After reading about the Copenhagen accord, I created a diagram of the system in which the problems have started from and what they have created. It is evident that the main cause of the problems that are being face now are the climate changes that have occurred due to air pollution and increased emission from greenhouses. Once this evidently became a problem, the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit was created in 2009. The United States was in full support of this, which led to other countries also agreeing to support it as well. However, it took some bribing from the U.S. for the countries to agree because the Copenhagen Accord needed more countries to sign and support it. After bribing many other countries, 140 countries were in support of the Copenhagen Accord. This resulted in many changes in other countries, and fortunately for the United States, they could keep up with these changes due to the U.S. being a wealthy country. On the other hand, however, these other countries that cannot afford to adapt to these changes, are struggling in keeping up. The diagram explains how the air pollution was the beginning issue and how that resulted in climate changes that were affecting the area. In addition, that become the reason for why the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit was created. The diagram shows how there was an issue with the proposal, as there were not enough countries to support the cause. Which then results in the U.S bribing other countries for their support. Which did not end up helping these other countries, which is why there are still issues.

In my opinion, the United States was being greedy when they bribed these other countries and I do not think what they did was trustworthy or respectful. It was a selfish decision made by the country and I think that what happened as a result was fair. The U.S. using the cables as a way to get the other countries to agree was not the right way to do it. This is why I do believe that the cable’s being leaked was right for what the United States did to the other countries. The issue could have been solved in a different way. Pollution is a problem with many countries in some way.  The U.S used its economic and political power to take advantage of other countries, which is not a good way to deal with bigger problems that can be solved in other ways.

1.Question 1 (In 250 words): Are dense anthropocentric developments as resilient/adaptive to major change as their counterparts?
Simply put, for a variety of reasons with the most influential being economical, urban metropolises aren’t as adaptive to major “change” as ecosystems are. Especially in this modern age with a sprawling human population, the effects of this deficiency become all the more pronounced when disasters do happen. Many times when such events occur a state of emergency is declared (not trying to debate the merits of such a declaration) and external aide is quickly provided. City plans are designed on the premise that all if not a majority of the needs or services a city requires will be delivered to it rather than addressed “in house.” This type of perspective means that little if any thought goes into adequately designing space to maximize the various utilities a space may have to offer(whether vertical, on the ground, etc…). Vital services include waste management, energy generation, efficient heating/cooling biomimicry among others that can be tackled in many ways depending on the topography throughout the city. For example, a city’s skyline is usually dominated by the all too familiar block-like skyscrapers that during a heat wave can’t alleviate the increased heat efficiently without added strain on the power lines. The aggregate demand of such a scenario in addition to any unforeseen natural disasters could lead to serious issues. While most skyscrapers are constructed in a manner that minimizes costs, the city collectively would benefit from skyscrapers that mimic biology in design and function. (Such arrangements= increased weight savings, less materials needed, more sunlight exposure, better deflection of heat, etc…) Lastly, a cities’ reliance on external support means it’s prone to abrupt disruptions more so than an ecosystem because an ecosystem’s biodiversity allows for a greater carrying capacity and resiliency(=greater margin of error).

2.Question 2 (In 150 words): What can cities do to lessen the affects of major disasters/changes.
Cities can encourage developers to emphasize the services local ecosystems can provide to both the structure and it’s residents. An example could be vegetation on vertical surfaces to provide adequate water absorption, cooling, air filtration, aesthetic and physiological appeal as well. Depending on the topography, the city would best be served to have a biomass plant on high ground as a defense against flooding (if a biomass plant were to get flooded the “mass” could cause outbreaks in the surrounding area due to low hygiene treatment). Encourage local production to meet the cities’ food consumption demand (counties would have to work together to collectively create policies that benefit both) as well as having “farm space” vertically perhaps. Gradually reconfiguring street traffic for pedestrian, bicyclists and motorists use would greatly help in decongesting traffic and maximizing flow. Public parks could be multi storied to take advantage of “air space” over the conventional park on the ground surface. Also include more community-orientated places for leisure.

1. Using Module 10- Biodiversity as a resource, draw a system diagram connecting the Case Study: The Amazon Rainforest to biodiversity. The diagram should have at least six system components and the arrows should point in a logical direction and be explained. Be sure to include plenty of detail about the study, about biodiversity, and about the impacts between the two.

2. In another paragraph, explain what your ideas are behind your system diagram. Be sure to include details so others know what you are trying to portray.

Based on my system diagram, I portrayed the idea of biodiversity within the Amazon Rainforest. Biodiversity is the measure of variation and richness of living organisms at a particular scale, specifically a large scale in the Amazon Rainforest. Being the Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, it is home to about 50% of global biodiversity. However, it is also the most threatened ecosystem in the world because clear cutting impacts it. There is a major problem with clear cutting, as it leads to climate change. Climate change also damages hundreds to thousands of established species interactions since it is very difficult to only damage one, being that thousands of many species live in trees. In the Amazon, population growth and poverty encourage poor farmers to clear new areas of the rainforest. These ideas are exacerbated further from government policies. When these farmers clear parts of the environment, it leaves very less fertile soil left to help rebuild the forest. If deforestation keeps occurring, there will be no rainforests left within about 100 years.

mod 9 diagram

The network of communications is very extensive and does not seem to be entirely friendly. Leverage was used to influence different countries’ actions. The US was in direct contact with one of the leaders of the negotiations, Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister. The meeting was between Meles Zenawi and Maria Otero, the United States Undersecretary of State. This information was discovered by Addis Ababa. The US state department attempted hacking to discover information. They sent emails to diplomats in china that copied the format of companies hoping that they would be opened because code was attached that would allow hijacking of the computer. The first attempt failed but further attempts were planned. Ahmed Shaheed showed his hand, so to speak, by sending communications to Hillary Clinton saying he wanted support. Then two months later there was further action on behalf of Maldive to push for the accord sooner and make members in the accord follow the agreed actions. The system diagram shows how all of the individual communications are connected and centered around the United States. There was illegal spying by the United States but also against it. There was communications directly to leaders of other countries. Although the communications were related to climate change and environmental issues, there is no proof that it was the main concern of the United States to have the deal that was being struck be the deal that is best for the environment. The representatives from Maldive seemed to be more focused on the environment.

