1)

2)  The way my diagrams flows, is that it starts from the left with greenhouse gases, then continues to the right, moves downwards, and then moves towards the left again. It first starts with the reason behind the meeting for the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in 2009 that established the Copenhagen Accord which I describe next in my diagram. The Accord didn’t promise any greenhouse gas cuts, which many countries that didn’t support the accord were probably able to see. However, following through the diagram, the U.S. needed the accord to pass to solve their own issues. I then made an arrow showing that the U.S. made progress in the end due to help from Japan when they decided not to support another reform, the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty. I wanted to contrast progress with no progress, so I put a box coming off of greenhouse gases to show that no progress was made in relation to trying to reduce greenhouse gases and climate change. This contrasted with the progress the U.S. made. In my diagram, I also described the malicious acts the U.S. carried out such as sending threats to other countries, cutting off aid, and hacking into computers. The arrows are used to keep the flow of the story moving, or show what the actions from the previous box before led to. Overall, my diagram describes the research from the article in a simpler way that you could read through my diagram and understand what happened with the cable leaks instead of reading through the whole article.

3) Normally I would say that information that is supposed to be kept private should be, but in this case I think it was good that the cables were released because we got to see how  mischievous the U.S.  was in trying to get countries to agree with the Accord. The U.S. was being selfish, instead of altruistic, in only caring that some of our countries problems were solved. The U.S. was being especially selfish because the Accord really wasn’t helping climate change, and that was the overall point of the meeting. The U.S. should in no way try to get other countries to be on our side by using tactics such as threats or illegally hacking into computers. The U.S. might have been able to get what they want from that, but in the future if the U.S. needed those countries they threatened to be on our side, the countries would have no respect for the U.S. The U.S. should’ve instead tried to suggest that the UN should have another meeting to revise the accord and change it to where it would actually cause a positive impact on the environment through mitigation efforts. The U.S. actions have no doubt only gained us enemies, distrust, and soon we will have to make adaptation efforts from the impacts of climate change that will continue to occur. It seems like the U.S. was trying to make it look like they were doing something similar to the collective action problem represented in this module. They wanted to make it look like they wanted to help with climate change, when really though they’re actions they showed more of a concern for, “individual interest to keep emitting” things into the environment such as greenhouse gases.

1) As mentioned before, my hometown is Shepherdstown, WV. This is located in the Eastern part of the U.S. According to the Nathan World Map, Shepherdstown seems to remain in the middle for the intensity of many natural hazards. We are only at zone two for hailstorms and tornados. For other natural hazards we are at zone zero or one, making Shepherdstown seem like a very safe place to live in. Shepherdstown isn’t right on the east coast, but being fairly close to it I became worried after seeing that the east coast is at zone four for tropical cyclones. The map is very informational; however, it was hard to 100% accurately see what natural hazards will affect my area without being able to zoom in on my location. I also didn’t understand what the anomalies during el nino and la nina maps meant without an explanation.

2) Earlier today in Nevada City, California, there was a biological hazard where a school had to close because a child was diagnosed with measles while at school. My hometown could easily experience the same kind of disaster if a child from my hometown also had the measles and went to school. The risk for this is low, as many schools and probably the schools in my hometown have a rule where you can’t go to the school unless you have the measles vaccination. If a child were to come in to a school with the measles the whole school would be very vulnerable, as measles is very easily spread through the air or direct contact. Not only the school, but my whole hometown would be very vulnerable as well. My hometown would be vulnerable because if the child traveled through my town and ended up getting someone else in the town sick, many more people throughout the town would also catch it. The scale of the disaster has so far been pretty small as only one person was found infected. This is also a small scale compared to my hometown because my hometown contains thousands of people. Most kids in my hometown all go to the same school, but the Nevada City report did not say how many students could become infected to compare the two. The impact would remain the same if it were to happen at my hometown, as the school would immediately close until they could ensure that the school was clean and no other kids would be infected. One of the biggest reasons why people in my town have different vulnerability levels is because of wealth. Some people in my town are very wealthy and can afford healthcare to get their children vaccinated. There are also “hippies” in my town that live in small apartments above some of the bars. I don’t want to judge them, but I’m sure some of them can’t afford healthcare. Due to their low income if they have children, they will not get them vaccinated for the measles or other diseases. These unvaccinated people would lead to the disproportionate impact of the disaster causing more harm than there would’ve been. With pre-event preparedness my town could make a law stating that everyone must be vaccinated at a young age for the measles, and the government will pay for it if you can’t afford it/ don’t have healthcare. We could also reduce the vulnerability by schools only allowing kids to come each year that have went to the doctor and were tested negative for measles and all other contagious diseases.

