My system diagram focuses around the US involvement with the Copenhagen Accord. However, my diagram starts very wide, talking about all fossil fuels and their emissions. Then we look at how the UN and really the world to a look at the climate change problem in a formal setting at a designated event specific to climate change. The Copenhagen Accord was created at the UN Conference but it needed the backing of a lot more countries and so the US went into secret negotiations in order to convince other countries to support the accord. The first important part to remember about the accord and climate change. The world leaders of every country new at least one thing, the accord would have an effect costing billions of dollars to change hands and a lot of money was at stake with these negotiations. These secret negotiations revolved around the CIA sending out spies to find human intelligence on UN diplomats responsible for climate change. Another thing the US did to try and manipulate support was to send a secret cable to different diplomats. And in China for example a cable was sent from the US in order to look like it came from the National Journal but instead attached a file that contained a “malicious code that would give complete control of the recipient’s computer to a hacker”. This only continued, the Copenhagen accord was really good for the USA and so they were trying to do everything in their power to get it passed through the UN. However, other countries (realizing they could gain money from the US) began negotiating, many of these countries have not had weight behind their negotiations in a long time. Eventually after the US threatened, bribed and hacked it’s way to the finish line, the US paid various countries compensation for support for the Accord.

This was a very different learning activity than any we have done before up to this point. No other learning activity has gotten me to think as much as this one solely on a moral standard. On the one hand I understand the US adamant push and support for the Copenhagen Accord. It would help restrict the global communities total CO2 emissions especially in some of the developing countries where manufacturing and factories produce large amounts of pollutants while at the same time those factories are countries largest sources of income. The moral standard I have a problem with is that the US felt it was necessary to commit espionage and cyber warfare in order to guarantee that the Copenhagen Accord went through the UN. Now I understand if we are at war and commit these acts without telling the American people. That’s fine. That’s military exploits and the American people don’t need to know that. However, if and when the American people found out the State Department was trying to manipulate the vote of less developed countries that’s absurd. No country should be able to bully other countries into doing whatever they say. However, playing devils advocate, many of these countries were being greedy in my opinion trying to get as much money as possible from the American Government just because they were in a position of power. So on this issue no countries were in the right but they all meant well. And ultimately the results were good for everyone for the most part.

1. My hometown is Lansdale, Pennsylvania. It is located in Montgomery County North West of Philadelphia. So I am generally in southeast Pennsylvania. Montgomery County 812,376 (2013) has a total of about 16,408 people and has a neighborhood I would consider as an automobile suburb. Though not a huge city, Lansdale requires for a car to get from place to place. My neighborhood itself has sidewalks, but throughout Lansdale there is not sidewalks everywhere. To get to any market, school, store you have to drive everyone throughout Lansdale, but people can and get from place to place walking or riding bicycles on the street. We do not have a mayor in Lansdale. Rather we have leaders for the county known as County Commissioners. The Chair’s name is Josh Shapiro. The Vice-Chair’s name is Valerie A. Akroosh. Lastly, the Commissioner’s name is Joseph C. Gate. I have been living in Lansdale for 9 years now. I went through the Pennsylvania public school system from 4th grade through high school.
2. The first city from the module I am discussing is Chicago, Illinois. My hometown is Lansdale, PA now, but before that I lived in Naperville, Illinois. I lived there for about 5 years. Chicago is pedestrian based whereas you need a car in Lansdale to get around. Many places in Chicago are just within walking distance of each other and many people live within the city whereas many people in Montgomery County live in neighborhoods. However, Lansdale and Chicago both use the same types of transportation Lansdale has the Septa trains connecting Lansdale to Philadelphia. The L train connects Chicago throughout the city. Trains are a good form of transportation and that is what Philadelphia is to people who live in Naperville is Chicago. However, Chicago’s cities provide better urban agriculture that South Bend could take after. In Lansdale, there are not community gardens present, however, in Chicago, they have turned community gardens into artwork and created parks to increase plant coverage and improve the air quality there.
3. The second city I chose was Rochester, NY. Just from the image itself, it shows many similarities to Lansdale. In my neighborhood, there are sidewalks like in Rochester. Like Rochester, people that live in Lansdale, need street car transit to get around the city. Unlike Rochester, it is very unlikely to see people walking around the neighborhood, walking their dogs or going on runs. My personal neighborhood actually has lawns and people can be found outside. However, I think that Lansdale should have even more sidewalks and develop a more pedestrian-oriented city. Many side streets do not have sidewalks including many that connects the high school. Students still can go to convenience store to grab food after school. It might encourage people to walk more to save gas if there were more sidewalks in Lansdale.