As a citizen of the United States, I am very embarrassed that the government would stoup to trying to hack individuals’ computers. Especially because these individuals are not citizens and are not subject to the authority which the United States holds over its citizens and there is no reason to suspect treasonous actions from the targeted individuals. Furthermore, the inappropriate actions risks relations between the United States and China, the country of the targeted individuals as well as any country that discovers the transgression and feels strongly that it was inappropriate and immoral. The discovered spying on United States diplomat does not condone the action. Information on the government actions should have been released by the United States government sooner than happened but I understand the need for secrecy. If I was in a position within the government to release information on the transgressions of others that would put national relations at risk I would not have released any information to compromise the United States government.

The United States uses far too high a percentage of fossil fuels throughout the country and by a very high percentage of the population. This means that the United States is allowing the release of a significant amount of harmful emission into the atmosphere. This should lead the United States to want to be a leader in environmental protection and increase regulations of emissions. This group and bringing other countries into the fight will only benefit the United States. The United States should be the one pursuing the issue not making Maldive representative make repeated attempts at communication and negotiations.

1. Create a systems diagram that includes the causes of biodiversity and the effects of it, as well. Be able to include what factors influence biodiversity, and why it matters. 

2. In 150-200 words, provide a short analysis or explanation of your systems diagram, noting on some of its key aspects that relate to topics in Module 10.

   In my systems diagram, I chose to systematically lay out the causes and effects of biodiversity utilizing arrows to lead from one idea to another. I chose to focus on the main causes of biodiversity, and included that physically diverse habitats, moderate disturbances, large areas, and the longevity of a system all are factors that cause biodiversity. These causes include both human and non-human factors. Some human factors that affect biodiversity are negative impacts, however the relationship between humans and biodiversity is complicated. The effects of biodiversity can be divided into two different categories: anthropocentric and ecosystem reasons. While anthropocentric reasons to value diversity include the potential of the different lifeforms to provide many benefits, ecocentric reasons to value diversity are based in the idea of it having intrinsic value that does not particularly pertain directly to human uses. For example, some ecocentric reasons relate to the water, air, and atmosphere, which in turn ultimately end up affecting humans.

3. In 100-200 words, discuss what biodiversity you observe in your hometown, relating the causes and effects mentioned in your systems diagram.

   In my hometown, Abington, PA, one of the largest negative impacts on biodiversity include deforestation and the loss of habitat due to the building of new commercial and residential area. The amount of wild animals have decreased throughout the years due to this loss of habitat, and therefore the biodiversity has unfortunately decreased as well. As human population rapidly increases, the need to expand will also increase, which will most likely take away even more habitats of the wildlife. In effect, some natural cycles will be lost or changed due to this decrease of wildlife, and may upset the balance of the ecosystem.

Assignment Instructions:

1)Use the following website to pick one of the biodiversity hotspots. After you pick a hotspot, in 100-200 words describe why it’s considered a biodiversity hotspot. Include in your explanation the threats to the hotspot.  Website: http://www.cepf.net/resources/hotspots/Pages/default.aspx

2) Using the same website, pick a different location with a biodiversity hotspot that contains IUCN protected area categories. In 100- 200 words describe which category or categories of the protected areas (using the categories discussed in this module) the hotspot you picked falls into and why it falls under that protected area.

3) Create a systems diagram by picking one of the threats to biodiversity found from one of the biodiversity hotspots you researched. In the diagram show the components that contribute to that threat, and how it is linked to the biodiversity the threat causes. Create at least 5 components. Write a brief explanation of your diagram.

1) I chose to look at a biodiversity hotspot located in the Horn of Africa in Northeast Africa. The Horn of Africa is a biodiversity hotspot for many reasons. One reason is because it has lost 95% of it’s original habitat. The hotspot covers a large area of land, but that land only contains a small amount of it’s native plant life. There are 2,750 species of endemic plants, which exceeds the 1,500 limit an area can have before becoming a hotspot. Another reason it is considered a biodiversity hotspot is because of the habitat loss due to the human population causing problems such as charcoal harvesting, production of medicine, and a lack of stable governmental control. The biggest problem of all is overgrazing, as almost all of the land is used for grazing.

2) The next biodiversity hotspot I chose is the Atlantic Forest that lies along the Atlantic Coast of Brazil and runs into other countries such as Argentina. Areas are becoming protected to prevent species extinction and further damage from urbanization. Specifically 224 areas are under protection under category 1,2, and 3. The Atlantic Forest has first become a category 1 protected area as a strict nature reserve to prevent any future extractive use of the land like those that occurred in the past. One example of a previous extractive use was early settlers who removed large amounts of timber from the forest. Next, it falls under a category 2 protected area for the protection of the species living in the 108 national and state parks. It was not stated on the website why some of the areas are categorized as category 3, which is the protection of natural monuments.