3) West Virginia is a very mountainous state. Our houses are located in narrow valleys, which leave us very vulnerable to flooding. We also live right next to the Potomac River, which usually doesn’t flood, but has been known to have flooded in the past. Another natural hazard that I have experienced is winter storms. This winter a huge snowstorm, Winter Storm Jonas, rolled through states along the east coast and Appalachian Mountains. Somehow out of every state and town, my town accumulated the most snowfall. Shepherdstown got over forty inches of snow. Although there were no casualties in my town from this storm, it made every day life very difficult for the people there.

Resources

Ready WV. “Natural Disasters.” Before A Disaster. 2016. http://www.ready.wv.gov/before/Pages/NaturalDisasters.aspx

Johnson, Shauna. “In the Storm’s Aftermath, Snow Removal Continues across West Virginia.” WV MetroNews. January 25, 2016. http://wvmetronews.com/2016/01/25/in-the-storms-aftermath-snow-removal-continues-across-west-virginia/

Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. “The Flood of March 1936.” http://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/0800/report.pdf

4) Many actions have been taken to reduce vulnerability in my town already, but I think it is up to the people living in the town themselves to execute the steps. News reporters always warn the people in my town about snowstorms that come, so the people need to take measures themselves such as buying food ahead of time so they won’t have to try and drive in the snow. We can strengthen our emergency response to have more snow plows and salt out on the roads. I also think there should be people designated to drive around, if it’s safe, and look at everyone’s houses to make sure a roof didn’t collapse from the snow (etc.) and that no one was hurt. I myself can talk to the lawmakers of my town and see what plans they have in place already and how we can improve them.

My hometown is the urban town of Shepherdstown, WV. Although the main part of my town has many shops and restaurants, there is one street that goes through the middle of these shops making it an automobile suburb. Everyone also uses cars on every other street around the town. The population of my town only consists of about 2000 people, but this can cause a small town to feel like a bustling city when everyone’s trying to get around and dodge the all the cars. I hope to live there when I’m older as everyone knows everyone else in the town and it’s like having a large, extended family. The elementary and middle school are close to the main part of town, and it was always fun to walk to the local bakery after school and hangout with my friends. I want my kids to have the same experiences I did where they can live in a town that’s close and safe.

The city of Bogota, Columbia reminds me of my hometown because on certain weekends my town will close the main street if there is a festival or farmers market. This would occur only one day of a month, and it reminded me how Bogota closes some of their streets every Sunday to allow the people to freely go through the streets without cars. On the few days where my town closes their street the town is working towards more sustainable development. If my town could consider closing the street to make it more pedestrian oriented at least a few more times during a month it would benefit the environment. My town could also designate certain days that would always be closed so everyone would know in advance and it wouldn’t be a problem.

One big part of my town is the farmers market it has every Sunday once it’s warm out. In order to provide food for the customers that go to the market some people in my town participate in urban agriculture, just like in Haiti. My friend’s mom made her own garden by making rectangular planters from recycled wood panels that weren’t being used anymore. Everything she does is very sustainable as she even has her own chickens that produce eggs, and rain barrels for rain water. That is the only water she will use to water the fruits and vegetables she grows. If more people in town increased their urban density and adopted this method we could completely live without going to the grocery store. There are already many suppliers at the farmers market, and with more and more people adding to the mix there would be plenty of food.

1) Recently I have been exercising more not only to be healthier, but also to look more aesthetically appealing. In order to accomplish this I have been focusing on muscle building. Due to my desire to build muscle I have made the food choice of eating chicken almost twice a day as it is a great source of protein and very low in fat. I never ate that amount of chicken until my friend, who is a body builder, suggested that it was a good food to eat in order to get in better shape. In the world of athletes this is a very common social norm, as for some athletes they will not eat any foods that would cause them to gain fat, sugars, etc. This does show that I am more selfish when it comes to my food choice as I am thinking more about what foods I can eat in order to be in the best shape I can.

2)    In the long run eating the amount of chicken I do everyday is not a source of sustainable food consumption. It may be good nutrition for my health but it will lead to societal issues with the environment. The more chicken I eat, the more chickens there will be that are slaughtered in factories. Chicken production will never end and factories will cause detrimental problems from the greenhouse emissions. I think the social norm should be that we can eat other things besides chicken or even red meat to get our source of protein, and athletes should be educated on alternative diets. Beans are a great source of protein that we could eat that would come straight from the environment. There may be some harm still to the environment from nutrient depletion from all the bean plants, but this would be better than contributing to climate change which affects the entire Earth rather than a piece of land.

