Assignment: In 200-350 words, explain what H.I.P.P.O. means. After that, pick two or three of the threats to biodiversity today and explain how each of those are affecting the environment around the world or the environment around you.

 H.I.P.P.O. refers to the threats that biodiversity is facing today. H.I.P.P.O. is an acronym that stands for Habit Loss, Invasive Species, Pollution, Human Population, and Overharvesting. These are the biggest threats that are talked about in this module.

Habitat loss refers to when a particular area is converted from usable to an unusable habitat. One of the examples from the module that causes habitat loss is mining. I live in an area known for coal (Carbondale). My hometown is build on top of old mines. This area use to be very unsafe to live in because of all the mining that went in. Thankfully now that s not a major issue, but it could have been. If the mining continued like the way it use to, Carbondale may have become unusable and people would not have been able to live here anymore.

An invasive species is a plant, fungus, or animal species that is not native to a specific location. It has a tendency to spread to a degree that can cause damage to the environment around them, or even human health. If a new species gets introduced to a new area, the new species can parasitize or predate upon the residents, bring unfamiliar diseases, and modify habitats. This can affect the environment because the environment is not use to these new species. It can harm the environment causing the existing species to suffer and eventually die due to new conditions they must live under.

Human population is a major threat to biodiversity. Humans are taking over the planet and changing the environments to fit the needs for them to live there. We cut down trees and harm the environment with pollution. Eventually we will run out of trees to cut down and we will do too much harm to the planet. The more and more the number of people increase, the bigger the threat to biodiversity.

In my diagram, I presented the main points of the Copenhagen Accord and the strategies the United State tried to use to support other opposing countries. I started with climate change, which was one of the main points in the article. I stated with this because people realized that climate change has become a serious issue. I then connected climate change to how the United state proposes the Copenhagen Accord. To have the Copenhagen Accord put into effect, the United States needs to find allies. In order for the United States to get allies they offered money to other countries if they joined them on their plan. They offered money to smaller countries, like Maldives. The United States offered a large amount of money and the countries would accept the offer because the climate change affected them significantly. The United States also threaten to stop all communication with other countries if they did not agree with them. One country that was mentioned that the United States threatened to stop all communication with was Ethiopia. Ethiopia was against joining the Accord, which is when the United States sent them a confidentiality cable saying to sign the accord. After they realized the threat threat that the unites States was opposing, Ethiopia and decided to join the Accord. If certain countries did not agree with the United States, they spied on them using confidentiality cables. When WikiLeaks leaked about the United States using cables to spy on opposing countries. Because of the spying on the opposing countries, the United states lost the trust of all the opposing countries.

The way the United States handles this whole situation was selfish and untrustworthy. The United States using the cables caused countries to lose their trust and not want to join them on the Copenhagen Accord. Although some of the countries were suffering from climate change, they still chose not to join the United Stated after WikiLeaks leaked about the cables. I think that it was right and fair for the cables to be leaked. The other countries had a right to know about what the United States was doing. The countries had a right to know because the United States bribed them and threatened them. With the United States, the countries signed the Accord for the wrong reasons. Climate change, a collective action problem, is a problem is every country. The United States should have gone about the subject of greenhouse emissions in another way.

I live in Carbondale, PA. I found this map very interesting to see how different parts of the word are affected by different zones (low or high). Where I lie is ranked zone 2 for hailstorms, zone 1 for winter storms, zone 2 for tornados, and zone 1 for wildfires. My town have seen all of these things before, although strong tornados are not common. We are surrounded by mountains so the tornados usually get broken up before reaching my town. Wildfires are common. When I was 10, my dad and I saw a wildfire while riding around on our quad. We immediately called 911 when we got back to the house. I think the Nathan map is very clear on what area gets what level of intensity of a natural hazard.

On March 31, 2016 at 10:35:09 PM there was an earthquake in Paraparaumu, Australia and New-Zealand, New Zealand. The magnitude of this earthquake was 3.2. The depth of the earthquake was 52.11 km (32.38 miles). They are considering this earthquake to be minor because people did not feel any Earth movement. Carbondale, PA is not vulnerable earthquakes because it is not located close to fault zones. This does not mean we cannot get earthquakes. I remember a few years ago there was one only because it was so strong that it reached us. That was the only time me or my parents could remember Carbondale having an earthquake. There was no damage done to Carbondale. The scale of the event is much larger than my town. Carbondale is only about 3.2 square miles which would be 8.3 kilometers where as the depth of the earthquake is 32.38 miles and 52.11 kilometers. I feel as though if an earthquake lie this was to happen in Carbondale it would have little damage but I think we would be able to feel it happening. Because my town is built on mountains, I think it would depend on where you lived if you felt an earthquake or not. Also, our building and homes are not built to handle that kind of natural hazard so if something was to happen, our homes and building could be destroyed.