3) To create this diagram I picked the overgrazing threat in the Horn of Africa. My diagram shows why the overgrazing in certain spots occurs, what animals do the overgrazing, and how it leads to making the Horn of Africa a biodiversity hotspot.

Resources:

CEPF. “Horn of Africa.” PROTECTING NATURE’S HOTSPOTS FOR PEOPLE AND PROSPERITY. N.p., 2016. Web. <http://www.cepf.net/resources/hotspots/africa/Pages/Horn-of-Africa.aspx>

CEPF. “Atlantic Forest.” PROTECTING NATURE’S HOTSPOTS FOR PEOPLE AND PROSPERITY. N.p., 2016. Web. <http://www.cepf.net/resources/hotspots/South-America/Pages/Atlantic-Forest.aspx>

In this module we learned about biodiversity and how it coincides with our ecosystem. In previous modules we discussed the idea of coupled human-environment systems. For this assignment, draw on concepts introduced in this module as well as concepts from previous modules.

1. Create a diagram that outlines the coupled human-environment system of biodiversity and the factors that influence it. Be sure to make a clear outline using arrows that show how factors lead to more or less biodiversity.
2. Using your diagram, decide which factor that influences biodiversity is most in your control? What steps can you take to protect the environment given how that factor influence biodiversity? (150-200 words)
3. Draw on your own experiences. Have you ever been to “protected area”? If not, what is the closest “protected area” to where you live? How does this area differ from your own town or region? (150-200 words)

1)

2) The thing that is most in our control when it comes to factors that influence biodiversity is pollution to our environment. Being that I have no influence on agriculture and that I have no control over the size of human population, the factor that I can help with most is by reducing the pollution I emit to the Earth. Bioaccumulation occurs when pollutants become concentrated in animal tissue as they move up the food chain. Increasing these chemicals in our ecosystem allows for an increasing concentration found in animals on the smaller end of the food chain. When these persistent organic pollutants are incorporated in smaller organisms like plankton and bacteria, they move through our entire food chain and affect the entire ecosystem. It is so important to maintain a diverse system and by reducing pollution, we will be able to continue to do this. As humans, it is our responsibility to sustain biodiversity for future generations to come.

3) When I visited Ireland over spring break, I was able to explore many beautiful areas of the countryside. One of my favorite places was Killarney National Park, located in County Kerry. The park is home to the largest mountain range in Ireland, the Ring of Kerry. National parks are a category 2 IUCN protected area. The park is definitely a source of ecotourism for the area which is most likely why a small city was built next to the park. While the area is a big spot for tourists, the reason it has been able to remain such a beautiful park is because of the regulations of local government. In New Jersey, I have never been to a park that was as largely kept up as Killarney National Park. Ireland is a country that has a lot less industrialization than America. I believe this is the reason Ireland’s parks and countryside have maintained biodiversity.

When creating my diagram, I decided the most obvious and necessary block of text to include is Climate Change. Since climate change is the core of this issue, I also added three text boxes (in red) of three major contributors towards global warming. These three are methane emissions from agriculture, greenhouse gases that are produced by burning fossil fuels, and carbon emissions stemming from vehicle use. From Climate Change I connected the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, whose central issue was quite clearly climate change. During this meeting, countries from across the world came together to discuss this issue. From there I connected the summit to three more blocks, one of them being the Copenhagen Accord. The US was among the countries that wanted to institute an accord that outlines practices that slow or reverse the pollution tainting our planet. While the US plan would hurt the economies all countries involved to varying degrees, developing countries would feel the brunt of the plan. This made it undesirable for these less-well-off countries who need an industrial economy to become competitive with other nations. Along with this I attached “US seeks intelligence” since the US was trying to get more information to press their accord and I also attached the fact that the Beijing talks hadn’t lead to a deal either. Those combine at my second to last box, the fact that the US hadn’t acquired enough popular support from other countries to enact their accord. As a result of this, the US used its vast intelligence network to try and bully other countries into the deal.

I personally believe that the leaking of this information is very important since it adds a level of accountability to our representatives who act on our behalf. The US government is clearly the most powerful in the world at the moment, having access to bleeding edge technologies and the best and brightest at their disposal. To let this power go constantly unchecked can lead to abuse like what we have seen. The use of spying and threats to bully smaller countries into agreeing with us is very unlike the values the American government is supposed to uphold. Since we live in an international society today, we can’t accept blackmail and extortion as viable negotiation tactics. As strongly as I feel that we need to address climate change, we need to do it in a manner that respects other countries’ privacy and their view points. Convincing a whole country to adopt a policy that might not directly benefit them is tough, but it should be done legally and with proper discourse, not with shadow games and threats.

CIA spying intimidation and money influencing leads to The Copenhagen Summit Accord. From there The Copenhagen Summit would lead to Mitigation and Adaption. The Summit would hopefully then lead to a large permanent noticeable and sustainable change in the reduction of Greenhouse Gasses. I think the illustrations in the constructed diagram and accurately portray the series and sequence of events regarding the Wiki Climate Change Cable.

I certainly feel that this information should be and should have been public information and not withheld for WikiLeaks to divulge. Not to discredit the great work that Wiki Leaks does, they certainly do a lot of great work for the public regarding exposing corruption. I think the fact that there were secrets being kept regarding the issue of Climate Change is ridiculous. America needs much more transparency. The issue of Climate Change can be resolved collectively and individually. The issue of nations receiving funding to mitigate the issue on some levels is viable to some degree I would think given the situation. However nations such as Saudi Arabia having there hands out for funding when they are a gigantic proportionally speaking part of the problem could be categorized as “Looney Tunes”.

