentric lens.

Since the beginning of the Earth’s atmosphere and the first formation of biological life, natural processes and biodiversity have helped prolong the coexistence of all living species. As we are near the top of the food chain in main instances around the world, it is our duty to make sure we preserve biodiversity. Because we are conscience of the consequences, it becomes a question of ethics whether or not we should take collective active to attack the threats on biodiversity. While some are natural causes, most are anthropogenically caused threats, and these we can take a stand on to help end current problems like deforestation, overhunting, overgrazing, invasive agriculture, etc.. The fates of many ecosystems around the world rely on the action that we humans take going forward. Development should be considered in this, especially in many third world countries, as the development that takes place will be the new generation of development and must set an example for other budding countries.

3.) If you were to go to Congress or your state government, or any large scale policy making institution, which argument would you choose to use? Why? Would this change based on your location globally (i.e., would your argument change from country to country) or would it remain consistent regardless of where you are? Why do you think this is?

When taking this issue to a larger political body, such as Congress, I believe it is most effective to use the anthropocentric lens rather than an ecocentric lens. The reasons behind this are somewhat obvious, but stem from the fact that humans nowadays are extremely selfish. This attitude may be no different than before, however, the difference today is that we have the manpower and machinery to cause massive devastation to ecosystems, whereas previously we did not. I think globally, this does not change very much either. Many budding countries are looked after by either powerful countries or corrupt countries. The countries that America supports must take an anthropocentric approach when approaching future development, as Congress and the people who control the policies that are made are not all too concerned with the effects that development can have on biodiversity. I think humans who are in charge of countries see most life on this planet as lesser than humans, and therefore do not consider the consequences.

1. My hometown of State College, PA has many different types of neighborhoods. Park Forest is a pedestrian-automobile oriented neighborhood – sidewalks line the streets and many different centers exist in this neighborhood, however you have to drive to get many places. The downtown area is more mixed, with a high urban density and a lot of area to walk. One issue that is the source of much debate in my town is the accessibility and usability of the streets for cars. Most of the streets in town do not possess a bike lane, which has led to several accidents over the past 15 years. With ~40,000 people living year round, as well as ~45,000 students living for most of the year, the issue of safe and sustainable transportation is a pertinent one. For me, I have always lived within walking distance to my schools, as well as downtown and have never had an issue with walking. As the third safest metropolitan area in the United States, I think it would be beneficial to focus on other aspects of safety such as transportation.
2. As we learned in previous modules, as well as this one, Copenhagen has a deep love of cycling and sustainable transportation embedded in its culture. The closing off of main streets in the downtown area and availability of bikes has greatly improved the overall vibrance of the city, despite it being located in a colder region. This concept can be applied to State College, a town that has a relatively warm summer, but cold winters. By learning from the way Copenhagen is designed and how they implemented bikes into their culture can help State College reach a new level of sustainability. The majority of University Park students walk to get to class, however, with the expanding landscape of State College, many new apartment buildings are being constructed further away from downtown. CATA buses do a good job of transporting some of these students, but many days the buses are completely full and you have to wait another 40 minutes. By learning from Copenhagen now, instead of waiting until State College is too large, the issue of sustainable transportation can be mitigated.
3. Another city that State College could learn a few things about sustainability from is Detroit. Although many issues plague the city, urban agriculture has grown to be a viable and appealing option for many. In Detroit, it arose because it is so difficult to come by food in the city. This led to the innovation of any potential piece of land being used for farms. Though State College does not face a food drought, and it does not appear as though it will be an issue any time soon (State College is surrounded by farm land), it could be a good idea to implement programs in the downtown area as the town begins to expand. This could lead to an expansion of urban mixing, as the downtown area already hosts several food markets for local farmers. As State College grows, it could become a part of our culture, much like cycling and Copenhagen.

