1. Throughout the module, human influence on biodiversity was discussed. In your hometown, how do the people affect biodiversity? Do they influence it in a positive way or a negative way? Write a 150-200 word paragraph explaining this.
2. For part 2 of this assignment, create a system diagram that shows how an activity that you do influences biodiversity.
3. Look up a current event relating to biodiversity. Summarize what you learned in a paragraph of 150-200 words.

Completing my assignment:

1. My hometown is Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the people in     Mountaintop affect biodiversity negatively.   When I thought about this question, a lot of negative actions came to mind that Mountaintop does. For example, in my hometown there is an industrial park. In the past, the industrial park did not dispose of the waste properly and it polluted the water supply in certain parts of our town. Citizens and the surrounding habitats were affected by this pollution. Water was not the only thing that is polluted in Mountaintop though. Everyone in Mountaintop drives almost everywhere they need to go. Although everything is close together and within walking distance, no one chooses to walk, which only hurts the environment because of the CO₂ polluting the air. Along with pollution, deforestation also impacts biodiversity in Mountaintop. In recent years, Mountaintop has cut down a lot of the trees in the town in order to develop new buildings. Overall, all of these actions that my hometown affects biodiversity negatively.

3. https://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/21ebdeac214e8208539c9f0b52cd5de4.htm

In this video, titled, “Chile’s most biodiverse park threatened by climate change,” I               learned about how the climate change is impacting Omora Park on Chile’s Navarino           Island. The video stated that this park is home to the largest variety of mosses and             lichens in the world. There are very different ecosystems that are able to exist in the           area. It was stated in the video that there are very dry ecosystems in the east of that           region and very wet ecosystems in the west portion of that ecosystem. This area is             by the Cape Horn region, which has not been industrialized, and the surrounding               water is extremely clean. However, the forests in Omora Park have become very                 efficient at absorbing CO_2. Since the region is so close to the South Pole, it has been         extremely affected by the climate change. Because of this, the species in the area               need to move to cooler temperatures, but they have nowhere to go. Today, Omora             Park is being monitored to in order to monitor the impact of climate change on a                 smaller scale.

In my diagram, I focused on the Copenhagen Accord, the United States, the WikiLeaks Cables, and the issues between them. Steps needed to be taken in order to begin combatting global warming, and the Copenhagen Accord was one. As described in my diagram, the United States was a proponent of the Copenhagen Accord from the start and tried to get other countries to follow along. Initially, countries were in opposition because they were not polluting to the same degree that the United States was. The United States was aware of how beneficial the Accord would be to them though. With that being said, the United States wanted other countries to be on board with the Accord so eventually the UN would adopt it. In order to get support from other countries, the United States used secret cables. Through messages, the United States promised the more vulnerable, poor countries financial aid if they supported the Accord. A whopping $50 million was offered to the Maldives in exchange for support. The United States also threatened other countries in order to push them to support the accord. For example, Ethiopia was instructed by the United States to sign the bill or the discussion would be ended. In addition to that, the United States also tried to blackmail countries in order to gain their support for the Copenhagen Accord. Eventually, the United States was successful in their goal and got support from other countries. Today, 140 countries support (or intend to support) the Copenhagen Accord.

As we learned throughout Module 9, climate change is a very pressing issue today. The severity of greenhouse gases polluting the planet will be a problem for future generations if something is not done to fix it. Being that the United States is an industrial country, it causes a lot of pollution. With that being said, the Copenhagen Accord is very important. The United States was aware of the importance and tried to gain support for it. In my opinion, the United States did not go about getting that support in the correct way though. Although the motives were in the right place in regards to wanting a cleaner environment and other countries to be on board with that, it was done in a very dishonest manner. The cables being leaked definitely showed that the United States was not ethically correct when gaining support from other countries. The United States does have many allies and is a respected nation, however, this stunt shed light on our nation’s sneaky, manipulative politics that were used to get what we wanted done. Bribing, blackmailing, and threatening other countries is not how we should get things done in this country. These tactics proved that the United States used selfish, altruistic methods in order to gain support for the Copenhagen Accord. Although, I personally do not have a simple answer in regards to how we should have gone about drumming up support for the Accord, I firmly believe it should not have been handled the way that it was. The United States needs to be morally and ethically correct when handling any issue, no matter what it is.