The core idea behind my diagram is outlining what lead to a lot of the cable leaks and of the article (in a general sense). As one can see from the diagram, the United States was a major player in these leaks on several occasions and used various tactics (intimidation, bribery, etc.) in order to achieve their end-mean. In this sense, one could also use this diagram fairly reasonably to see the United State’s motives in the outplay of the leaks. Each path listed demonstrates a new leak and how it came to be; for example: by following the arrows, one can see that the failed talks in Beijing helped to lead to a new leak. With the talks having failed, one sees that the Copenhagen Accord was their ace in keeping the attention off themselves (as they were a major contributor towards pollution). This Accord was met with mixed results (as logically expected), and so one sees the US “encouraging” the smaller countries to go along with the Accord through monetary means. While not listed explicitly, there were leaks released here as well with the US “threatening” the countries to “sign, or the talks stop”. At the same time, one sees that the US was trying to gain support for the Accord from other bigger countries as it would more likely pass the more support it received. The smaller, poorer countries were willing to sign and support, but remained skeptical about their payment. This is just one of several paths presented however.

I have mixed feelings on the State Department cables and they way the whole situation was handled. I do believe that everyone had the right to know about the dealings, but the cables should not have been made public (if one were to view it from the United States’s perspective). I feel that by making the cables public, it greatly damaged the reputation of the United States and maybe even those involved (to a lesser extent), although we as the citizens have a right to know what our country is doing abroad. This undoubtedly would make future negotiations with the United States much more difficult in the future and lessen the trust others have for them. The way it was handled is actually disgraceful. They should have used their position as a powerful country to help come up with a plan of collective action instead of not taking responsibility for their own part. The United States should not continue to conduct climate change diplomacy in the way it has been. I am not saying that the United States shouldn’t speak out, but rather speak out as a motivator and leader to get things accomplished, instead of the “bully” who gets everyone to go along. While the motivation for change would lead to the same end result, I can’t help but feel that if the other countries had the motivation to change for them and the betterment of the world (instead of being bribed), the results would be stronger and quicker with less strife.

GEOG 030 Module 9 Climate Change

Centuries of fossil fuel usage have lead us to a situation in which the Earth approaches it’s planetary boundary with respect to level of greenhouse gases (GHG) it can tolerate. Should we cross this boundary, the Earth will move into another state, one decidedly different than the state from which our civilization emerged. The industrial revolution, the single most important aspect of the increase in GHG’s has generated massive amounts of CO2, which in turn causes a “greenhouse effect” and disruptive changes in our environment. These changes are taking place all over the world, and represent a massive collective action problem. Therefore, the most logical approach to climate change problem would be reach a global agreement on GHG reduction. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was created in 1992 to address these issues. This framework recognized that different countries have different responsibilities, each having contributed at different rates to GHG emissions. That is, it respected the concept of distributive justice, acknowledging the rights and responsibilities of all peoples. Since the creation of the UNFCCC, annual meetings called the Conference of Parties (COPs) have been held to discuss this issue. The first agreement to come out of these COP’s was the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. This agreement recognized that richer, more developed countries contributed more, per capita, to climate change than did less developed countries. The stated goal of the Kyoto Protocol was that all developed countries cut their carbon emissions by 5.2% (vs 1990 levels) by 2012. Thus, there were agreed-upon consensus goals. The United States, however, withdrew from the negotiations and did not sign the Protocol. At Copenhagen in 2009 (COP15), the United States was a main actor in creating a different type of agreement. Using “intelligence” and promises of “assistance” and working with the BASIC nations (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) but side-stepping most other UN nations, pushed for the Copenhagen Accord. This had been foreshadowed by the leaking of “The Danish Text” which proposed that average global temperature change be limited to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels. There were, however, no specific nation targets for reduced emissions. The agreement was non-binding and called for voluntary targets. Many developed countries were left out of the discussions and called it undemocratic, and a betrayal of procedural justice ideals. Leaked documents provided evidence that the U. S. gathered information on other negotiators which was used to provide leverage to obtain their agreement to the Accord. Eventually, 139 countries agreed to it. The result of this process was a move away from specific, nation-level emissions goals to voluntary, non-specific targets and a weakening of the overall effort to control climate change.

I am not naïve about the “rough-and-tumble” arena of global climate negotiations. Many actors in this process value “ends’ ethics over “means” ethics, using any tool at their disposal to attain their desired result. The United States has to operate in this environment. Having said that, I feel that the U. S. violated one of its’ basic tenets when it chose to obtain personal information about other negotiators and use that information as leverage to obtain their agreement to the U. S. position. Of course, negotiating from strength requires that one know as much about the other side’s position and attitudes as possible, in order to be prepared to counter their arguments. In this situation, however, the U. S. appears to have crossed an invisible line of propriety in seeking personal information about its adversaries. In a general sense, I think that the leak of the cable information is good. Transparency is, in most situations, preferable to opacity. It may also cause our government to think twice before using these techniques in the future. Am I being naïve here? Perhaps, but I believe we, as citizens, must know as much as possible about how our government works in representing us. Here, we learned the lengths to which our government went to establish an agreement which many of us believe was actually a step in the wrong direction. We certainly did not engage in an exercise of procedural justice, since many stake-holders were not included in the process and the type of agreement, voluntary and non-specific, ignores the concept of procedural justice. If we, as a nation, and a global community, are serious about combatting climate change, we will have to do much better than this.