1)     This case study was conducted on Indonesia by Christina Einstein. It shows that a country can be developing in a positive and negative way at the same time. Although Indonesia’s development has improved in regards to their rising economy, do to a surplus of jobs, they are still facing environmental problems with pollution in the water. Part of the development to stop water contamination was by a company called BEPEDAL that created a system that would assign a color to each company’s output of any substance that would enter the water. The colors meant different things such as “meeting the requirements” or “no effort.” With this system communities would see exactly which company was releasing harmful chemicals. With this system companies were also able to improve their overall performance and sustain the quality of the water. Without this achievement the water would’ve became so contaminated that it wouldn’t have been able to be used for any food (fish) or water. http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/air-ind.html

2)     This case study by Benjamin D. Inskeep and Shahzeen Z. Attari looked at water usage in American households. This study focuses on the similar concept of water compared to the first study, but talks about how we must conserve water. It also reflects environmental possibilism as there is only so much water to be taken so humans must change their ways. The end use of water is to have it for environmental needs as well as human hydration, and if each household continues to use an enormous amount of 255 gallons of water a day we will not have any left. As populations are expanding, places are suddenly becoming “water scarce regions.” One of the developmental goals is to educated people on the most effective way to conserve water as many people think the number one thing they can do to conserve is to take shorter showers. There are actually better ways to conserve the water. http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/2014/July-August%202014/water_full.html

3)    I’m connecting these two articles to my hometown in WV. Mentioned earlier in another module the main source for water in my town is the Potomac River. The first study relates to this in the way that if the Potomac ever became contaminated the people in my town would not have any water for household usage and this has even happened in the town when I was younger. Unlike Indonesia’s plan to prevent more contamination of the water my town has no ulterior plan of another water source to use. Therefore, the water system in my town is not developing and the town could certainly adopt a similar system to what was used in Indonesia. The second study relates in the same way where my town is taking all the water from the river and we need to conserve it better. Examining different places matters because we can use their ideas. Time matter because my town needs to come up with an ulterior water plan now before it becomes contaminated again.

Part 1-a: Water in Shepherdstown, WV is taken from the Potomac River that drains into an area of 3,000,000 acres above the treatment plant intake. The water treatment plant pulls the water from the river. Here, the water runs through multi- media filters to make it ready for people to use. The water then flows to two elevated storage tanks. The tanks are 30.5’ in diameter and 89.5′ in height. PVC water lines that intersect with other water lines connected to the storage tanks carry the water to individual houses. The water lines range from .75” to 12”. There are also two reservoirs that hold water to release in times when the river is low. The water that runs through other areas before it reaches the Shepherdstown plant, which can sometimes cause water contamination from agricultural runoff or untreated sewage discharge. This service only provides water to 1,500 customers as Shepherdstown is a very small town. Once water is used, it is rerouted through other water line pipes back to the treatment plant.

Part 1-b: One days use of water

One shower, fifteen minutes: 75 gallons

Brush teeth twice: <1 gallon

Used one water bottle: 8 oz.

Used toilet three times: 3 gallons

Washed hands four times: 1 gallon

Washed dishes one time: 27 gallons

Total daily usage: Approximately 106 gallons

Part 1-c:

Attempting to live on two gallons of water for a day would only make it difficult for the purpose of taking a shower because showers use up to five gallons of water for only one minute. I would find a freshwater stream to bathe in and wash my hands. I would also go to the bathroom outside. To cut down on water I looked at what my main priorities would be for using the water. My main priorities for using the water would be to use it when I was brushing my teeth or needed a drink, as I would want the cleanest water going into my body. It would be easy to cut down my water footprint because of other resources I could use instead from the environment. Using water is only a main necessity when it comes to hydrating our bodies, so if I couldn’t use it for other things I would be fine with that, and the experiment would succeed. This experiment is very different from the life I live now because one day of my normal water use would last me 53 days if I could only use 2 gallons a day. Geography matters in every aspect of water use because it effects the availability of water everyone can use.The amount of water you take from the environment will also impact how much everyone else can use.

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

I think the definition of a good vs. bad person differs from person to person. My view of a good/ bad person would be your internal thoughts and whether you do something because you really possess altruism. A person that thinks about how they want to kill animals, for example, would be considered a bad person to me. However, someone that has those thoughts could refrain themselves from doing that. I would still say they are a bad person because their intentions are bad. Someone else could say that since the person refrained from killing the animals they are actually a good person, but I would think they were bad because they have rotten thoughts. Someone with good thoughts could also decide to do something bad. I think it is important to be both a good person and perform good acts. This will make the world a better place. They must coexist, but if you had to pick one over the other, overall the most important ethic is whether you perform a good act or not. I hold this view because I believe that you can morally be a bad or good person, but if you perform bad acts then that’s where you will be causing damage to the world.