I am from a small town called Mountaintop in Pennsylvania. In regards to natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and natural cyclones, Mountaintop is located in zone 0 on the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards, meaning that these types of natural hazards do not affect it. In terms of hailstorms, winter storms, and tornadoes, Mountaintop is located between zones 1 and 2 on the map. This location means that there is a low frequency for these natural hazards. In 2005, it was very rare, but Mountaintop was affected by a tornado. However, hail storms and winter storms are more common in our area, although the severity is never extremely bad. Overall, the weather in Mountaintop is pretty mild throughout the four seasons. The Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards did show a lot of helpful information, but I feel as though it was difficult to pinpoint a small area such as Mountaintop.

According to RSOE EDIS, on February 20, 2016, the country of Nigeria in Africa was affected by a biological hazard. The biological hazard recorded is an unidentified fatal illness. The biohazard level of this illness was a 4/4. In order to deal with this type of biological hazard a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen is mandatory. In order to enter and exit of Level Four biolab requires multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultra-violent light room, autonomous detection room, and other safety precautions. There are also measures taken in order to ensure that both doors do not open at the same time. In order to ensure that the disease is not released accidentally, the air and water in the lab undergo a decontamination process. Unfortunately, my hometown could definitely be affected by a similar biohazard. The U.S. has experienced the threat of Ebola recently, which is similar to this biohazard. The disease could be brought over from different areas to the United States. My town is not immune to the threat of these types of hazards. In Nigeria, 25 people have died because of this biological hazard. If this type of event were to happen in my hometown, it would be considered to be a very large-scale threat due to the fact that I am from small town and it would spread fast. In order to reduce my town’s vulnerability to biological hazards like this, it is important to educate people about the hazards of traveling abroad and the threat of diseases there.

In my hometown of Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, local factories have posed a threat to our community. Specifically, the factory, Foster Wheeler Energy Corp., has been a hazard in Mountaintop. Chemical substances were found at the site that were not disclosed by the factory. The chemical substances were contaminants and polluted nearby areas. One road in my town was really affected by this pollution. The water supply on Church road was contaminated. People living along that road used the contaminated water for years, and unfortunately, some passed away because of it. Even though only a few members of the community were directly affected by this issue, it was hugely devastating for everyone.

“Foster Wheeler Energy Corp Church Road Tce.” In Mountain Top, PA. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

In order to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards in my hometown, the first step would to be create regulations that prevent factories from disposing hazardous chemicals and waste. The best people for this action would be those who hold positions in the community. The water should also be tested in my hometown in order to ensure that it is safe to use now. This would relate to the post-event recovery part of the module. Personally, I could make sure that everything I do is healthy for the environment, in order to make sure that events like this do not happen in Mountaintop again.

My hometown is Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. Mountaintop is in Luzerne County   and located in the Northeastern part of the state. The population is about 15,000. It is an automobile suburb. There aren’t any sidewalks in Mountaintop, so it is very rare to see people walking places and mostly everyone drives. I’ve lived in Mountaintop for ten years. Although it does feel like home to me, I don’t love it there. It was a great place to grow up, but there is not much to do in the area. There is a nice park to go to with basketball courts, tennis courts, and an ice rink in the winter, but besides the park, Mountaintop doesn’t offer much more than that. I don’t dislike Mountaintop, but I definitely don’t want to live there forever.

Boston, Massachusetts is a place I could definitely see myself living in the future. I have a lot of family in that area and I even considered going to school there before I decided on Penn State. Specifically, Beacon Hill is where I would want to live in that area. As it was stated in the module, there are tons of interesting things to do there like shop, enjoy various types of food and entertainment, and it is all within walking distance.   Since the area is designed in a way that makes walking to places easy and desirable, walking is the main mode of transportation there, unlike Mountaintop. If Mountaintop put sidewalks in, I think that would definitely help make the area more of a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood, while making the area more attractive.