Michael Evangelista (mae26)

The top box explains the U.N. conference where 140 countries came together to come up with a plan to mitigate climate change with a global plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  During this conference, the United States attempted to interfere the accords being put forward.  In an effort to sway their opposition they applied a few tactics.  One way they tried was finding dirt against their opposition.  A second way was using financial aid promises and other monetary tactics.  For instance, when dealing with the Maldives, there is suspicion that the United States pressured them with large financial aids for their governmental projects.  These tactics were used during the voting in of the Copenhagen Accord. Unfortunately, this accord was as successful as predicted.  The accord didn’t hold any of the party’s involved accountable for the carbon dioxide emissions. Because of this, greenhouse gases are not checked, thus being able to rise.  Stemming from that is an increase of the warming of the atmosphere.  Moreover, the WikiLeaks leaked the cables after the Copenhagen Accord, which shed light on the United States interference in the issue.

After reading the article I was left with a sour taste in my mouth.  This was the first time hearing about this particular event, and frankly I was disappointed with the United States.  Considering what we learned in this module that this decade is a critical time of action if we want to repair the damages that we caused already to the climate, the United States should be on the opposite side, promoting the climate accord.  That being said, I think it is very important that WikiLeaks like this get out to the public.  My only complaint is that the citizens of this nation aren’t in uproar for the shady and back hand dealings that this country does just to risk everyone’s wellbeing; after all, climate change does affect everyone.  To add on top of that using our money to fund these promises and deals with other nations.  Another reason that our nation has a spending issue.  I do not like the way our nation is conducting its self in this manner.  If anything, the United States should be on the forefront of climate change mitigation using our power as a world leader to force change across the globe.  I think it is of the upmost importance as a nation to gain an understanding of the global problem we face of climate change so we can be informed voters when it comes to policies and when our nation fails to address this problem.  Learning about these WikiLeaks is the first step to fixing the climate. MOD9

After reading and sifting through one of the most difficult and poorly written articles I have ever seen, I have complied the above diagram. I chose to focus on the direct correlation between the initial instigator of the Copenhagen accord and its current end result. Climate change and the need to reduce current greenhouse gas emissions (as well as move forward (away) from the Kyoto accord was the primary motivating factor in establishing the Copenhagen accord. As the United States stood to benefit from the accord in a large way, many “sneaky and underhanded” attempts were made to gain cooperation from several countries. Through extortion, bribery, spying and “behind closed doors” types of deals, the United States secured support of the accord from several United Nations countries including Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Maldives. In total, we now have 140 united nations countries supporting the Copenhagen accord. Although not the most ideal accord in regards to an aggressive approach to reducing current green house gas emissions, the net result will likely help reduce current levels (albeit at easy, “comfortable” levels) and help to curtail the larger issue of climate change.

This is a very slippery slope on the road to global climate change, While it may seem easy to justify the ends on the benefit of the means, the end result on this particular accord does little to actually benefit the end result. The Copenhagen accord was written and worded to allow compliance with self set goals that individual nations place on themselves. There is no enforced compliance and no authority to report to. I readily admit that I take a largely ecocentric view on this and most other topics. That being said, while I disapprove of the corrupt and underhanded politics exercised by the United States in its attempts to bolster support for the Copenhagen accord, I like seeing any forward progress in the worlds approach to curtailing green house gas emissions. According to Johan Rockstrom in his Ted talk video “Let the Environment Guide our Development”, he offers strong scientific support for needing an immediate, aggressive reform to our current green house gas emission levels. There would need to be worldwide compliance and drastic reduction over the course of the next 40 years before reaching a potential planetary boundary for climate change. The Copenhagen accord comes no where close to these needs, but, it is a step in the right direction. I also believe that there is no inherent wrong in making the cables publicly available. I believe that the world needs to fully understand the potentially catastrophic situation that we are in, and how world governments are playing sneaky politics and taking a less than serious approach in dealing with this issue. We need to demand for more incentives and policies in promoting and establishing an aggressive “green” power plan using renewable energy sources that have zero or close to zero green house gas emissions. I understand tat this may require taking a few steps backwards, but necessity is the mother of invention. We will move forward with new innovations and methods in using clean energy if we are forced to remove carbon based fuel sources from the equation.

My hometown is Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania. Being in the north eastern United States, my hometown is not susceptible to earthquakes, volcanoes, and cyclones that were described in page 3 of the world map of natural disasters. On page 4 of the map, the town is susceptible to different weather conditions in hailstorms, winter storms, and tornadoes. As recently as last summer, my hometown had a tornado warning where one touched down a few miles outside of the town. And finally on page 5, my hometown gets warmer during El Nino and cooler during La NIna.

On April 1st, 3:25 AM, a tornado occurred in the state of Alabama. My hometown has been lucky in that no tornadoes have touched down while I have been alive. However, as described above there have been multiple times where there have been tornado warnings and advisories that have occurred throughout the years. There have been times where tornadoes have touched down outside of my hometown in flatter regions higher on the mountain. The tornado that was described in the emergency and disaster website was medium with no incidents of injury or damages reported. It was described as medium severity. I believe that my hometown would experience light severities whenever confronted with a tornado. This is because I am located in the Appalachian mountain chain and a hilly region. Therefore I believe that if a tornado touched down, there would not be severe damages even though tornadoes can occur in my area. I also believe that everyone will be well educated on how to protect themselves in the case of a tornado as there are multiple instances throughout schooling where the students are taught how to protect themselves in these cases.

