1. In this module, there are many different factors that are addressed that can connect to biodiversity – many of which we have discussed in previous modules. Create a system diagram connecting biodiversity to the other things discussed in the module that you find most important.

2. In 150-250 words, briefly describe the overview of your diagram.

In my diagram, what I decided to do overall was to put “Biodiversity” in the center and put the biggest points from the module going off of it. The biggest ones were hotspots, threats that biodiversity can bring about, globalization, conservation efforts to protect from loss of biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience. Many of these things are brought about by the destructive actions of the human population. This, however, is ironic because these destructive human actions can lead back to the potential extinction of humans. I addressed this in the diagram through ecosystem resilience. This describes how if one species is eliminated, it can affect the whole ecosystem, even if it’s just a little bit. Biodiversity can also pose a lot of threats to the environment. The main ones include habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, human population, overharvesting, and climate change. And to conclude, since biodiversity loss is such a huge problem, there needs to be conservation efforts to help prevent from this loss.

3. In this module, there are many connections to how humans can have an impact on the environment. These actions can have potentially damaging effects on the species in the environment. In 150-250 words, describe what actions you can take in your own life to help prevent the loss of biodiversity.

After going through this whole course, it seems to be a pretty recurring theme that our actions as human beings can play an extremely crucial role in the health and stability of the environment and world that surrounds us. With this being said, we need to be very aware of our actions and how we could be affecting the world. Even if we can’t always see the consequences of our actions face to face every day, that doesn’t mean that they are not happening. Biodiversity is one of those things that could be greatly affected by our actions. The threat that biodiversity can face that really stuck out to me as being cause by human actions was pollution. So many people, myself included, are adding to the problem of pollution, sometimes without even knowing it. One example of a way that I can help reduce pollution in my own life would be to cut down on the amount of times that I drive my car. Luckily, being at school is nice because I can walk almost everywhere that I need to go, which cuts down on the emissions being released by cars; however, when I’m home, I should really try to walk more places, carpool, or use more public transportation. In addition to that, I can recycle more often. I do recycle a good amount, but definitely not enough, and only really when it’s convenient. I should make a conscious effort to recycle always.

When creating my diagram, I started out with putting the two main categories of “WikiLeaks Cables” and “Climate Change” and then started thinking of the main points in between the two from there. First, I thought of finances because it seems to be one of the biggest concerns that people have with it. Also, I thought it was really important to note because there are billions of dollars being promised and being put into the cables to work to repair problems of climate change. The second was the importance of support. If countries don’t support the cables and the qualifications, it won’t work very well. But if there is support, this can lead to better funding, which in turn would lead to repairs in climate change. The third was trust. Another one of the biggest problems there seems to be with the cables is the uncertainty that promises will be broken. The cables do make a lot of promises, and how can the countries be sure they will be followed through with? Another huge issue with trust is that there was a cable that was kept a secret in the first place. So I can understand why for some countries this may seem very unreliable and like they are missing some important information. The fourth and final major point that I thought linked WikiLeak cables and climate change was involvement. I think the number of countries who are involved and what their affects are on climate change now is really important to note. There are 116 countries are already involved and 26 that plan on being involved. These 140 countries are responsible for over 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s definitely saying something and something needs to be done.

When it comes to this issue, I have some mixed feelings. To be completely honest, I am still a bit confused on how everything played out and what exactly is going on with the WikiLeak cables. However, in regards to whether or not the State Department cables should have been made public, I do think that they should have. I just don’t think it is fair in any way for people to be asked to enter into something under secret conditions. They shouldn’t have to go into something being blind to some information. They have every right to understand all of the stipulations and pieces to what they are entering into, and then make an informed decision from there. I just don’t think secrecy is the right answer. Because why should there be a need for secrets if the plan is already satisfactory and set up for success? A secret to me sends up a red flag that is something is sneaky or wrong and could potentially harm me in some way in the future. It just sounds unreliable. However, I do think that climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed. There is clearly an issue and there needs to be a solid plan to make changes in the future. What that could be, truthfully I don’t really know. After going through all of the other modules, I truthfully believe that changes have to start on a smaller scale and build to where we want to be. Changes won’t happen over night and it needs to be a collective effort. I think each person needs to do their part, and I think a huge step in making that happen is understanding the consequences behind our bad actions. Also, I think it’s important to inform people and help them to understand that changes don’t have to be anything drastic. Truthfully, we can make a difference by changing small things in our lives that in the end will really only affect us minimally, but affect the health of the environment greatly.