1.) Nutrition is a highly debated topic. The United States government has a suggested food pyramid, but recently I learned in one of my KINES classes that this food pyramid is not necessarily accurate. Proteins are very important in our diet, especially for those who are active. Generally, I am a very active person. I go to the gym about 2-3 times a week, and I play basketball at least once a week for 1-2 hours a day. I thought that eating a few eggs a day along with some nuts and other sources of protein was sufficient for my diet and to ensure that I am well nourished. However, recently I have begun eating a lot more meat to add protein to my diet. I am perfectly fine eating natural sources of protein, though I do love meat, but I was told this wasn’t sufficient. The social norm that exists for this case is that the only “efficient” way to get protein in your diet is through the use of protein powder and excessive consumption of meats.

2.) Though I am unaware of the process through which protein powder is created, I am aware of the egregious issues brought about by excessive meat consumption. These issues were highlighted in the latter part of this module, and the issues range from the influences excessive meat demands can have on the environment to the influences it can have on human society as well. Though not the only source of greenhouse gases, handling livestock increases methane production in the atmosphere, as well as nitrous oxide, both of which are major players in the climate change game. To add to this, not only does excessive livestock handling pollute the air, but it can pollute ground water that is essential for the livelihood of communities near these facilities. It is important to note that many essential proteins can be gained through consuming plants! My view on the social norm should be that meat is not a necessity, but a luxury. This would mitigate a lot of the impacts that the meat industry has on our planet.

In my hometown of State College, PA, the water supplied to the town is retrieved from a few different areas. The Shingletown Reservoir is probably the largest source, as rainwater and mountain runoff all run directly into this reservoir. Seven well fields are also utilized in the area, and a six million gallons per day water treatment plant is located in the town itself. Water used throughout the town is recycled, as part of an effort by the town to try and limit the footprint that it has on the water supply. From these sources, water is transported to one of the 13 main storage tanks located around an area that services 75,000 people per day on average. Over 270 miles of water lines helps transport water from the reservoir and treatment plant to these storage tanks, and from the storage tanks to everyone’s homes. Once used in the home, the water follows a path back to the treatment plant, or out into the ecosystem depending on the use of the water. All information for this portion of the activity was retrieved from the State College Borough Water Authority’s webpage (http://www.scbwa.org/about.php).

For the experiment part of this activity, I decided to set my priorities as such; water for drinking was paramount (necessary to live), bathroom usage and handwashing was next, while brushing my teeth was last. Showering, along with the other things in this list could be put off a day for the sake of the experiment. As I attempted to go about my day without using more than two gallons of water, I realized how impossible for my lifestyle this was. Drinking water, as well as cooking with water, do not use up a huge portion of the two gallon budget, however even 0.3-0.4 gallons was ~20% of my budget. The biggest challenge was presented by the fact that a single flush of an old toilet (which is what my apartment uses) uses between three and four gallons. Because of this, my experiment failed. Too many of the ways I use water are essential for every day life, such as dishwashing and flushing. I think in my current living situation, it is impossible for me to use live off of 4% of my average daily water usage (from part 1-b). Geography matters because if you are in an area located by a large source of water, such as a reservoir or lake, then you have to be less strict with your usage. I am lucky that State College is located near several water sources.

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

Bluntly, I would say it is more important to perform good acts then it is to be a good person. However, I would argue that these two are almost one in the same. First, let me explain why I answered the way I did. In a sense, performing good acts is a form of altruism. By performing good acts, you are most likely positively affecting those around you, whether it be on a small scale, such as your family, or a large scale, such as your community or country. That is not to say that the only outcome will be positive to those around you; a “good” act benefitting you and those around you could disadvantage others farther away from you. Therefore, every act has to be taken as a two sided thing because rarely in life are decisions made that have absolutely no negative consequences. Now, regarding my state that being a good person and performing good acts are one in the same, I implore you to question what gives a person the motivation to perform good acts? True, people can be influenced by others to do good deeds, but that is usually accompanied by some intrinsic want to do right by others and by yourself. The real question, in my eyes, is what do we define as good on an individual basis, and how many other people share our same views?