An assessment on my hometown shows that it is vulnerable to hailstorms and other winter weather conditions from the World Map of natural hazards that was used earlier. I personally know from experience that there have been many times when my hometown was subject to sub zero temperatures, ice storms, and snowstorms. My hometown, as discussed in the above paragraphs, is also subject to tornados that I have witnessed personally.

The best way to prevent disaster in the cases described in the above paragraph is education. As a child, I remember being taught by my teachers on how to protect myself during these events. The best way to be safe during ice and snowstorms would be for the parents to keep their children inside during severe cases. The local town authorities would also need to provide labor and resources to keep the roads clean and clear of snow and ice. Education through Driver’s ED would

1. My hometown of Perkasie, PA is located about an hour outside of Philadelphia. From looking and studying the map “Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards” it is a little difficult to decipher any exact natural disasters my hometown would face. In that regard however it appears that the area in which my hometown is located is subjected to moderate to low amounts of earthquakes, tornadoes, and wildfires but is more likely to experience larger or more intense amounts of tropical storms, hailstorms, and also extratropical storms (winter storms). One event that occurred in my area was Hurricane Sandy, my area was lucky enough to not have extreme damages from the storm but my family especially lost power for about a week while others also did not regain power for a long while. I have also experienced some very intense snow storms where it made difficult to travel and do daily tasks. Although neither of these cases would I consider a natural disaster.
2.  The disaster that I chose off of the Emergency and Disaster Information Service is the environment pollution that is occurring in southeastern region of the US. The Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station has been leaking radioactive material in to surrounding protected water. My hometown could experience the same type of disaster because of the location of the “Limerick Nuclear Power Plant” it is possible that if radioactive material were to leak from the machines that my area and waters would be affected due to the fact I am located about 30 mins from there. Due to my towns location we are moderately vulnerable to the potential of leaking radioactive material. My hometown is not large with a population of approximately 8,500 people a disaster of this size would be catastrophic to my town and would potentially danger us for years to come. The disaster currently occurring is located near Miami, Fl and so the city has a much larger population with a more concentrated amount of people in a smaller space so the disaster has potential to be very detrimental to this city as well due to the fact of the amount of people it can reach. In order to decrease vulnerability I feel as though there would have to be a relocation of the power plant to avoid the risk of contact with humans as much as possible. My town is especially vulnerable because we are a farming community in which we rely greatly on the local water ways, a contamination to said water way would effect the farming and hurt the town financially along with biologically.
3.  As I described earlier my hometown of Perkasie, Pa we have not experienced a large amount of natural disasters which I am thankful for. But I also mentioned earlier that we did encounter a Hurricane Sandy which took a toll on my hometown. Due to the heavy rains and winds we lost many trees, branches, and many roads were washed out and unable to use. The loss of branches and trees caused many power outages and due to the length and magnitude of the hurricane it took about a week for everyone on the grid to regain power after the storm. The storm caused many power outages “more than 1.3 million Pennsylvania electricity customers. The majority of those outages were focused in Philadelphia, its surrounding suburbs and the Lehigh Valley.” (1). It also cause some deaths  according to pennlive.com (2) at least four deaths were caused by Hurricane Sandy in Pa.
4. In order to decrease vulnerability when it comes to Hurricanes I believe the most beneficial thing to do for my town would be to educated them on the proper precautions of what to do when an event like this one can occur. By this I mean where they should go if a storm is coming and they do not have proper shelter and any actions they can take to protect there homes from damage. The town representatives would be the best people to educate the town or maybe to bring in an educated personal to instruct curious town members before hurricane season approaches. Personally I plan to educate myself on precautions I can take to not run into the same problems and issues I experienced in prior years.

1. Resources:

(1)https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/tag/sandy/

(2)http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/10/hurricane_sandy_the_worst_is_o.html

Using the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards I identified some of the natural hazards my town faces based on the zone it is located in.  I noticed that a lot of the zones that were higher than others my town fell onto was mainly because I live in a state that is on the coast of the United States.  I noticed that the lowest zones my town fell under was zone 0 for earthquakes, zone 1 for extratropical storms and zone 1 for wildfires.  The higher zones that South Brunswick fell under include zone 3 for tropical cyclones, which makes a lot of sense considering New Jersey is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.  Other zones that are a bit higher for South Brunswick include zone 2 for hailstorms and zone 3 for tornados.  Overall, the Nathan map was not best suited for this type of task considering that the quality of the map was blurry and it was difficult to tell where certain zones ended and started.  However I believe it is a great way to tell which places fall in which zones.  Especially considering that most natural hazards occur on a global scale.

The natural hazard I chose to discuss is an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.5 in Tocopilla, Chile.  The east coast in the United States is not known for having a large number of earthquakes especially significantly powerful ones.  So in retrospect, my hometown located in central New Jersey, in a zone 0, most likely could not experience the same type of disaster therefore, the risk is significantly lower than Chile’s risk which is in a zone 3 or 4 for earthquakes. The scale of this particular disaster would be very large for my hometown however in this particular place it is not very large compared to the location it took place in.  The severity of the earthquake would actually be very similar to the severity in Chile considering the description of the earthquake explained that the earthquake was not even felt by any of the population and they were only ably to track the earthquake.  Since tall buildings are more affected by smaller earthquakes the section of South Brunswick that would be affected the most would be the apartment buildings and hotels, they would be the most affected by this earthquake.

