Explain the purpose of a biosphere reserve and then describe one found somewhere in the world. Then discuss the effects of climate change on this area. Please discuss this in paragraphs of 200-250 words and cite any sources used.

Biosphere reserves are protected areas of land where its purpose is to protect the biodiversity of the area. As biodiversity can vary from small to large scales, it is important to protect as many areas as possible so that these ecosystems can stay around for long periods of time. To be considered a biosphere reserve it needs to have three different “zones” within it. One zone must be a core area where the government restrict all human activity except for scientific purposes, one zone must be a buffer zone where tourist recreation and local resident usage is allowed, as long as their activity does not affect the core area, and a third area must be a transition are where more intensive uses of the land are permitted. By having these three “zones” in a biosphere reserve, human interactions with nature are limited and this helps to preserve biodiversity in these areas. One biosphere is the Great Sandy biosphere reserve in Queensland, Australia. UNESCO designated it in 2009 as an area with great amounts of biodiversity. This biosphere reserve includes Fraser Island, the oldest and largest unconsolidated sand mass in the world, the largest and highest dune lakes in the world, the RAMSAR wetlands, and coral reefs. Many varieties of birds and other marine life also inhabit this area.

Climate change can have harmful effects on this area. Since this area varies greatly in its biodiversity, many different plant and animal species can be affected. Through the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management website, I found that there are many conservation efforts being implemented to conserve this environment and they would be greatly affected by climate change. Some of these efforts are aimed at reef system repairs, shorebird conservation, and maintaining coastal environments. The emission of greenhouse gases increases the temperature of the troposphere and this, then, influences climates around the world. If the climate in the Great Sandy biosphere changes drastically, then plant and animal species that have lived in this area for long periods of time would need to adapt in order to survive. If species begin to die out, then the ecosystem would become more and more fragile and this can create an unstable ecosystem.

Source: http://www.bmrg.org.au/our-programs/community/great-sandy-biosphere/

In this diagram I wanted to display the connection between climate change and mitigation. As discussed in this module, climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. By burning these fossil fuels, greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere and this leads to the troposphere increasing in temperature. This then leads to climate changes around the world and is a problem for many nations. They understand that collective action needs to be done in order for effective changes to take effect. Although countries meet to discuss how each of them can take action in reducing climate change, there are always some difficulties in determining a method that will work for every country in the agreement. As shown in the diagram, the Copenhagen Accord was created in the hopes of reducing climate change, but in this, there were levels of distrust in other nations. This led to cables being sent out to determine the trustworthiness of other nations. In addition to this, although many nations want to participate in this mitigation, less wealthy nations have a more difficult time in agreeing to certain treaties. While these treaties request that nations reduce actions that lead to greenhouse gas emissions, poorer nations cannot afford to do so. These countries still need to industrialize and, therefore, not as likely to agree with these obligations. A third reason that these treaties have not worked so far is that some countries do not agree with the use of finances as political leverage. If they do not agree with using their money in the same way, they will not agree to the accord. With the need for mitigation to reduce climate change, there have been many attempts to negotiate adequate treaties.

After reading this module, it concerns me that decisions relating to climate change will never be solved. I’m concerned that it will all be talk and there will not be much action, and as this happens there will be even more climate change for the worse. I think that issues like this are extremely important to solve, as they influence everyone on the planet and if they are not solved, there will be consequences. I think that there is a collective action problem in this situation since these many nations are not working collaboratively towards effective action. As collective action refers to actions done by a group on a collective decision, the nations of the world need to negotiate to make an agreement. Although this decision is a hard one to negotiate, it is understandable. As stated earlier, less wealthy nations still need to use machinery to maintain their country’s economy and lifestyle so they still need to emit the same amount of greenhouse gases and cannot afford to reduce them. In this case it is hard for them to settle on an agreement. In addition to this, more wealthy nations typically are accustomed to using cars and similar methods of transportation for travel and it would be difficult to change the accustomed actions of the citizens of these countries. What I do not necessarily comprehend is why the cables have been made public. I assume that they were publicized in order to receive feedback from the public, in the case that the public would loudly voice their opinions, but through this, I feel like this would more so create more varying opinions and mitigations would be less likely to happen. I think that there are many ways that climate mitigation can occur, but I am concerned on when it will happen and the extent of which it will happen.

Using the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards it is somewhat difficult to effectively read the maps and identify the natural hazards that affect my hometown on Long Island. But from what I can determine, my hometown is in Zone 4 in regards to peak wind speeds for tropical cyclones and it is also near one of the typical track directions of a tropical cyclone. My hometown is also in Zone 3 in terms hailstorms and in terms of anomalies during La Niña, my hometown is in an area where there tends to be more storm activity. It is clear to see that my hometown is more affected by tropical cyclone activity than other natural hazards.