Another city that caught my attention while reading the module was Curibita, Brazil. I was really surprised to learn that the city is able to keep the public transportation affordable while still being able to run busses about every minute. The subway system is extremely conducive to keeping the environment healthy as well. After reading about their subway system and how successful is it there, it made me wonder about the public transportation offered in Mountaintop. After thinking about it, I realized there is no public transportation offered whatsoever. If Mountaintop were to provide some form of public transportation, it would eliminate a lot of pollution and save people money. This would be a positive change for not only the environment, but for the residents of my hometown as well.

Throughout middle and high school I played field hockey. In middle school I never had a problem with keeping up with the rest of the girls on the team. However, in high school, I noticed things start to take a shift. I was getting out of shape and couldn’t keep up with everyone as well as I was able to when I was younger. I couldn’t figure out why I was falling behind though. I was training the same amount of time as everyone else. It turns out, the food I was eating was majorly affecting my condition, even with all of the working out I was doing. After conditioning in the summer, I would typically have a bowl of ice cream and have processed, convenient snacks throughout the day. I decided to change my norm to snacking on fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier snacks like cheese sticks and yogurt. Not only did I feel much healthier, but I was also back to being in good shape for field hockey.

Unfortunately, eating healthy is not easy for all people. Eating healthy foods can be very expensive. As module six stated, eating food that is produced locally is usually herbicide- and pesticide-free, which is very good for your diet and health in general. In addition to that benefit, locally grown food does not need to travel as far. The advantages that stem from that are far-reaching. For example, the food miles and energy used to transport the food are much smaller and that effects the green house gas emission for the better. All of these benefits do not come at a cheap price though. The locally grown food is much more expensive. Having a diet of mostly locally grown food is definitely not attainable by a lot of people. However, in my opinion, the social norm should be to at least make an effort to incorporate some locally grown food into our diets.

In the Indian Ocean nation, the floods and droughts have increasingly become more frequent and progressive. In order to stop the negative effects that the floods and droughts create, Sri Lanka plans to build two new reservoirs and update 260 kilometers of canals that link existing reservoirs. Building the two new reservoirs and updating the 260 kilometers of canals will help to capture heavy rainfall. The rainfall captured can be used for irrigation in dry periods. Currently, Sri Lanka does not have the ability to use the rainfall effectively and most of the heavy rainfall gets washed out to sea. The extra water will also help to generate electricity by being funneled into hydropower dams. As stated in module five, using fresh water supplies for irrigation and drinking is an example of unsustainable development. Since it is an example of unsustainable development, the natural resources cannot be replaced as fast as they are being used up. However, with this development in Sri Lanka, it is a way to utilize water more efficiently.

http://www.irinnews.org/news/2015/12/07

In the United Kingdom, a case study was done in order to determine how plant life affects a streams health. “Good Ecological Status” for bodies of fresh water was the goal of this study. This study found that macrophytes, which are large, submerged plants, alters river flow and traps sediment.  With that being said, the plant plays a very large role on the ecological well being of the stream/body of water. The study also found that the trapped sediments release methane. The release of methane causes concern about the agricultural practices and the negative effect that they have. These findings have helped in the development of a software tool called, LEAFPACS. This software helps to predict the amount of macrophytes that should be in a fresh body of water, which helps to maintain “good ecological status” in that area.

http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/A8790D89-3B41-4328-9996-7A48C428A485/0/120413MTCFG14Final.pdf

I am from Mountaintop, Pennsylvania and in my town there has been problems with the water supply in the past. Many years ago there was a factory in a nearby industrial park and chemicals and waste from the factory affected the water supply on a certain road in my town. A few people were affected by the bad water supply and one woman even passed away from the using the contaminated water.   It is very important to pay close attention to the ecological health of the bodies of water in all areas, which is proven through this example and the two case studies above. The second case study, which used the software, LEAFPACS, in order to determine the quality of water in fresh bodies of water could be a good solution in my town in order to monitor the water supply.