When I search Carbondale, PA for natural hazards, nothing useful came up. I think this is because we are such a small town. I decided to search the next largest city near me which would be Scranton, PA. According to usa.com, Scranton is is a very low risk for earthquakes (0.08) and we have a zero percent chance of volcanos. For tornados we have a risk of 77.46. The types of natural hazards my area faces are thunderstorms, winds, snow storms (although the last few winters have been mild), very cold weather in the winter, and floods. If rain gets too bad in my town the Lackawanna River can become very close to flooding.

“Scranton, PA Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes.” – USA.com™. 2016. Accessed March 31, 2016. http://www.usa.com/scranton-pa-natural-disasters-extremes.htm#EarthquakeIndex.

In module 8 it talks about vulnerability to Natural Hazards. In an area, if people are well educated, they can learn how to avoid or reduce many impacts. I think this is very important. People should be aware of the natural hazards that can happen in their town that they re living in. If people take the time to educate themselves it can save their town, lives, and many other things like building and homes. Something else I think is important to avoid or reduce natural hazards is wealth. This is self-explanatory. If a town has funds to prevent something from happening, then that town will be better off than a poorer town. Wealthier towns have the funds to build building that can hold up to certain weather conditions. And if something does happen, that town can have the funds to clean it up. I think these are the two most important concepts to towns that are vulnerable to natural hazards.

I live in the small town of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. It is in the Northeastern part of the state. It is about 45 minutes North of Wilkes-Barre. The types of neighborhoods that are in Carbondale are very mixed. It is very pedestrian oriented and you can easily walk everywhere but most people drive everywhere instead of walking. There is a downtown section where there are privately owned. There is also a hotel downtown that has shops and restaurants in it. Carbondale has a population of about 8,800 people. I have a deep connection with this city. This is where I was born and raised. My parents and grandparents were also born and raised here. It is a small town and I love it. I love that everyone knows everyone. Whenever I am home for a weekend I am always sad to go back to school because I know how much I will miss home. Home to me is cozy and adorable.

The module talks about New York City. Where I live is only about 2 and a half hours from New York City. There are so many people in my hometown that go on day trips to NYC. Personally I do not like the city, I prefer the country. I think the one convenient thing about cities like New York City is that you can walk everywhere. Being a pedestrian oriented city makes is easy for people not to own cars. It is also convenient that the biggest city in the United States has a harbor that is popular. This means that many good can come into the harbor. I also feel like because of the harbor, there are plenty of jobs for people to have there. If Carbondale had something like this then there would be more jobs there and people would not have to travel as much to find a job.

I loved that the module talked about Venice, Italy. This is somewhere I am always wanted to travel to. Something I love about it is that is is car-free. Cars pollute our air, making them not good for us. I can imagine Venice being so clean with fresh air because is it pollution free. Not having a car is not possible to have in my area. Although Carbondale is small enough to walk around, in order to go to the mall or grocery shopping or movies you have to drive at least 30 minutes. I would love to live in an area where I could get a bike and ride that rather than have a car. If everywhere was like this is would be better for our planet. The module talks about automobile suburb and that is what Carbondale is when you need to go somewhere that is not in Carbondale.

Growing up, my sisters and I were rarely given fast food. Even though I always had a busy schedule between school, cheer, dance, and work before I could drive my mom would pick me up from school and bring me to one of these places with dinner packed in containers. I always thought this was normal and this is what every parent did when their children had a busy schedule like I did. The only time I ever remember getting fast food was when we traveled to Florida every year. We would drive so this was quick and easy for us today. Even today, I am not a fan of fast food and avoid it if I could. All of my friends think I’m weird because I if I was given the choice to eat fast food I wouldn’t. Most of the food that comes form fast food restaurants are processed not fresh. This can relate to the Livestock’s Long Shadow. There is no nutritional significance in fast food, unlike the food you grow or eat fresh. Fresh food has the best nutritional value for you.