A current disaster happening somewhere else in the world is a volcano eruption that occurred in Alaska. The Pavlof Volcano began erupting on Sunday afternoon and sent an ash cloud up to 20,000 feet in the air. My hometown could not experience this same type of disaster. As I live on the east coast of the US, there aren’t any volcanoes in my area so this disaster could not happen in my hometown. Considering the amount of ash that this volcano can send into the air, this disaster could do some damage if it occurred in my hometown. My hometown is somewhat densely populated so many people would be affected, in addition to the ocean nearby and the wildlife in the area. Although this disaster actually occurs in an area with a very low population and doesn’t have a large impact in that area, it would have a large affect in my hometown. In my town, different people have different levels of vulnerability because of their wealth. Some people in my hometown have significantly more money and although they would have more property damages, they would be able to afford to fix these damages.

A natural disaster that can occur in my town is a hurricane or super storm and the storm surges and flooding that can follow. In the past few years, Hurricane Sandy was the most damaging natural disaster that has occurred in awhile. Included in these hurricanes or super storms are storm surges. With these, the water levels rise significantly and can cause damage to property and can harm people as well. Since Long Island can receive the repercussions of a hurricane, depending on the hurricane’s track, storm surges are a major problem that can cause lots of damage to property and coasts along the island. Depending on how severe these hurricanes can be, large areas of Long Island can be flooded to the point where people are not able to travel or even to the point where a strong enough hurricane can completely submerge towns. In addition, the north and south forks of Long Island could be entirely under water, if the hurricane reaches to be a category 3 hurricane.

Source:

Mandia, Scott A. “Long Island Storm Surge Maps.” Long Island Storm Surge Maps. Accessed March 28, 2016. http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/storm_surge_maps.html.

Drawing on concepts from this module, there are some actions that can be done to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards in my town. The citizens of my town can learn about the natural disasters that can occur and how to prepare for them. I think that one reason that some natural hazards are so disastrous is that people are not somewhat prepared for the natural disasters that can happen in the area that they live. I think the best people to perform these actions are the citizens of my town so that they can learn the procedures on what to do when an emergency is announced. In addition, I think that there should be experts in the field of natural disasters to educate people on how to prepare themselves. For myself, I can also learn more about how to prepare myself and learn what to do in the case that another hurricane occurs close to my hometown.

My hometown is Ronkonkoma, New York. It is in the center of Long Island and is about 1 hour and 30 minutes East of New York City. In addition, the population is around 20,000 people. Living here, I am close to the beaches and that is my favorite part. With the closest beach being 15 minutes away, it is easy to spend most of my summer there. I would describe my hometown as an automobile suburb. Automobiles are a major form of transportation and every household has at least one automobile. Sidewalks are not always available to walk on and stores, gas stations, schools, restaurants are most easily accessed by automobile. Although there are a few public busses to use, they are not used often by the people in my town as people typically drive. I would consider my hometown to have a lower urban density since houses are surrounded by yards and are not densely packed together. There are also wide streets within the neighborhoods and this decreases the urban density of the area.

Comparing my hometown to Copenhagen, Denmark, there are clear differences in the levels of sustainability. In Copenhagen, many citizens travel on foot or by bicycle, while in my hometown people drive to where they need to go. It is easy to see how the low use of automobiles has increased the sustainability of Copenhagen as there is less air pollution compared to places with more automobile use. Since the use of bicycles is also a social norm in Copenhagen, it is widely accepted for people to use this. Their use of alternate transportation is a great alternative compared to my hometown, but since buildings in my hometown are relatively far from each other, it would be difficult to instill using bicycles as transportation. Also since this is not currently part of any social norms, it would be difficult to transition most people from cars to bicycles.

Comparing my hometown to Haiti, there are also clear differences in the levels of sustainability. In Haiti, there are more areas of urban farming and with this, the people are able to provide food for themselves and their families without having to travel far to get it. With urban farming the food is grown locally and, as it is stated in the module, requires less transportation and thus reduces the ecological footprint. In my hometown, there aren’t many people who have food gardens in their yards. My mom used to take care of one but because she became busier, she hasn’t had the time to tend to it. I think that this is a trend where I live because urban farming isn’t a necessity where I live as people can go to the store and buy their food. I think that urban farming would definitely increase the sustainability and decrease the ecological footprint, but I think the people are too busy to farm.

