Assignment: How you can relate to biodiversity and draw a diagram and explain.

After reading this module I found that the project I am currently working on and the module are discussing similar devastation, biodiversity hotspots and deforestation. The project I am working on mentions the increasing rate the rain forest is declining due to deforestation as a result of agriculture for palm oil.  I would consider the rain forests of Malaysia and Indonesia a biodiversity hot spot since the habitat loss is due to human activity. The orangutans in Indonesia are now critically endangered due to palm oil production and illegal trade.

In my personal life I do not physically see the devastation of the biodiversity hot spots but I see deforestation on a small scale. The type of deforestation I see on a daily basis is the tearing down of area forests to make use for more subdivisions for the ever rising human population in our area.

I chose to start my diagram with biodiversity at the top because it’s what makes this world live and thrive. I wanted to start with the positive and slowly trickle my way down to show how humans, in the end, negatively affect biodiversity. The right side of my diagram shows some of the components that makes up biodiversity and the right side gives examples of the destruction to biodiversity. They both meet at agriculture which is one cause for deforestation and it all comes together at humans because we are the reason for the need for agriculture and for deforestation.

The main idea behind my system diagram is the relationship between trying to establish global climate change rules and regulations and the trust that can become a barrier on the international diplomacy. The beginning of my diagram starts with the lack between the trusts of the countries. The lack of trust starts with the secret cables and the “spear phishing” tactics. This Spear phishing tactic was sent to the US to look like the National Journal had sent it out and had threatened to take all the information they had on their computer systems. This showed malice and the cruel acts countries were willing to take to get their hands on classified documents. The meeting that was held in Copenhagen was to help move forward with the issues at hand, global climate change. The outcome of this meeting was The Copenhagen Accord which was a political agreement on how to handle global climate change and greenhouse gases. The countries that suffered the greatest global warming due to other countries were offered aid to assist in becoming a “healthier” country. Some countries, again, felt that they could not trust that the aid would come through for them and it held back their process to move forward. Eventually countries were able to come to terms with the accord and now 116 countries have identified with the accord while 26 countries maintain they have intentions to work with the accord. If there was trust between countries then the timeframe to get everyone involved for the sake of our environment would not take so long. Since trust was broken immediately some countries simply couldn’t see the positives in The Copenhagen Accord.

I think the state department communications should have been made public. It makes people more aware of how the state department works behind closed doors and the malicious intent they may have. I think that issues relating to climate change and global warming should be open to the public. Wikileaks may not have had the most ethical approach in retrieving the information but I think that it was necessary that it was leaked. I don’t have much of an opinion on how they should or shouldn’t conduct their climate change diplomacy considering politics is a topic that I don’t have a good understanding. The one way that works best with communication is being truthful and from this article it doesn’t look like they conducted business truthfully or ethically. Since climate change is a global crisis and is happening quicker in more populated areas or in the more poor nations, all nations should come together and help the crisis as a whole. The poorest countries that have less opportunities to improve their way of living to the more green approach, need the assistance from other countries because without our support how will they be able to improve and make positive changes.

1. After looking at the map I could see that the Dallas Fort Worth area that I currently live in suffers from droughts, tornados and wildfires. I thought the map was useful on a larger scale if you’re just looking in a certain region. I was curious to see what natural hazards occurred more closely to where I currently live but that was not offered on these maps. For this task it allowed you to gather a general idea of what the area you live in usually expects to get hit by. I know that we have flooding that occurs when we do get hit with a lot of rain and many lives have been lost because of it.
2. The hazard I picked was a biological hazard in Guinea in the region of Nzerekore in a village called Korokpara. The biological hazard that they are facing is the Ebola virus. Yes the town I live in can experience the same type of disaster. We are not as vulnerable as the region of Nzerekore because we have better medical facilities that have the vaccine on standby just in case we have more people that carry the Ebola virus into our country. Since the previous scare with the Ebola virus in Dallas there is more effort to keep people safe. When we go to the doctor now we have to fill out a questionnaire of our most recent travels overseas. The scale of the Ebola virus has a total of 4 infected people that they are aware of in their region. If we too had 4 people that were infected with the Ebola virus the scale would be the same but the response time to try and stop the virus would be quicker. The people in my city have different levels of vulnerability because there are some communities that are more poverty stricken than others which also could alter their awareness of such diseases or the means to get the news. One way to reduce the vulnerability in such a disaster it to make the information readily available, in newspapers, news, and where everyone can read it. It would also help if the doctors could keep the patients informed at clinics and other medical facilities. People that have no means to a tv or to a local clinic would hopefully have a way to be informed but I fear that that is not the case and they would be the first ones to suffer in such a disaster.
3. In the Dallas Fort Worth area we suffer from severe weather and tornados. Within the past couple months I have experienced more severe weather with hail and tornados than I have since I moved here 10 years ago. We also have massive winds that have torn off my sheds roof and ripped down fences. We have had a hail storm once a week in the past two weeks that have left a path of destruction and millions of dollars in damages to cars (Osborne 2016). I personally did not experience any damage to my vehicle but I have supervisors that ended up with severe damages to their trucks and windows.