There are not many serious natural hazards in my town often but I would say the most likely to occur would be either a hurricane or some type of minor flooding.  The event that I do clearly remember being a very large natural hazard is Hurricane Sandy.  Although we do get a decent amount of rain none of them would account for a natural hazard, but Sandy was something else.  According to the Tropical Cyclone Report, Hurricane Sandy by Eric S. Blake and others, Hurricane Sandy had a secondary peak in New Jersey which although was in Atlantic City, gives you an idea about the type of damage it did to places closer to central New Jersey.  Although it did not cause any extreme and major damage to my town the towns power was out for over a week and there was flooding on lots of major roads.

In order to reduce vulnerability in the town of South Brunswick it would make sense to have more professionals that understand how to sustain development and be able to withstand natural hazards.  According to Alberto Uribe in order to reduce vulnerability there has to be a concerned public which includes “institutionally organized group that is adequately staffed and trained to understand natural hazards.  I know that South Brunswick does not have adequate number of people studying natural hazards and definitely not enough people that know what to do when they hit South Brunswick.  It would be very helpful to have a larger group of properly trained individuals leading South Brunswick when it is faced with natural hazards.

Blake, Eric S. “Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Sandy.” N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.

Uribe, Alberto. “Reducing Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Mitch A Strategy Paper on Environmental Management.” Inter-American Development Bank, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.

After looking at the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards, I was able to see the hazards that directly affect the Doylestown area in which I live in. Based on earthquakes, I was able to identify my area to be in zone 0. I fortunately happen to not be in any tropical cyclones. Climate impacts that are close to my area are increases in heavy rainfall. This impact of climate change is expected to increase in the future. Some other hazards in/near my area are hailstorms, extratropical storms (winter storms) and tornadoes. For hailstorms, my town is in zone 1 with a low frequency and intensity. Doylestown is in zone 0 meaning that there are 80 km/h wind speeds or less. These maps were hard to identify exact hazards in my area because they were hard to read and when zooming in, they became blurry.

From The Hungarian National Association of Radio Distress Signaling and Infocommunications’ (RSOE) Emergency and Disaster Information Service (EDIS), I found a volcano eruption that occurred in Indonesia on March 2^nd, 2016. School activities in Indonesia were disrupted due to Mount Sinabung’s increasing volcanic activity over the week. Based on this volcano eruption, my hometown cannot experience the same type of disaster. After looking at the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards, it shows no signs of volcanic activity in Doylestown, or even the state of Pennsylvania. The town in which this volcano took place is very small compared to Doylestown. These people that live in Indonesia are familiar with volcanoes because of Mount Sinabung being close to their town. No matter the size, if this volcano were to occur in Doylestown, it would destroy the area as well as the people. Citizens in Doylestown are not familiar with volcanoes because we have never experienced one. A volcano eruption in Doylestown would kill many people and destroy the infrastructure immensely. Different people in Doylestown have different levels of vulnerability because of income and elevation. Some families do not have enough money for a secure home and some houses are on elevated surfaces. For example, a specific neighborhood in Doylestown named the Muse is considered an impoverished neighborhood. To reduce their vulnerability, our town could donate money in order for these families to have secure homes so that in case a volcano did erupt, their houses would not be immediately destroyed.

In Doylestown, PA, there is a low risk of earthquakes, with a total of 11 earthquakes since 1931. Within 50km of Doylestown, PA, there is a 2.38% chance of a major earthquake hitting that is predicted within the next 50 years. The earthquakes are also predicted to have magnitudes between 5.0 and 9.2. In 2016, the largest earthquake within 30 miles of Doylestown had a magnitude of 3.8. On the other hand, there are no volcanoes found in or near Doylestown, PA, however, there have been many warnings televised on TV. Other weather extreme events have occurred in Doylestown, PA such as many thunderstorms, blizzards, hail storms, heavy snows, strong winds, and floods.

http://www.usa.com/doylestown-pa-natural-disasters-extremes.htm

http://www.homefacts.com/earthquakes/Pennsylvania/Bucks-County/Doylestown.html

Pre-event preparedness, emergency response, and post-event recovery and reconstruction are steps that could be taken in order to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards in Doylestown, PA. Almost always, warnings about natural disasters that are predicted to happen are televised over the news up to two weeks before it is supposed to occur. For example, Hurricane Sandy, which affected Doylestown, was televised weeks in advance to prepare for it. After this hurricane, emergency response was developed and many people were sending care packages to different parts in Doylestown that were harshly affected. As soon as Sandy was over, different modes of transportation were up and running quickly so people could safely get place to place. The best people to perform these actions would be government and news providers in order to get the information sent out to everyone. For me, I can reduce vulnerability by making care packages of food to send out to families that lost a lot and also help build facilities for people to stay in.

I live in Seremban 2, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The region was developed by IJMLand during the early 2000’s as an expansion to the state’s capital, Seremban. I’ve lived there since 2006 and seen first hand the development of the new city; developed as a suburb accommodating automobile usage. In recent years, new roads were built that would become one of the main highways connecting Seremban to KL International Airport. It’s ~10km square in size, housing 50,000 people, and had numbers of shopping malls and business districts built within it. Many administration building has also transferred there like the District Administrative Complex, the Seremban Court Complex, the Seremban Police headquarters and the Fire & Rescue headquarters. It’s home to me, but I’m not a big fan of the rapid development it’s going through now. Although obviously it’s a good thing, I worry that I couldn’t enjoy the serenity of the place that I’m used to few years ago.

One city from the module that reminds me of mine was Bogota, specifically due to the city’s Bogota Ciclovia. I think that such activities can be held successfully in Seremban 2. One thing that I’m proud of my town is that it’s home to a large population of high & middle income families, living with close proximity to each other, and almost all of the kids goes to the same school. We are a pretty close community and I can definitely see many of us gather around the local recreation park on the weekend to cycle, jog or rollerskating together. Given the fact that Seremban 2 is built with many wide roads in a relatively small area, the government/developer (who’s highly involved in local activities) could organize such an event with no problem and would receive a positive reaction across the population.