One situation in which food choice was influenced by social norms was when my friend decided to become a vegetarian. She learned about the process that meat goes through from the animal to the market and she did not like the process. Along with the existence of media that shows the inhumane methods that exist in factory farms, she decided to stop eating meat. She did not want to support the treatment of animals, such as cows and pigs, where they were inhumanely killed in order to be used for their meat. The treatment of these animals in factory farms is often very poor and the ethics behind these places is not the greatest. It is clear to see that these animals are suffering while they live in these factory farms and this has lead to my friend’s decision to stop eating meat.

One societal issue that vegetarianism relates to is nutrition. With vegetarianism it is important that you still consume the necessary nutrients so that your body can operate and be healthy. Although some people think that it is not possible for people to consume the required nutrients, it is actually rather easy. By looking at the Healthy Eating Plate we can see what an optimal meal should be comprised of. One important factor to mention is that most of your meal should be comprised of fruits and vegetables, rather than being comprised of proteins such as meat, like many people think. Although meat can be important in someone’s diet, it is important to moderate the quantities of what you eat. For vegetarians, moderation is also very important but it is also important to obtain nutrients, which could come from foods such as meat, with other foods that are just as nutritious.

In many areas, families are given the choice on how many children they would like to have, but in China the people are limited. The goal of this development is to use population control to control other aspects of society, such as sustainability. Since China has one of the largest populations, they want to regulate the population so resources can be available for everyone. Throughout history, the policy regarding the number of children in a family has changed with changes in political stability. During the late 1950s to the early 1980s, there was strict enforcement of the One Child Policy. Through this, the government wanted to slow down population growth. The fertility rate declined in the 1970s due to government changes but preferences for having children continued to change. With an increase in agricultural production the incentive to have more children increased. Through this study, it is shown that government enforcement of a policy like this only has short-term decreases. Unless a drastic change in personal preference to have children occurs, the population cannot have a consistent effect on the development of the country.

Source: http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/pop-chi.html

Tuberculosis is a dangerous disease and it is also the third leading cause of disease and disability among adults throughout the world. Millions of people are infected each year and around two million die each year because of it. In China, tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from infectious disease. In 1991, China launched a program to help treat and cure patients in 13 of the 31 provinces. Through this, health workers were trains to help patients take their treatment and treatments were recorded so that there was an account of how effectively this program worked. Through this project, they were able to achieve a very high cure rate for new cases and for patients who had previously undergone treatment. The numbers of deaths due to tuberculosis declined drastically and more have been prevented. According to the World Bank and the Center for Global Development, this is ranked as one of the most cost-effective of all health interventions.

Source: http://www.cgdev.org/page/case-3-controlling-tuberculosis-china

Comparing these two case studies on population regulation, it can be seen how the population affects multiple aspects of society and vice versa. These case studies directly relate to when I lived in Shanghai, China. Majority of families in the city only have one child and the large generation gap can be seen. It is also evident that there is a lot of care to make sure that the people are taken care of so that deadly diseases like tuberculosis do not make an appearance. Through the rapid development of China up until this time, the effects of development can be seen. For example the environment has been greatly affected because of urbanization and pollution is a major problem for many areas. We can learn from the cases that population and disease control can be controlled to influence change on society and development. They show that changes are possible but sometimes, in the case of population control, they are not as steady as they are expected to be.

1-a – Hometown Water Supply Chain

In my hometown of Ronkonkoma, NY, water is sourced from groundwater. The water is then gathered in wells present in aquifers and from there it moves to a filtration station. After the water is filtered, it is then sent to a holding tank where it stays until it is needed for use. Next when it is needed for use, it gets sent to a main distribution pipe where the pipe then branches off into more pipes to distribute water to homes. After the water is used, it goes down the drain and then sent to an underground sewage system.

1-b – Computing Daily Usage

Shower for 10 minutes = 40 gallons

Toilet = 20 gallons

Sink = 20 gallons

Hand washing dishes = 40 gallons

Dish washer = 10 gallons

Drinking = 1 gallon

Cooking = .5 gallon

Total = 131.5 gallons

1-c – Living on Two Gallons of Water

Compared to people in countries such as Mozambique and Haiti who can survive on two gallons of water a day, I would not survive on this amount of water. Water is used for many reasons ranging from cooking, to bathing, and drinking and compared to what I currently consume, I would not be able to drastically decrease my intake of water to survive. I tried to decrease the amount of water I use in a day and I failed miserably. Even trying to shorten my shower was a hard task. Since showering and washing the dishes use the most water, it made sense for me to try and cut down on these activities, but I failed once I finished my shower as there was no way for me to take a shower and use less than two gallons. Compared to the daily usage described in part 1-b, I did use fewer gallons of water but it still does not compare to those who live daily on two gallons of water. Although I live in an area where water is readily available, water shouldn’t be consumed at such a high rate. I do think there is a connection between geography and water use. For example in places where there are droughts and water is not as readily available, people have to restrict their water usage so that there is water for everyone. In addition, there are places where water is not clean or sanitary to use or consume and in these places, people have to rely on other sources of water or drastically change their use of water so that they can use water and not harm themselves.