References

Osborne, Ryan. 2016. “The cost of hail: Car damage hits $300 million in Tarrant County.” Star-Telegram. March 18. Accessed March 28, 2016. http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article66940187.html.

4. The actions that could be done to reduce the vulnerability to natural disasters in my city would be getting the knowledge of what to do in certain situations to those that live in more poverty stricken areas or people that live further out from the city and suburbs that may not hear the sirens or warnings as quickly. I think the best people to inform others is the local weather, if it’s a meteorological hazard. If it’s a biological hazard then the best people would be healthcare officials. The one thing I can do is to be prepared for anything and always be aware of what is going on wherever I am. People need to be more aware of their surroundings and understand what is currently going on.

I have lived in Fort Worth Texas for the last 12 years. I live in a typical subdivision with a subdivision elementary school about a block away. The area I live in is 30 miles from either the cities of Dallas, Texas and Fort Worth, Texas. I live in an automobile suburb. The total people that live in the Fort Worth area is 813,980. The connection I have to this place is that it’s just a place. I moved here to get out of my small Illinois town. Once I had my daughter and schools became important I decided to stay in the subdivision till I could find another job in another preferred state. This area is lacking good outdoor activities. The distance you have to drive to get to a park gives you no option to walk, you have to drive to get to anything you want to do.

The city of Copenhagen is Denmark is similar in one aspect to Fort Worth in that they both suffer/suffered from serious congestion. Copenhagen used to consider themselves in a “car invasion” and the metropolitan area of Fort Worth is still going through this “car invasion”. We don’t have places to walk too unless you drive or take public transit downtown and then walk around. Copenhagen used to be filled with motor traffic and currently the metropolitan area in Fort Worth is filled with motor traffic and a simple 5 mile drive could take you about 15-30min. Copenhagen changed from being in a “car invasion” to creating a more social environment with the push to make non-motorized transportation the best method of getting around. I wish Fort Worth would take the initiative to create something like that. It forces people to be more interactive with one another and appreciate their community and environment.

The city of Curitiba, Brazil is similar in one aspect to Fort Worth in that they both have a bus system. Unfortunately Fort Worth’s bus system is nothing in comparison to Curitiba’s bus system.  The Fort Worth bus system called, The T, takes you to all the downtown hot spots like museums, shopping areas, college campuses and airports. The T does not travel within the surrounding communities to drop off but have pick up/drop off spots that are on the edge of some of these communities and then they walk the rest of the way. One idea Fort Worth could use from Curitiba’s bus line is to change the popular transportation method from cars to public transportation in downtown areas to minimize the amount of pollution and allow for more room for more buses to come and go.

1. One situation where my food choice was influenced by social norm happens every time I visit my sister or vice versa. My sister does not eat meat and loves vegetables and prefers only locally produced foods when she can find them. I do not have a problem eating red meat since I don’t eat it either but when she visits we try all the interesting dishes she eats with tofu and an abundance of vegetables. My food choice includes a small handful of vegetables so it is hard for me to agree with her pallet. I go along with it in hopes I could find another vegetable or fish that I may like. It also makes it a fun family event when cooking something completely out of the norm. I don’t always like her meals and end up cooking some chicken or a meal to my liking but the attempt is there so we can both try and stay healthy.
2. A societal issue that arises with me trying and disliking the food is waste. The amount of food wasted on trying foods and then disliking them is not just a personal issue since there is so much food being wasted daily by restaurants, people, etc. Throwing out perfectly good food because we personally do not like is a societal issue since there are so many people starving just to have a single meal. Ethics can also be questioned here, are we being selfish and not thinking of the starving or of the environmental impacts waste has when we throw good food away? The societal issue of food waste is also an issue because that waste is filling up our landfills which is causing more havoc on our environment. Instead of agreeing to try stuff I don’t usually like I should incorporate foods I also enjoy when creating fun meals that way I can eliminate the amount of waste.

1.The location of the case study I chose was Chad and Cameroon. The source of the information in this case study came from the University of Michigan. The link from which I was able to find the case study is http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/Jones/pipe.htm.  The goal of this case study is environmental justice for the people of Cameroon and Chad. The World Bank, the government and the oil companies decided to construct a large pipeline through the local’s villages and forests. Their argument is that it will help the economic growth of these two areas and the people of Chad and Cameroon will have the opportunity for more jobs. This case represents the side of development that may not always be considered a good thing, environmental justice. The impacts that development has on the people and the environment while they run a large pipeline through their villages and forests is not in everyone’s best interest.

2.The Link that you can find the case study for question 2 is, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=400&nr=35&menu=35. If you want a direct link to the PDF copy the link is, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/publication.pdf. The area that this case study was done was Tanzania, called the Lufumbu Village Water Project. The source of the information in this case study was published by the United Nations. The initial goal of this project was to be able to get water to villages that did not have an easy access to it. Once the villagers and the engineers completed the tasks of creating this process it also posed as a great benefit to their health, forests and the process of building homes. This case increased the health of these individuals, which in turn, could be the start of a higher life expectancy.   This case also represents, end uses. The end use of creating access to water in their villages was the output of agriculture which in turn will keep the villagers healthier. The task of creating a water system in this village helped the village thrive and be able to be profitable with their crops, become healthier due to better nutrition and water and time management.