When I looked at the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards, to be honest, I found it very difficult to tell what the natural hazards were even for my state, let alone for my city. It was very blurry when I tried to zoom in, so I did my best to guess what was on there. What I think was on there near the Pennsylvania area was that there is an increase in heavy rain. Also, it seems like we may be at a higher risk for hailstorms, and possibly extratropical storms (winter storms). Again, I’m not positive, but that’s what I look away from the map.

The disaster that I chose was the Power Outage in Kentucky, USA. I think that my hometown of Plymouth Meeting, PA could definitely face this kind of disaster. In fact, we have experienced power outages before. However, I don’t think there have ever been any severe ones. The most that will happen usually is that the power will go out for a few hours and the return to normal. However, that’s what I can remember and maybe there have been others before my time that I just didn’t experience. But if such a disaster were to occur, it could really affect major business, and like Kentucky, close down schools and really affect traffic lights, which could be dangerous. The scale of the disaster in Kentucky I think would be much higher than Plymouth Meeting because there is a much bigger population. My hometown is small, so it wouldn’t affect as many people, so it wouldn’t be as severe. I also don’t think that we are at big of risk for a power outage to happen in my hometown, though, because there are a lot less people, so we’re not using as much energy as a bigger city may. The reasoning behind the power outage is unknown, however, but I think that using too much energy could play a huge role.

When doing research about the hazards that Plymouth Meeting should be aware of, the main ones that came up were weather-related. The big ones were blizzards, winter storms, thunderstorms, and flash floods, as described in “Emergency Preparedness Guide for the Residents of Montgomery County.” From my own personal experiences, the ones that have affected our area the most in the past were winter storms. As a matter of fact, we had a pretty bad one this past winter. I, obviously, was not home, but my mom was telling me about it and sending me pictures and they got a tremendous amount of snow. My mom sent me a picture of our door when you opened it and you couldn’t even walk outside it was so high.

I think one of the most important things to do to reduce vulnerability is what was described in the module as pre-event preparedness. As the saying goes, it is better to be proactive than reactive. In planning ahead for disasters, you will know how to better handle them if the time ever comes. As far as winter storms, which I think is the most relevant threat to Plymouth Meeting, I think that one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a winter storm would be to go out beforehand and get all of the essentials that you may need, such as enough food and batteries and flashlights and such incase anything happens to the power. Along with doing things to prepare yourself and your family, I also think it is very important for the county officials to have a good communication system in order to warn people far enough in advance of hazardous warnings along with updates as things happen.

Reference List

• Shapiro, Joshua and Richards, Leslie and Castor, Bruce. Emergency Preparedness Guide for the Residents of Montgomery County. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/1300991022_717.pdf.

My hometown city is Plymouth Meeting, PA. Not to follow a bandwagon, but it is located outside of Philadelphia, but also not far from King of Prussia. I would consider Plymouth Meeting to be somewhere in between the streetcar suburbs and the automobile suburbs. We definitely have a ton of sidewalks, but people always drive to the stores and commute into the city to work by cars, etc. The stores are close enough that it’s convenient, but not close enough to walk there. When I did a little research, I found that it has a population of about 5,593. I love Plymouth Meeting! It’s small enough that you don’t feel crowded or weighed down by a ton of traffic or chaos, but it is big enough that there is every store I need within a ten minute drive. It’s so convenient and just an amazing place to live. It’s my home and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else!

The first city from the module that I chose to talk about is New York City. This is because I think it compares a lot to Philadelphia, which is right outside of Plymouth Meeting. The first reason I connect them pretty closely in my mind is because of the busyness of both cities. I’ve been to both numerous times and there’s never a dull moment. There’s always tons of people walking, biking, driving, everything. The second reason I chose New York City is because I think it also compares to Philadelphia in the sense that they could both really improve upon cleanliness. In both cities, there is constantly waste on the sidewalks and in the streets and it’s honestly really sad. There are clearly a lot of people in both places, so it would take a lot of effort and individual work to make a big difference and steps towards better sustainability. However, I do believe that the little things add up and the more steps we take, the closer we are to a sustainable state.

The second city from the module that I chose to talk about is Rochester, NY. I chose this one because as soon as I saw the picture in the module, it reminded me of Plymouth Meeting and some of the neighborhoods there. They are very similar to my own street in regards to the fact that we also don’t have sidewalks on our street, all of the houses are lined up in a row, and there are lots of trees and plants everywhere. The one difference that I noticed in that picture as opposed to my own neighborhood is that our houses are much smaller and we also each share a driveway with one other house, which it doesn’t look like here. However, they are very similar because of the fact that they are both automobile suburbs, which means they are both very mainly automobile centered. I think they could become more sustainable by using public transportation more often, or by carpooling.