Rochestor, NY also resembles many of the aspects of transportation design that can be seen in Seremban 2. One of the most obvious, as stated above is the abundant of wide, 3-lanes road that connects all of the different neighborhoods to the commercial districts, malls, federal highways and other towns. Projects are built sparsely, resulting in comfortable and spacious areas for people to interact freely. Almost every households own at least one car to get around with plenty of parking spaces. There’s also very limiting public transportation service there. I could only recall one bus system that goes through the area, and it is not a very popular mean of transportation for us. Being a newly developed city, Seremban 2 seems very laid back and feels safe. It is very much like living here in State College.

My hometown is Blue Bell, PA which is located in southeast Pennsylvania, a little over 30 minutes outside of Philly. It is a small automobile suburb home to around only 6,000 people. It is rare to see people walking around and most people choose to drive. There is a bus system but it only goes through one part of town and I do not know anyone who uses it. It’s part of the Philly metropolitan area which has about 6,000,000 people. I have been connected to this town since I moved there when I was four years old.  I think that it’s a great place to grow up and live in and it was even voted as of the best places to live in the United States by Money magazine.

The first city that I want to discuss is Copenhagen in Denmark. Copenhagen is nothing like my hometown of Blue Bell but I would like to see Blue Bell become more like Copenhagen in terms of transportation. Even though Blue Bell is not an urban town, I think that it could benefit from more public transportation. Sure, most people have vehicles but not everyone does. I like the idea of using bikes to get around instead of cars. Blue Bell doesn’t have any bike lanes on its roads and I have seen people resort to riding bikes on the road shoulders instead. If bike lanes were created on the main roads, I think it would help promote different modes of transportation. This different mode of transportation would help the town become more sustainable in the sense that it would help the environment.

The second city that I want to discuss is Curitiba in Brazil. Again, this city is nothing like my hometown but I think that my town could learn from it’s method of transportation. Blue Bell was designed with farmland in mind because it used to be mostly farmland. Everything is pretty spread out which is why people drive instead of walk. Because everything is spread out, I think Blue Bell could benefit from a more improved bus system. As far as I know, only one bus runs through town with a few stops in it. It definitely doesn’t cover the majority of neighborhoods which makes it useless for many people. I don’t think the roads should be redesigned with a new bus system in mind like Curitiba but I think that a better system could be effective. Like Copenhagen and cycling, this would help my town too in terms of the environment by cutting down on greenhouse gasses.

In my family we were raised to hunt and harvest wild game to eat. In society now this is a lost art, one that is not as widely practiced as it once was, because of this not many people are accustomed to eating wild game meat. One of my family’s favorites is wild venson. We serve it at the holiday gathering in the fall. There is always a new girlfriend or fussy Aunt who is incredulous at the idea of eating a wild animal but for us it is nothing shocking or new. For some people the idea of eating anything that isn’t bought from the local grocery store is beyond understanding. For that most people have a hard time understanding hunting for anything other than sport, but there is a rather larger number of people who still actively hunt to bring home meat. To some people our customs may seem different from the normal but in the rural north east united states this is a common family tradition. Some people in society are curious and are willing to step out of their comfort zone and give it a try but there are some who look at us a certain way for what we do but that’s okay.

My family has enforced us to be ethical and law abiding hunters. We follow all the strict laws and regulations that come with the responsibility of the sport. Hunting allows many destructive species, such as white tail deer from over populations that leads to crop loss and destruction on farmland. Some people have argued that wild game is contaminated or not healthy but if they truly understood where the meat that comes from in the grocery store they would reconsider. The meat that is mass produced and stock full of hormones to make it mature faster for slaughter are in no way more healthy then the wild venson that grazes on berries, nuts and forest greens. It seems just because it is different and mainstream society doesn’t understand people who hunt are considered less advanced then those who shop at the grocery store. One forgets all the skill and natural beauty that goes into the hunt as well as the personal relationship with the meat. There is no web of people or industry that the meat passes through it is clean of all outside persons.

My daily diet is strongly influenced by social norms. I feel more athletic and somewhat healthier with a muscular figure, despite poor endurance and a higher body fat percentage when compared to a slim figure. In order to maintain body mass, I have to eat 120-180 grams of protein broken up throughout the day and refrain from eating an excessive amount of carbohydrates. This requirement leads me to eat a high amount of meat and dairy, while preventing me from eating steady amounts of simple starches. My eating patterns have definitely changed since high school and I have gained around fifty pounds. If sporting a thin body type was the cool thing to do, I would probably go back to eating three or four starch based meals per day and make far fewer trips to the dining commons. The amount of meat and dairy I consume is in no way auspicious to my long-term health.

A major societal issue, which may be unique to the well developed nations, is the connection between overall health and body image. Rather than eat a well balanced diet with emphasis on fruits and vegetables, people like myself eat too much of or do not eat certain foods in an effort to keep or achieve a desired body type. Whether it be not eating enough to compensate for a slow metabolism and maintain a slim figure, or eating too much in hopes of a fuller figure, this is a very real problem. Studies have linked too much meat consumption to cancer. Additionally, chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes are extremely prevalent in the US. It must become socially accepted that an extremely slim waist or muscular build are not necessarily indicators of good health. Vital signs, blood pressure and blood sugar should always be taken into consideration.