3.The location I used to connect to these two cases is Fort Worth, Texas. The first case I picked was about the creation of a pipeline, which to the government, investors and oil companies was a great idea but to the communities it had a lot of disadvantages. This is similar to where I live because we have so many wells in our area which the companies and investors see it as a success but to those living near those wells see the problems in these developments. The second case was about a village creating access to a water supply. This case does not relate to where I am from since we have access to clean water daily. In some small communities in the metroplex, the only source of water is contaminated. The only way for them to have drinkable water is purchasing cases of water to eat, shower and drink. What could be learned from the Village is that if everyone pulls together we could create a project to help cut out the contaminated water in these communities. Examining the place where these cases exist is important to help better understand the resources that they do or do not have readily available and how ideas can be implemented. The time matters in development because some developmental goods or bads could have a desperate need to be implemented in order to solve a dire problem.

Fort Worth Flush

The water supply chain for Fort Worth Texas area that I live in starts at one of these six lakes or reservoirs; Lake Bridgeport, Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Worth, Benbrook Lake, Cedar Creek Reservoir and Richland-Chambers Reservoir. Once it is pulled from one of these sources it is taken to a water treatment facility where the water goes through processes to remove and kill the bacteria so it can then be ready to be pumped out to the public for safe drinking water. After we use the water the water flows through pipes till it reaches the Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility. Once it reaches this facility the waste water will begin a new treatment to remove the bacteria and diseases from it. After the water has been treated and tested it can end up flowing back into the Trinity River. In this facility they also have a Biosolids Program. This program takes out the biosolids in the wastewater and after intense treatments and studies, if it passes, it will be allowed to be used for agricultural benefits, fertilizer.

References

2016. City of Fort Worth. Accessed February 5, 2016. http://fortworthtexas.gov/.

Part 1-c

This challenge would not have been so difficult if I didn’t have to run my washer or shower today. Since a shower uses roughly 5gallons a min I failed miserably at the 2gallons usage for the day. Even if I took out taking a shower I still needed to run my washer to get clothes cleaned for the coming week. I don’t use a lot of water to cook but we do drink a lot of water in my house and my 2 dogs go through roughly 2 water bowls a day. If I were to use the motto that my mother likes to use, “if its brown flush it down, if its yellow let it mellow”, then I could have made this experiment work. I intended on making this experiment work but it is really hard when you need to clean clothes, shower, wash dishes and flush. If I was forced to live off of 2 gallons a day I could make it work but with the water available at my fingertips it makes it very easy to just use it.

Response to Question 4:

Ecosystems matter for their own sake. I personally believe that the ecosystem and human life are equally as important. But, with saying that, I also feel that without the ecosystem helping humans survive on this earth we would be nothing without it. Which, in my opinion is the opposite of the ecosystems use is for us, it has survived without human beings before. The ecosystem has systematically worked side by side with the species and or humans that have lived on Earth. As we become more advanced and we use natural resources to our benefit we are no longer working with the ecosystem but we are working against it. Before we decide to cut down trees etc for our benefit we should stop and ask, what it will benefit us in the future if we kill off everything thriving in that forest. What will the impact on human life be, once we kill off species or organisms that have only helped us thrive on this earth?

Response to Question 6:

I do not think my own life worth is more important than others. As far as selfishness goes, I think a little selfishness in each person is ok and natural. I have my selfish moments at times and I am ok with that. One example. I make my daughter go to bed at a specific time so I can be selfish and enjoy some “me” time before I go to bed.  When someone is altruism they are thinking of others over themselves. I think that everyone should have altruism concepts in their day to day life too. We all should be a little less selfish and more giving and understanding towards others. This question of worth and if I am more worthy than another person is not the way people should think towards man-kind. It creates a dislike towards others when you think you’re better than someone else. If you’re more willing to give to others than yourself and you are doing it for the greater good I think that is wonderful. However I don’t think majority of the population could do that without be selfish. People help people to make themselves feel good, which is a bit selfish considering you are also doing it for yourself. Overall I don’t think majority of the population could carry altruism concepts to the highest degree without thinking of themselves in a way.  I try to treat everyone equally and teach my daughter the same concepts.

Response to Question 5:

The pain and pleasure of non-human animal’s matters as much as it does for humans but this statement has several ways to look at it. I believe that non-human animals should be treated with as much respect as we would treat each other. In one way or another non-human animals can feel pleasure and pain. After reading module three and understanding that one could also think that if we should treat every human and non-human equally then it wouldn’t be fair to kill and eat these non-human animals. I think that we as humans need to all understand that non-human animals can feel pain and pleasure as we do but they do not have the luxury of being able to tell us all about it. I think selfishness comes into this question too. If one would believe that non-human animal’s pain does not exist and does not need to be considered or respected then I think selfishness for mankind is being portrayed as well.