When thinking about this question, the first person that popped into my head was my aunt. She has four kids and a husband, a very demanding job, and is constantly on the move. This, in turn, seems to affect her food choices. Since she is on the move constantly, she doesn’t have much time to always stop and cook meals for her and her family. With that being said, what is the other option? Fast food. This can very often consist of burgers (along with other meat products) and a lot of fast, cheap, and also pretty unhealthy food choices. The social norm here is the idea of getting her food quick and cheap. In the world we live in today, everyone seems to always be on the move and doesn’t have time to stop and take time for anything that isn’t on their already jam-packed schedule. More times than not, this includes food choices, seeing as though most people will eat three times throughout the day. Quick and cheap often times is the result.

I think the societal issue that could connect to this food choice the most is the issue of obesity. As is stated in the module, there are many different factors that play into the causes of obesity. It could vary from too much food, not enough exercise, genetics, and many other things. There is not one single cause, but having so much unhealthy food that is cheap and readily available at all times definitely doesn’t help matters. It may make things easier at times and seem like a good idea in the moment, but in the long-run it can have extremely negative effects (like the societal issue of obesity). In an attempt to try and fix this, I think the social norm should be working really hard to eat healthier and exercise more. This could encourage people to get healthier and would be a better social norm.

The case study that I chose to read and learn about was the one about air pollution and transportation in Singapore (source: Colby – Sustainable Development ~ http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/air-sing.html ). In this case study, it describes how in Singapore there is a really big increase in the amount of cars on the road. With that, of course, came a huge increase in the amount of traffic on the road and pollution in the air. So in an attempt to rectify this, they set a law where in a certain district no cars are allowed on the roads for almost three hours. The only people allowed on the road is people who buy a license for $80/month, are carpooling, and a few public transportation options. This relates back to what the module was saying about how our world is developing pretty drastically and these changes can be good, but can also have negative affects and we need to make steps towards fixing these problems now before it is too late.

The second case study that I chose was one on Mexico City, Mexico (source: http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Publications/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?PublicationID=567 ). Similar to the case study on Singapore, Mexico City is growing rapidly with more and more cars and people, as well. Again, while growth is good, it also brings along some negative effects with it, unfortunately. In an effort to rectify this, the government put PIICA and PROAIRE in place. There are many things that these organizations do, but the one in particular that was mentioned in this case study was that they put a ban on some road use one day a week, but sometimes that is flexible depending on the circumstance. All cars must also get certified every six months. The other main thing Mexico City is trying to do to help this problem is getting the word out there that we all need to make personal changes, which is something that I took away from the module, as well. The little changes we make can add up to big ones and make big differences.

I live in the Philadelphia area and when I was doing research on how air pollution is handled in the area, I found an interesting article about New Jersey (which is right next to Philly). It was saying how the focus there is more so on improving the overall air quality but cleaning the air and trying to get car companies to sell environmentally friendly cars, rather than limiting the amount of car access that is allowed on the road. This was obviously different than what was happening in Singapore and Mexico City where they are limiting car usage allowed on the roads. Overall, this just goes to show that we need to be aware of how our actions can affect the environment (in particular here: the air) around us. We also need to understand how we can change our ways (i.e. carpooling, taking public transportation, walking, etc.). It’s so important to read the facts and know how much damage we are truly doing and taking actions to fix it.

I did my research on the water supply chain of Philadelphia. (I got my information from: http://www.phila.gov/water/PublishingImages/WaterDiagramPoster.jpg). Before the water can be ready for use it has to go through many different stages. First, the water is taken from the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers. Then, it is taken through reservoirs to settle the materials in it. After that, it is disinfected using sodium hypochlorite. Next, other chemicals are added to the water to make flocs. Once these flocs are created, they need time to settle again before they can be removed. Once they are removed, the water is disinfected again. Then, it is run through filters to continue removing unwanted particles. Finally, fluoride, zinc orthophosphate, and ammonia are all added to finalize the cleaning process of the water. Then the water can be passed on to the taps in each household. Once the water is used, it is collected and through pipes underground. It is then cleaned and stripped of bad substances. Then, air is added to remove any excess contaminants. Everything remaining settles and is sent to Aeration Tanks. Sodium Hypochlorite is then added to get rid of any other contaminants. Finally, the water is recycled back into the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers.