Eating fast food is so normal in America. Everyone around us eats it everyday. When you are eating food like this is can lead to obesity. We see so many obese people around us everyday. There are so many parents who are lazy and do not want to cook so they feed their children fast food. I see this all the time working in a preschool. We talk about what they had for dinner after school and it never fails that least five of them McDonalds or Burger King. If you start your child young on eating fast food, they will continue that unhealthy habit for the rest of their lives. All fast food is, is fatty and greasy foods. You should not put that in your body. You need food with nutritional value in it. Like the module states, “Nutrition here refers broadly to all of our bodies’ physiological needs that we must get through food, including water, energy, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Without proper nutrition, we will be frail, sick, or even dead. Nutrition is, thus, a crucial end use of food, though it is not the only end use. Nutrition also has important environmental and social components.” The social norm for this case is that people think fast food is acceptable to eat when really it should not be eaten at all.

The first case I looked at was about Botswana’s second president, Sir Ketumie Masire, losing 89 zebras due to drought. The link to this webpage is http://allafrica.com/stories/201601140522.html. The article states that the pipeline that had been supplying the animal reservoir had burst a while go. Masire said that he knew this issue was looming and realized that the zebras would be the most affect animal at the reservoir. After trying to sell his zebra and failing at that, he encouraged other people of Botswana to go into wildlife ranching, but also warned the, about the challenges. He said he still plans on keeping some zebra’s, but reducing his number so the care would be easier. Masire’s ranch was near Sekoma in the Southern District of African. Masire’s goal is to reduce his number of zebra but also to have others open game ranches. The goal relates in the part of the module where it talks about environmental justice. Developmental impacts the environment by harming certain groups of people, or in this case zebras. Because the main pipeline had busted, the number of zebras dying is increasing.

The link to this webpage is http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/for-Phil.htm. The sources for this article are:

• Coxhead, I., A. Rola, K. Kim (2001).  “How Do National Markets and Price Policies Affect Land Use at the Forest Margin?  Evidence from the Philippines.”  Land Economics 77(2): 250-267.

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• Shively, G.E. (2001).  “Agricultural Change, Rural Labor Markets, and Forest Clearing:  An Illustrative Case from the Philippines.”  Land Economics 77(2): 268-284.

The second case study I looked was about deforestation in the Philippines. The main argument in this article is that there are people moving up to the upland, where the natural forest still exists. People are moving to these areas due to the rapid population increase. The Philippines promote the clearing of the forest because of the low access costs and high returns compared with other income alternative. Although they are taking down parts of the forest, there are positive sides to it. Goal of this article is to keep clearing forest for the benefit of the people. There are things, like clearing out forests, that we cannot do forever because of natural resources.

Where I live is Uniondale, PA. It is all country area. I can relate to my second case study the most. People are clearing the forests around us to build houses. Although it is great to see new faces, it is sad to see the forests disappearing. Thankfully, most of the people keep the trees they cut down it by making fire wood or using the wood in their houses. It is still sad to see the quiet country area I love becoming more and more populated. I think there should be a limit in each county to the amount of forest to be able to be cut down. Unlike the people in the Philippines, I do not see a positive to these areas becoming more populated. Examining place and time matters because you do not want to take down the natural resources around us. Also clearing out the forests means taking away homes from the animals that live in the wild.

1a. My lake house in located in Uniondale, PA. There all the houses operate on their own well water system. The way a well water system works is the well is located 60 feet under the ground outside of our house. The water is pumped out of the ground automatically using a jet pump that sits on top of the ground and draws water out of the ground to create water pressure for the hose. The well at my house has a storage tank that stores the water before is it pumped again into the house, but not all wells have a storage tank. When the water goes through the drains and is disposed, it goes into a sewage tank that in located in my back yard underground. It then leaves the sewage tank and goes to a sewage treatment plant where the water is purified and filtered. After being filtered, it is then released into the Lackawanna River which eventually leads into the Susquehanna River.

1b.

Total= 73.5 gallons of water on February 5, 2016

1c. I attempted to live on two gallons of water on February 7. I decided my two priories for the water usage would be for hygiene and drinking. On that day, I skipped my shower and decided to wear a hat all day. I did wash my face and brush my teeth, both which I did quickly. I had two glasses of water throughout the day, and by the end of the day I had a horrible head ache from not drink enough water. Also to cut back on water I make sure all the cooking I did did not require water. I had cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and eggs for dinner. At the end of the day I did not wash the dishes to try and save water. When I would use the bathroom I did not flush until the end of the day. At the end of the day I realized that I had failed at this experiment. As you can see in my 1b graph, I use a lot of water throughout the day, and although I tried everything I could to cut back on my water usage I was unable to only use two gallons of water. I realized that after this experiment I take the water I use for granted. Some people around the world can only use water for survival (food and water). They do not have the resources to use clean water. Geography is a key concept for where our water comes from and how we use it on a day to day basis everyday and from realizing that I hope to be more aware of the water I am wasting in the future.