3: Does the process by which decisions are made matter more than the outcomes of these decisions (procedural justice vs. distributive justice)?

More pressure comes with procedural justice because the process directly influences how your outcome will be. An outcome is usually easy to conjure such as, “We need to stop climate change”, but you need to properly execute your process in order to get the right outcome. Someone might ask you the question “how are you going to reduce air pollution?” Any way you accomplish this goal will come from the process. If your process is not right you could also get the outcome you want, but you could create other problems. So, if I am going to ride the bus to reduce air pollution I need to make sure that the bus won’t be effecting the environment in some other way that is even worse than air pollution. Outcomes are just as important because you will spend a lot of time on creating these outcomes, so you want to have the right one. Also all outcomes will probably have an effect on something else whether it’s a gain or loss.

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

The pain and pleasure of non-human animals matters just as much as humans because of the fact that those sensations have the same impact on them as they do on us, as they are able to feel those emotions. If we think it doesn’t matter then that is simply our inability to put ourselves in their shoes. We can’t feel that pain or pleasure so as long as we feel okay it doesn’t really have an effect on us. Any creature badly harmed will ultimately want to survive. If a non-human animal saw me they would probably have the same thought in their head- “Oh that’s just a human.” Then, if they knew me they would realize that I would never want to experience pain. It’s all about imagining yourself as the other entity, and thinking about how they would really feel. We shouldn’t try to care about others, but instead we need to care about other human and non- human animals. If not, they will suffer at the hands of others who only care about themselves.

My systems diagram shows how the innovative biogas generator produces a coupled human- environment interaction. Cow dung taken from the environment and used as fuel for the generator overall produces a better human, social system. When humans use the generator to cook they are not using a wood fire smoke technique that would produce harmful pollution into the environment. Therefore, again, the cow dung from the environment is a way that the environment is impacting humans, and then humans are making a positive impact back on the environment.

One symbol I used throughout my diagram was plus and minus signs. The minus sign represents the word less or shows a reduction. For example less household smoke produces a cleaner environment. The plus sign represents more so another example: people that will gather firewood for their wood fire, that don’t have a biogas generator, will cause more deforestation. I tried to represent every aspect of the environment or social system that the video described. The ultimate goal of a picture like this would be to show people that a biogas generator has a positive feedback loop. Once other people see how positively the generator is impacting the environment it will lead to more people using the generator, as D Vidya Sagar plans on building an additional 50,000 generators.

My diagram reflects the one in “What is Human Ecology,” in the way that myself and Marten have both made separate columns to classify components of the social system and the ecosystem. Both diagrams show how each system relies on the other system. I tried to make my diagram less cluttered by using the plus/minus symbols whereas Marten described what his arrows represented in more depth. He also described how the generator would benefit poor vs. wealthy people, whereas I focused on how it could benefit people in general. With two different comparisons of the generator there is more opportunity for other benefits of the generator to arise that one author might not have realized.

Hi everyone! My name is Victoria Schmidt, a sophomore here at Penn State. My current hometown is Shepherdstown, WV. I was born in PA but have lived in WV for almost my whole life. I am currently studying Pk-4 education and hope to earn my masters degree in curriculum and instruction before getting a teaching job. I would love to eventually live in a fun city when I’m teaching such as New York City. I don’t know a lot about geography so this course interests me because I know that by taking it I’m going to learn so many new things that I don’t know at the moment. Another fact about me that you don’t know is that I am the co- secretary for an organization here on campus called The National Society of Leadership and Success. This society focuses on making any kind of person a better leader. I look forward to getting to know more of you through this blog!

The most pressing/ relevant issue that we must address at this time is climate change. A major part of why climate change is a concern is because of us humans! I think the more we push this issue and get people to think about how they can change the environment, then hopefully in the future we can make climate change evaporate. With climate change we might think that we are the ONLY ones that are going to be producing damage, but we need to remember what the environment is going to do to us after we hurt it. Just as humans can have an impact on the environment, the environment has impacts on humanity. So, if we, for example, produce fossil fuels this will lead to one out of many environmental impacts on humanity. Fossil fuels will raise temperatures of the Earth. With raised temperatures glaciers will melt, then sea levels will rise, areas will start to get flooded, etc. The list of negative, chain reactions only grows larger from climate change. All of our actions are only going to come back and haunt us, we need to make a change.