The types of water that I used were: shower, brushing teeth, flushing the toilet, washing hands, and drinking water. I have some medical issues going on right now, so I knew I had to prioritize drinking water. With that being said, I had to cut down my water usage in other ways. In an attempt to do that, I focused on the area that I used the most water, which was showering. Normally, I will let the shower run for 5 minutes to warm up and then about 10 minutes in, which totals to about 15 minutes altogether. What I did this time was only allowed myself 1 minute to let the shower warm up and then I set a timer for 5 minutes in the shower. I also did things such as turning off the water when I brush my teeth and wetting my hands and then turning the water off to scrub my hands with soap, and then turn it back on to finish washing. Overall, I think the experiment failed because I used more than 2 gallons, but I definitely think my water usage was decreased by a good amount, which was a success. In comparison to part 1-b, my eyes were really opened to how much water I use, which can help me make better decisions in the future. Geography matters to water use because the water comes from the rivers near your area, which may be in different conditions in different places.

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

When it comes to being a good person vs. performing good acts, I think it is more important to perform good acts because ultimately performing good acts is what MAKES you a good person. I think the best way to explain what I’m trying to say is through the quote, “actions speak louder than words.” Without actually going out and SHOWING what you are saying, those words are just letters pieced together. If you are a “good person” that doesn’t do good acts, then you’re not truly a good person to begin with. When you back up your words with actions, you are giving your words meaning and life. And THAT is what ultimately makes you a good person. Doing those righteous acts and making them come to life is what makes you the good person that is being described here. It’s not about what you say, it’s about what you do that really matters and makes the difference.

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

When it comes to whether or not the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matters as much as the pleasure and pain of humans, I think ultimately that we are (or should be) equals. I really struggled with this decision because I do see both sides of the argument. I know a lot of people might argue that animals were created FOR humans and at the end of the day, aren’t as important, and I understand where that is coming from, but I have to disagree. I just have such a strong belief that everyone and everything was created equal and it breaks my heart when something is viewed as anything less than another. While they may not be humans, they ARE still living, breathing beings that deserve the same respect and love of any other living being. And even those that may not agree with this, I would hope that at least they would respect animals because everyone and everything deserves respect.

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

In life, every single one of us is an equal. Regardless of race, ethnicity, sexuality, social status, income, gender… anything; we are all equal. And so I do think that my life is worth the same as others. However, I like to live my life as if my life is worth less than others. I know that might sound weird and contradictory, but what I mean is that I like to make sure everyone around me is ok before I worry about myself. To me, it is much more important that my friends and family are safe and happy before I am, because truthfully, if they are happy, I am happy. For me, I feel the most happy and in the best place when my loved ones are at their happiest. With that being said, though, I do view each and every life just as important and special as the next and it is very important to me that no one is ever seen as less than another.

The main idea behind my diagram was to show the different connections that can be made between the social and ecological aspects in India. It mainly focuses on what life was like before and after biogas plants were created. Overall, I wanted to get across that the biogas plants seemed to really help improve India in many different ways. After reading about resilience and watching the video, I think the biogas plants can also help lead to a much stronger resilience in India, meaning they will be able to undergo more disturbances (if need-be) without as many complications. When comparing my diagram to the one in the Marten reading, I noticed that we had the same general outline. We both separated the two biggest topics and did smaller subtopics underneath of them and branched out from there. The biggest difference that I noticed was that while we had a lot of the same information, he portrayed it differently by putting the subtopics as a much broader topic and having the reasons for connecting the two things as what I put as a subtopic in my diagram. In other words, his seemed a little broader on certain parts, while mine seemed to focus in on certain things a little more. I think there are similarities because we are talking about the same general topic, but differences because each individual has a different way of portraying information. When comparing the two diagrams you can really see how much of an impact biogas plants have.

Hi, everyone! My name is Melanie DeFrancisco and I’m a sophomore here at Penn State. I’m from Plymouth Meeting, PA, which is about 20 minutes outside of King of Prussia, and I’ve lived there my whole life. I’m currently an Elementary Education (PK-4) major and Special Education minor. I would really love to teach kids as young as I can, or be placed in a high school special education classroom. I’m interested in this course because I’m not really the greatest at geography and so I’m excited to get to learn about it and become better at it. Something interesting about me is that I love to sing and dance and am currently a member and the Public Relations manager for the Penn State Singing Lions, which is Penn State’s only show choir on campus!

One of the main things I was interested to read about was that geography is a lot more than just maps. Obviously, I knew this was true before reading about it, but I didn’t know exactly how. Like I mentioned before, I’ve never been great at geography or science in general, really, so it was nice to know there’s more to it. The topic that really caught my attention was the “Human-Environment Interactions” section. I think this is so relevant to our world today and I think it will be really interesting to learn about. One issue that comes to mind that can be connected to this would be the issue of pollution and how the choices we make can affect our environment negatively, maybe without even noticing it sometimes.