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 to be a good person. Although good acts can show the good things that people can do, being a good person means that there are (most likely) good intentions in mind behind a person’s actions and these good intentions can continually allow for good things to happen. Similarly to the example stated in the reading relating to whether it’s more important to be someone who cares about the environment or someone who takes actions helping the environment, someone who cares about the environment will often be the one who takes action. If someone is a good person, they are likely to take action towards something they feel passionate about. These people use their passions as the reasons to do good in the world and do the good actions that have positive effects on other beings on the planet. Someone can perform good acts, but this does not necessarily mean that they are a good person or that they genuinely care about the cause they are acting for.

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

The pleasure and pain of non-human animals matters just as much as the pleasure and pain of humans. Relating to the topic of speciesism, where there is the view that some species are more important than others, humans have taken the initiative of placing themselves in the position of being most worthy of special treatment and importance (anthropocentrism). This has placed other species in a less important position where their pleasure and pain is not viewed as significant as those of humans. It has been shown that non-human animals feel emotions just as humans do, therefore, their pleasure and pain should matter just as much as those of humans but sometimes people still disregard this. On one hand, many people view their pets as a member of the family and here it can be seen that these non-human animals’ feelings are considered in the relationship they have with the family. On the other hand, there are many cases of non-human animas being treated inhumanly, whether it’s animal abuse towards pets or animals being killed for food, and in these cases the pain and pleasure of these non-human animals is not acknowledged. Since non-human animals also have emotions, they should be respected as many as much as human feelings are concerned.

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

I think that my life is worth the same as the lives of others. Everyone and everything (including other species) are unique so it is hard to place one in a higher or lower position than others. I believe that every life is equal and there is not one life that is worth less than another life. Although being altruistic is good, since this greatly involves helping others, it can be too much to be too selfless and not take yourself into consideration. It is harmful to be too selfless, as it is harmful to be extremely selfish. Considering this, while there are people in the world who are rather altruistic, there are also many people who are quite selfish. Though I think every life is equal, it does not take into account those who commit crimes. These people who act upon their destructive thoughts should be punished as deemed appropriate for their crimes, even though I consider all lives equivalent.

The main idea of my diagram is to show that there is a large influence from the environment on society. The people need fuel for their fires so that they can cook and survive, but meanwhile resources, like firewood, are becoming scarce since so many people need it as fuel. This leads people to gathering more firewood than is available and then leads them to looking for other resources. Through this, it can be seen how stability in an environment like this can be a hard task to achieve, but with the addition of the biogas generator, stability can be slightly easier to achieve. Through the generator, cow dung is transformed into compost and fertilizer and this both provides for the environment and also the women of the town. As it nourishes the ecosystem, it can also be sold for money, which the women can use to pay for their children’s’ education. This diagram compared to Figure 1.5 in the Marten reading, “What is Human Ecology?” has some similarities in the format and the relative prominence the environment has on society. In terms of differences, the diagram from the reading stresses more on the smaller, but yet still influential, aspects of the social system and ecosystem (i.e. trees and shrubs on hills) while mine does not. Although these diagrams are different, it is good to see the different perspectives of what makes up the complex system between the social system and the ecosystem in this village in Karnataka, India.

Hello everyone! My name is Laura Young and I am currently a senior enrolled at Penn State University Park. Right now I am living in State College, Pennsylvania but I am from Ronkonkoma, New York, which is located on Long Island. I am an advertising major with minors in Chinese and International Studies. After graduation this spring, I hope to have a career relating to digital advertising in New York City in the upcoming year. My interest in this course comes from never taking a geography course throughout my college career. I’ve taken a geoscience class but not a class relating to sustainability and human-environment interactions. Since I am not knowledgeable on topics relating to geography, I would like to learn as much as I can during this semester.

I think geography would be well suited to address the topic of sustainability. With the limited resources available on the planet, it is important that people learn to use the available resources around them without harming the environment and also the planet so that future generations can also coexist with nature. If people do not take into account the amount of resources they are currently using, it will have negative impacts on future generations, as they will have to work with the extremely limited resources left for them. Since there are many different opinions on this topic, it has become difficult to progress society without damaging the ecosystems around us. Through this, the concept of governance is one obstacle since there are constraints on how people can make changes to increase sustainability.