this is a research paper I have attached what the professor is looking for, you will have to read the 3 modules and we have 4 different scenarios to pick from
Please read very carefully and reach out to me when you understand the requirementI am going to be working with you for the whole semester on that class
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces the study of sustainability and human-environment interactions from a geographic perspective. We examine both the influence of humanity on the environment and the influence of the environment on humanity, with attention to the sustainability of current human activities. We take a complex systems perspective on major environmental and societal challenges and examine linked human-environmental issues in a variety of contexts. We emphasize the major individual and societal decisions which impact the environment and the ethical views implicit in the decisions. We explore key concepts such ascartography, systems analysis,andindividual and collective action, as well as various topical issues related toclimate change, agriculture, biodiversity,anddevelopment. Course discussions and activities highlight both major themes in human-environment geography and the experience of what it is like to perform human-environment geography.
Refer to the complete syllabus in the online textbook for course objectives and policies.
Written Assignment #1 Due on September 11 2020 This Written Assignment entails two parts. First, you must write a clear, well-organized paper which answers the questions in Part 1 of this assignment and demonstrates that you have read the material in the modules. Second, you must discuss course concepts with your classmates by responding to posts. First and foremost, I am grading your comprehension of the course material. If you do not demonstrate that you have read and understood the content from the modules, you will not receive a good grade. To get a good grade, you must show me that you have read and understood the content in the modules we have looked at so far. I will look at both your paper and your responses to classmates to determine how well you understood the material. Second, I am grading for critical thinking and analysis. How well do you form and support your arguments with evidence from the course material or external sources? How much do you contribute to the discussion with your classmates? Third, I am grading for the mechanics - proper grammar, well-written paragraphs, answering all the questions, correct formatting of sources (if you use external sources, please use the Chicago Style (link is external)to cite), and sufficient number of responses to classmates. Learning Activity Directions For this learning activity, you are going to analyze a human-environment scenario from the list below, discuss components of the human-environment system at work in the scenario, and then make an argument for or against a specific action based on an ethical position you have chosen. Part I: Write a paper Below is a list of human-environment scenarios. Choose one of the scenarios and assume it is taking place in your hometown. Write a paper that is 500-750 words responding to one of the following questions. State your chosen scenario in bold type at the beginning of your paper. Using your chosen scenario, briefly describe the coupled human-environment system which the scenario relates to. What human and environmental components make up the system? How are they affecting one another? 1. Identify an ethical viewpoint from Module 3 which you identify with and explain its basic tenets. 2. Make an argument for or against the proposed action in your scenario and give an ethical justification for your argument based on the ethical viewpoint which you chose. It does not matter if you are for or against the action. What I want to see is that you recognize how your ethical framework led you to that decision. Here are the scenarios: Choose one to write about!!!! 1. A new trash disposal site will be created that will increase recycling and also incinerate trash to create a new source of energy. This facility will need to be located very close to the population center and may increase emissions of some harmful chemicals. 2. A new law proposes to stop construction of new buildings in a greenbelt that extends for five miles around your hometown. This greenbelt would allow for regrowth of forests, new parks, and allow for more local agriculture. The law would also limit available housing and likely force many poorer residents to leave in search of affordable housing. 3. A grocery store chain is seeking to source more meat locally and has proposed a project to build several buildings around town to raise livestock in confinement. The animals would live indoor in close quarters, but it would spare land for nature, and save on fuel for shipping the meat into town from someplace farther away. 4. An oil and gas exploration company has approached your town about buying or leasing the rights to drill for and extract fuels from underneath your town. This will create income, some jobs, and potentially lower the cost of heating and electricity. It will also significantly change the local landscape for years to come. You must engage at least three course concepts in your post, but you will get a better grade if you engage more. Remember engaging course concepts means defining that concept and explaining how it helps you think about the theme of your paper. Part II: Discuss the topic with classmates We will do this section. I will take Scenario number 1 above in the light green. Yahia, you will need to pick one scenario to write about out of the 4 options. GEOG 30N Module 1 Scale One of the central concepts in geography is scale. In very rough terms, scale refers to how big or small something is. That "something" could be an event, a process, or some other phenomenon. In geography, we often focus on spatial scale. Spatial scale is the extent of an area at which a phenomenon or a process occurs. For example, water pollution can occur at a small scale, such as a small creek, or at a large scale, such as the Chesapeake Bay. Spatial scale also refers to the area or spatial extent at which data about a phenomenon are aggregated to be analyzed and