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

I think it is more important for a person to perform good acts compared to being a good person. I feel that this is more important because people should take action for things they care about or are passionate about. For example, if someone cares about keeping the environment clean, they will do things about it rather than saying they care about it and then do nothing. If someone cares about the pollution in areas, they will organize a clean up committee. They can clean up beaches, parks, streets, and the side of highways. We see trash in these places way too often and if people were to perform a good act and clean the environment around them the world would be a cleaner, better place. I know for me it makes me angry when people just throw their trash all around. Why would you want to harm the planet we live on? If I am out walking my dog or hiking in the woods andI see garbage, I will pick it up and properly throw it away.

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

I agree with this question because in some circumstances the pleasure and pain of non-human animals’ matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans. I think they matter in the setting of animal testing. Animals should not put through that torture and pain just for our enjoyment of certain products and clothing. I also think animals pleasure and pain matter when animals aren’t being taken care of properly. For example, the over crowdedness of some farms and animal shelters is an issue. In this situation, animals do not get the proper care.  As people, we do not want to be tortured or kept in overcrowded places so I think the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans.

On the flip side, I could give examples on how I do not think that matters. I grew up in a family of hunters and now I am a hunter myself. When the module asked “Would we be able to completely be okay with it of we gave a human death sentence for hunting a deer?”, I would say I was not okay with it. When killing certain animals, we are feeding people and helping over population with some animals. Where I am from, there are always deer getting hit my cars and causing trouble. This is because for awhile they were very over populated. Hunting is one way to control this. Also, I know in my family, we do not hunt animals we cannot bring home and eat.

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

I believe people can be both selfish and altruism. I am one of those people. There are some ways my life is worth more than others. I think my life is worth more than people who are sitting in jail for life for committing a crime (ex: murderer or rapist). That is the only time I believe my life is worth more than others. As the module says, being selfish means you are less likely to help someone. So no, I would not help those type of people in any way. I feel that way because I am doing things with my life. I am going to college, getting a degree in something I love, and will work and make my own life compared to those people who will sit in jail for the rest of their lives. Contrast to being selfish, I believe I am an altruism too. I think my life is worth the same as other people. My family’s lives are very important to me. I would never want anything to happen to them and I would do anything to make sure that they stay safe. I am willing to always help them with whatever they need help in and I will be there for them.

The core ideas behind my system diagram is that everything in the ecosystem help the people live their daily lives. Something in the ecosystem either benefits or hinders the people. For example, children must collect firewood for their mothers so sometimes the children miss eating meals, doing their homework, or miss school. Cow dung is something that would benefit the people because it is better for the air and their health rather than them using firewood which causes smoke and can hurt their health. Firewood and cooking in my system diagram is the use of a positive feed back loop. My example is the children collecting the firewood. They must collect and keep collecting the firewood for their mothers so they can cook. It’s a continuous loop of collecting firewood and then cooking with it. If they want to continue to cook, they must continue to collect firewood.

Comparing my graph with Gerry Marten’s graph in “What is Human Ecology?” is that they both include the same categories, social system and ecosystem. They are the same because they are both showing ways that the ecosystem impacts the social system around it. They are different because of the wording used in each category. We do not have the same topics in each square. Some similarities are we have similar ecosystem categories. For example, we both have how animal dung is used for cooking fuel. Differences are the categories themselves. He has ones that I did not include in my diagram. Something that can be learned by the comparison between the two diagrams that we might not have otherwise learned is how similar the diagrams can be when dealing with the same topic. Everyone has their own twist on their diagram, but for the most part the same point gets across.

Hi guys! My name is Katelyn Bognatz and I am a junior at University Park. I grew up in Carbondale, PA, which is about two and a half hours from State college. I am an Early Childhood Education major and plan on getting my masters in Special Education. I hope to teacher either 3^rd grade or a special education class. I am interested in this course because I have never taken a geography class before but I think it is important to know the world around us and what is going on. I love spending time outdoors so I am mostly interested on seeing how we shape the environment around us.

I think climate change is a very important topic that people have been talking more and more about. We are seeing climate change this winter with the overly warm temperatures and lack of snow. In module 1 it talked about “human-environment interactions”. I think we have a huge impact on the world around us and what goes on. It talked about sustainability which means to seek how human activities can exist without disrupting the ability of natural ecosystems to function. I think the idea of sustainability is extremely important. We only get one earth to live on and we should learn how to treat it correctly without taking advantage of it.