Question 4: Do ecosystems matter for their own sake, or do they only matter to the extent that they impact humans (ecocentric ethics vs. anthropocentric ethics)?

The ecosystems matter for their own sake. I am a firm believer that we are connected to the large scale ecosystem in more ways than just the fact that we coexist with the rest of nature. We like to separate the basic needs of humans for survival from that of the rest of nature, which just furthers the idea of speciesism. While it is true that we are the only animals with the ability to articulate our thoughts into meaningful expressions that have a significant impact on the earth, that does not mean we have any more right to live on this planet than any other living thing or ecosystem. We could have not existed if it were not for the many ecosystems that have survived for so long, which could be taken as somewhat anthropocentric. On the contrary, ecosystems that existed before homo sapiens helped shape not only us, but the world around us into what it is today. It is THIS relationship that makes the answer so clear in my mind; the ecosystem shaped us, and we are only now beginning to be able to shape the ecosystem.

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

I think in the beginning of life, every life is worth the same. As we proceed through life, our actions and interactions towards the world around us (both living and non-living), the decisions we make for ourselves, and how we live life ultimately determines the net worth of our life (I do not mean in terms of money). Life, also, is a balance of knowing when it is appropriate to be selfish and when it is possible to be benevolent. Ensuring your life and longevity are paramount (assuming this can be done without negatively affecting anyone else) and if being altruistic means sacrificing or endangering one of these core principles, than it may be wisest to be selfish. For example, due to renovations being done at my workplace, I no longer have an income until these renovations are finished. At this point, I can not even consider donating to charity because it may mean I can not afford rent or food. Therefore, I have to be selfish. Does this make me a bad person? I suppose that is for you to decide.

For my system diagram, I decided to take a look at the useful effects the biogas generators could have on society. Through the intake and rotting of human, animal, and plant waste, biogas generators produce a slurry which has two major purposes; production of compost and production of methane gas. The first, production of more compost has been shown to lead to the creation of jobs, mainly for women in India. This is an excellent positive feedback (in this case, positive = good) which has many potential indications. The increase in jobs for women could lead to higher education rates for the generations to come . This, in turn, could lead to newer and more resilient sustainable solutions for energy, agricultural, and social problems. The “?” box is meant to represent to possibility for these solutions, as I see resilience as beneficial in this circumstance. Solutions like the biogas generator have many pros which all improve the standard of living in places where they have been implemented. The second purpose, production of methane gas, is important as it directly benefits the environment. Safe and readily available methane gas allows for people to not have a need to cut down firewood. This reduction in the need for firewood decreases the amount of deforestation happening in the forests. Forests can begin to grow back, and the environment as a whole can begin to thrive again. Marten’s diagram is similar to mine in that several of the components are similiar (soil/compost, technology/biogas generators, plants/animals/environment, etc.) The differences arise from the fact that Marten’s diagram is describing two systems related to each other, mine is describing one.

Hi everyone! My name is Jake Segall. Currently, I am a senior in Meteorology at Penn State. I was born and raised in State College, PA (not including the three years I spent in Washington while my dad taught for Washington State University) and still live there now. As a meteorologist, my interests lie with radar meteorology, though mesoscale dynamics (aka Severe Weather) will always be my true passion. I would love to end up storm chasing for the rest of my life, but that does not pay the bills, and for that matter I am interested in going to grad school to pursue a masters and hopefully a PhD in either radar meteorology, mesoscale dynamics, or heliophysics. I am interested to see what I can learn from this class as I have spent most of my time worrying about what is going on above the earth’s surface, and not so much time worrying about what is happening at the surface.

Geography seems to be well suited to partner with other social sciences, specifically sociology. As very effective visualization tools, maps can really hammer a put through when it is need and, in today’s world, it appears as though certain issues such as the remnants of racism or the displacement of huge populations could be effectively communicated using geographic resources. Though it was introduced to us from an environmental standpoint, governance over these issues plays a large role in our world as well. How do we handle mass migration of people to certain areas, how do we quell and put an end to racism?