understood. For example, while there are differences in levels of pollution in different areas of the Chesapeake Bay, one may choose to aggregate water quality measurements to make a general statement about pollution in the bay as a whole. Geographers not only are interested in the patterns of physical or social processes on the Earth at a given level of spatial organization (e.g., local, regional, or global), but they also want to know the interactions and feedbacks across different spatial scales. Geographers sometimes also discuss temporal scale, which is the duration or time length of a thing or process. Some examples can help us understand scale. Consider air pollution. This often exists at the scale of a city or metropolitan area. The city will have cars, factories, power plants, and other things that cause air pollution, and the air pollution will affect people who live in the city and breathe the air there. People elsewhere may not be significantly affected. (Note that sometimes the wind sends air pollution further away.) In contrast, climate change largely exists at the global scale. (We'll discuss climate change in greater detail later in the course.) This is because climate is a process that covers the whole planet. When we change the climate somewhere, we change it everywhere. Scale matters in understanding the interactions between humans and the environment. A nice depiction of scale can be found in the following video (9:01): The video shows the same point in space on a broad range of scales, from the subatomic to the astronomical. In geography, we tend to focus on human scales, which are the scales of the world as we experience it. So, you will not need to know any particle physics or astronomy for Geog 30N, even though some of it may be relevant! It is important to appreciate that phenomena can be considered or observed at multiple scales. For example, we can observe climate change at the global scale, since climate is a global process. However, we can also observe climate change at local scales. Climate change is caused by, among other things, many individual decisions to burn fossil fuels. Also, climate change impacts people and ecosystems in specific local places across the world. The causes and impacts are different in different places. If we only observed climate change at the global scale, we would miss this variation from one location to another. It's important to observe climate change - and many other important phenomena - at many scales so that we can fully understand what's going on. Another example important to Geog 30N is deforestation. As with climate change, it helps to consider deforestation on many scales. An individual living in the Brazilian Amazon might decide to cut down a tree to collect firewood, to sell the wood, or to clear land for farming. If we think of deforestation just at this local scale, then we might understand it as a local event. However, the decision to cut down the tree can be connected to other political, economic, cultural, and environmental processes that operate at national, regional and international scales. For example, the decision to cut the tree is shaped in part by external economic markets: whether the tree could be sold for money, or whether the person could make money from engaging in other activities that require clearing patches of forest, such as raising cattle for beef. Trade agreements between Brazil and other countries shape the systems of economic exchange, and international demand for hardwoods such as mahogany (in the United States and Europe in particular) create incentives to deforest tropical rainforests. Therefore, the simple act of cutting down a tree in Brazil needs to be seen as connected to other economic and political processes that intersect and move across multiple scales. The deforestation example highlights the important concept of globalization. Globalization is a hotly debated concept, but it is generally understood as the increasing integration of societies around the world through improvements in transportation and communication technologies. The integration can be economic, political, or cultural. Here are some examples: * Economic Integration: Global freight shipping permits Brazilian trees to be sold to European consumers. * Political integration: American environmental policies may limit the types or quantities of trees that can be imported from Brazil. * Cultural integration: Globalized tastes for food can lead people from around the world to desire food products that can be grown in Brazil. Globalization has impacted societies around the world as the sharing of products has contributed to the perception that cultures are losing their individuality. One way to approach understanding relationships across scales is through commodity chains. A commodity chain contains the links between the collection of resources to their transformation into goods or commodities and, finally, to their distribution to consumers. Commodity chains can be unique depending on the product types or the types of markets (agriculture versus textiles for example). Different stages of a commodity chain can also involve different economic sectors or be handled by the same business. Figure 1.1 visualizes a simplified commodity chain for the seafood industry. Understanding the path that fish took on its way to our plates as it moves across the commodity chain allows us to think about the interconnections between capture/production (wild fisheries vs. aquaculture), generation (converting whole fish to other product forms such as fish fillets or canned fish), distribution and sales (transferring products to locations for consumption and selling products to consumers). Consider This: When you buy seafood, do you ask yourself, "Where does my seafood come from and how does it get to me?" Look at Figure 1.1 and try to place yourself on this supply chain. Where do you exist in terms of the production and consumption of seafood? As we'll discuss in later modules, the global rise in seafood demand has caused the depletion of fish stocks. Unsustainable overfishing has emerged as a global issue and has its severe and irreversible impacts on human lives and marine biodiversity. As with fishermen catching more fish than the population can replace