1.

Today I was walking back home and I became hungry. I was walking downtown and didn’t know what I wanted to eat. I had some very healthy spinach, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, grilled chicken and just all around pretty healthy food. However, I then passed a McDonald’s. Thinking of how long my food was going to take to cook at home and the fact that McDonald’s is so cheap made my decision for me. The social norm here is about fast, food. Nobody has any time. Everyone is in a rush and that is becoming evident in many aspects of a person’s life, but none more so than with food. Getting a Whopper from McDonald’s is easier than having to grill a chicken breast. Also, McDonald’s did not break the bank for me so the idea of fast food restaurants providing the quickness and cheapness than many people want is the social norm I experienced.

2.

Basic nutrition is an important issue and it connects to my food choice because I chose poorly. I could have eaten a salad with spinach, cucumbers, egg and some chicken. Instead I got a Big Mac. Now a Big Mac is made up of a burger, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and a roll, but Big Mac’s are not good for you. Decisions to eat the cheeseburger instead of a salad leads to obesity. I need to better understand not just what I eat, but the quality of what I eat. Another issue is food waste. When people make the decision to eat fast food instead of healthy food at home, that is how food goes bad. My spinach actually went bed when I could have just eaten it instead of McDonald’s so I wasted money on spinach and ate poorly too.

3.

1-A.

85% of the water source in my hometown all starts from the North Branch Neshaminy Creek (NBNC) just downstream of Lake Galena located in Bucks County. The water from Neshaminy Creek is then run through the Forest Park Water Treatment Plant. The Forest Park Water Treatment Plant is responsible for providing water to the North Wales Water Authority and the North Penn Water Authority. My family uses the North Penn Water Authority’s services to provide our home with water. We have one large kitchen sink with two sinks within the one sink, three bathrooms, three toilets, two showers and five bathroom sinks. The other 15% comes from 17 groundwater wells located throughout  Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Then, the water is used in my home however. I was unable to find out what happens to the wastewater. My home is lined with pipes from the North Penn Water Authority so I assume that they are responsible for our wastewater.

1-B

1-C

In my home the water I clean, cook, bathe, brush my teeth and use the restroom. My priorities lie in my personal needs. I have to drink water to survive but I could definitely cut down. I could brush my teeth with my sink off. I would run my hair under the shower quickly once. Then, turn off the water and then scrub my hair with shampoo and body wash. Lastly, I’d rinse as quickly as possible. With my bodily waste, I would have to not flush the toilet for the entire day. I actually failed at doing this. The bathing and drinking were easy to do but the waste was tough. My mom got upset once she found out that I was not flushing the toilet and she flushed it anyway. Toilets just need to be flushed if you live with other people. I am very grateful that I live in an area where there is a large water source nearby. Knowing where my water comes from makes me think of all the other people using the same source. And despite the environmental collective action problem I will keep trudging along and try to use less and less water.

Hello. My name is Jonah Kim. I currently reside in Lansdale, PA, but I usually tell people I was raised in Naperville, Ill. Currently I do not know for sure what career I want to pursue. Being a Political Science major, some careers that interest me are lobbying or working on a campaign. My interest in this course comes from geography sounding like a life course that should be required in order to be an inhabitant of earth. Other than that abstract reasoning, geography just generally sounds interesting I am not really too knowledgeable in the field which is why I am taking it now!

One issue that I think is important is the whole of idea of sustainability and how we as inhabitants of earth can better live in harmony with the earth. It’s especially important now with the earth reaching a threshold in regards to global warming, that many scientists have never seen before. And the whole idea of cooperatively coming together to help make our interaction with nature more sustainable is important.