7.3-7.8 APES QUIZ
What would most likely indicate to scientists (besides pH) that a local stream is being affected by acid deposition?
An increase in the concentrations of soluble heavy metals, such as aluminum can be caused by acid deposition.
What is composed of fibers known to cause lung disease?
Asbestos
What pollutant is found in old plumbing pipes and fixtures and some ceramic glazes?
Asbestos
What pollutant has a stronger affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen has?
Carbon monoxide
What is the human health impact most closely associated with atmospheric particulates?
Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Asthma
How would acid rain and or acid deposition affect a northern forest?
Causes a decreased ability of trees to withstand cold weather.
What is primarily responsible for acid rain in the northeast United States?
Coal burning power plants
What is a natural process that adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?
Decomposition .
Describe the use of baghouse filters in exhaust systems.
Filtering and reducing particulates
What is a natural source of atmospheric carbon dioxide?
Forest fires
What pollutant is emitted from most manufactured building materials and furniture?
Formaldehydes
What is a problem associated with thermal inversion?
Increases levels of smog and human health problems.
What are the consequences of indoor air pollutants?
Irritation of eyes and skin, respiratory diseases and cancer. DOES NOT CAUSE RESPIRATORY DISEASES LEADED TO PREMATURE DEATH.
Which cities regularly experience the worst levels of photochemical smog that is enhanced by thermal inversions?
Los angeles
What is a potential human health effect associated with a thermal inversion?
Lung and eye irritation.
What pollutant has been implicated as the cause of as much as 15 percent of lung cancer cases?
Radon
What pollutant is colorless, odorless gas that is a naturally occurring decay product of uranium?
Radon
What actions would be the most effective in decreasing acid rain and acid deposition problems?
Reduce the use of fossil fuels.
What is an appropriate remediation strategy for removing radon gas from the home?
Seal or ventilate places where radon enters the living space.
Why is noise pollution bad?
Sudden or persistent noise may lead to permanent hearing loss.
What is most often cited as the causative factor for acid deposition?
Sulfur dioxide
What causes acid rain and deposition?
Sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
Bats use echolocation to find prey by emitting high-pitched bursts of sound and analyzing the reflection.Scientists studying a population of bats in a forest observed that their population size had declined in the years following the completion of a nearby highway. Based on the information above, describe how noise pollution from the highway has affected the size of the bat population?
The highway noise is interfering with the bats echolocation preventing them from successfully locating and catching prey as they fly.
A student is setting up a model to study the carbon cycle and natural sources of carbon dioxide. They create a microenvironment that contains soil, leaf debris, an earthworm, heterotrophic bacteria, and a sun lamp. What natural source of carbon dioxide and major metabolic process was left out of the model?
There is no representation of photosynthesis in the model.
Important phenomenon that often plays a role in air pollution episodes in some cities.
Thermal inversion
Smoke from forest fires is most likely to affect air quality over larger areas for many days when what happens?
Thermal inversion (temperature inversion)
Would acid rain cause a sudden fish die off?
They are killed from other heavy metals in the lake or soil, which increase acidity of the lake.
Describe an environmental disadvantage of using industrial scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators for pollution abatement.
This coal ash is stored in ponds, often contain heavy metals, sulfur and contribute to acid mine drainage, surface and groundwater pollution Toxic levels of several pollutants leading to higher chance of exposure to toxic metals.
The major source of radon in houses in the United States is what?
Underlying bedrock.
Describe the use of fluidized-bed combustion in the boiler furnaces.
Use limestone to precipitate out sulfate during combustion which makes higher heat transfer from the boiler to the thing used to capture heat.
What sources should be examined in a study to determine the impact of a geologic source on levels of CO2 in the atmosphere?
Volcanoes
If the air layers in the diagram were relabeled to illustrate normal atmospheric conditions, the correct labeling from the air layer closest to the either surface to the one farthest from the surface is what?
Warm cool cooler (cold)
The danger from radon gas would most likely be greatest in what situation?
Well insulated homes with no ventilation.
Catalytic converters reduce what pollutants in car exhaust?
carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons
Why does a thermal inversion tend to concentrate pollutants in the air layer closest to the earth surface ?
cold air is more dense and doesn't want to circulate.
What is the major pollutant that electrostatic precipitators are designed to remove from power-plant smokestack emissions?
particulate matter
Where does acid rain occur the most?
the east coast because of coal burning power plants