1-a

I am from Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, which is part of Luzerne County. Mountaintop is a small town, with a population of about 15,000 people. In Mountaintop, the water we use is from Crystal Lake. Crystal Lake is the sole source of water for our area, for all residential, commercial and industrial uses. Crystal Lake Reservoir is capable of processing up to six million gallons of water per day.  The Pennsylvania American Water (PAW) maintains a treatment facility on the Crystal Lake Reservoir where the water is filtered and treated. Pennsylvania American Water adds zinc orthophosphate corrosion inhibitor to reduce corrosion tendencies of the water as it travels through the pipes to our homes. The chlorine, lead, copper, and nitrate levels are all maintained at the reservoir. The water is then distributed to us. Once the water leaves our homes and businesses, it goes to the Mountaintop Area Joint Sanitary Authority. The Mountaintop Area Joint Sanitary Authority supplies water waste treatment along with sewer services.

1-b

Tracked Water Use Saturday, February 6, 2016

Activity                                                 Water used (gallons)

Wash Face (1x)                                                         1 

Brush Teeth (2x)                                                      1

Shower (15 minutes)                                               75

Toilet (5x)                                                                  15

Wash Hands (7x)                                                      7

Dishwashing by hand                                               8

 Drinking water                                                          1

 Total                                                                          108

1-c

After tracking my water consumption on Saturday, I was really surprised at the fact that I used a total of 108 gallons. The thought of using only two gallons of water per day seemed impossible after figuring out my average amount used. On Sunday, I had to drastically cut down all of the activities I did that required water. To me, the most important things were to stay hydrated and clean. Instead of letting the water run while I brushed my teeth in the morning, I turned off the faucet. At night, I took a five minute shower, instead of a 15 minute shower. While I was in the shower, I brushed my teeth, instead of using more water to do that later on at the sink. I also had to drink less, so I was going to the bathroom less. That strategy helped me save some water too. Overall, I still used more than two gallons of water during my experiment. However, I used much less than what I used in part 1-b. I don’t think I could always conserve the way I did on Sunday though. Unfortunately, in some countries, they have no choice but to conserve like how I was forced to on Sunday. Living in different areas of the world definitely impacts the amount of safe water you have available to use. I am lucky enough to not have to worry about running out of clean water, but after doing this assignment, I am much more aware of my impact and will make a better effort in reducing my consumption of water per day.

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

At first when I went to answer this question, I couldn’t quite make up my mind. I thought it would be an easy question to answer, but it turns out that it took me a while to debate both sides. After thinking about it and going back and forth for a little while, I decided that I believe it is more important to be a good person. To me, being an overall good person means being considerate and kind to others. It doesn’t mean you have pleasant 24/7 or perfect. People make mistakes, but it’s what they do after the mistake that matters. If you are a good person, you will naturally perform good acts out of the kindness of your heart. However, a “bad” person can perform good acts, whether it may be to make themselves look good or some other reason that will benefit them. I can think of a few people that I know that do plenty of kind, good acts, but at the end of the day, they still are not that great of a person. In closing, I do believe that being a good person is more important than performing good acts.

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

It’s definitely easy to say that one’s own life is more valuable than someone else’s. It’s easy to put ourselves first and do what’s best for us and we see that happening all of the time. For example, if we are late for work, we might cut someone off and speed by to ensure that we get to our destination on time. If we are hungry, we might secretly cut the food line so we get our food first. The list of examples could go on and on. People definitely put themselves first at times when their situation seems more important than others. In reality though, no one’s situation should be valued as more important or less important because it all matters to each individual person. The same goes for someone’s life. Every person on this earth matters. Every person is a mother, father, daughter, son, brother, sister, friend, etc., to somebody. Each and every person is loved by someone and is that person’s world. With that being said, I absolutely do not view my life as worth more than others. I simply view all lives as equal.

Do the ends justify the means (ends ethics vs. means ethics)?

In my personal opinion, the ends do not justify the means. People can achieve great things and create huge fortunes for themselves and others. However, if they got in that position through unfair methods, it does not make it okay and I don’t view it as a success. I like to think of a successful, but deceitful lawyer for this situation. He may be doing well and be able to buy his family everything under the sun and look like the picture perfect family from the outside. But if he is doing so by stealing money from other sources and lying and cheating others out of their money, his “success” means nothing. To be truly successful and accomplish whatever it is you wish to achieve, it should be done fairly and honestly. To me, if the end result is achieved properly, then the means should be something to be proud of in themselves.