Ch. 12 SmartBook
Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide are increasing by about ______ each year.
0.5%
How is it possible that an Inuit population living in a very remote region above the Arctic circle could have some of the highest PCB blood levels recorded in people?
Contaminants are carried to the area by atmospheric processes, and then bioaccumulate in the animals eaten by the people.
Despite being one of the world's most polluted cities, ______, India, has seen improvements in air quality after requiring catalytic converters for automobiles and introducing unleaded and low-sulfur diesel fuel.
Delhi
Select the 1990 additions to the Clean Air Act. (Choose all that apply.)
A market-based "cap-and-trade" system for sulfur dioxide EPA's right to fine violators Controls for CFCs
Antarctic sunlight that returns in the springtime provides the energy to free the chlorine in chlorofluorocarbons, or ______. The chlorine, in turn, destroys ozone.
CFCs
Germany has shown that economic growth is possible while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, yet this is the primary argument used by those in the United States who oppose setting limits on ______.
CO2 emissions
After carbon dioxide, what are the two major air pollutants released by humans as measured in metric tons per year.
Carbon monoxide Methane
First signed into law in 1963, the ______ was the first national law for air pollution in the United States. It has seen many amendments added to it since it was first passed.
Clean Air Act
What are aerosols?
Very small particles or droplets suspended in the air
The ozone hole is best described as ______.
a thinning of stratospheric ozone concentrations
Identify the statement below that best describes the comparison between indoor and outdoor air quality.
Indoor air quality is often much worse than outdoor air quality.
What is the primary argument against CO2 emission limits in the United States?
Limits will stunt economic growth.
Current WHO estimates are that approximately 6.5 million people die prematurely every year due to ______.
air pollution
Power plants and _____ are the primary sources of criteria air pollutants.
cars
Approximately 70% of airborne mercury is derived from ______.
coal-burning power plants
A regulated criteria pollutant under the Clean Air Act, nitrogen oxides are reactive gases formed during _____, when the nitrogen in fuel or in the air is heated in the presence of oxygen.
combustion
Clean air legislation seems like regulation everyone could agree on, yet it is often controversial. This is because ______.
it is easier and more profitable for polluters to externalize the cost of pollution
Carbon monoxide (CO), which is produced by internal combustion engines, land clearing, and cooking fires, blocks ______ uptake in blood by binding irreversibly to hemoglobin.
oxygen
Headaches and dizziness result when we are exposed to carbon monoxide because it affects the way our blood carries _____.
oxygen
Smoke, pollen, ash, and dust are examples of _____ material that is suspended in the air.
particulate
The filtering of emissions to remove ash from effluent gas after burning is called ______ removal.
particulate
The goal of the Montreal Protocol, to ______, has largely been achieved by reducing CFCs and HCFCs.
restore stratospheric ozone
Photochemical oxidants and atmospheric acids are the most important ______ pollutants.
secondary
"Dilution is the _____" no longer works to control air pollution because of global industrialization.
solution
It is only during the Antarctic ______ that rapid ozone destruction occurs, because these reactions are powered by sunlight.
spring
Rain, and other types of precipitation, are made acidic by industrial emissions of ______. (Choose all that apply.)
sulfates sulfur dioxide nitrogen oxides carbon dioxide
Wind can carry air pollutants up to ______ of miles away from the original source of the pollution, as exemplified by Chinese particulates being traced to Seattle, Washington.
thousands
Higher temperatures are often found in cities than in the surrounding countrysides. The low albedo of concrete and brick, and the lack of water for evaporation, both add to the ______.
urban heat island
Pollution control has been ______ at decreasing the effect of acid rain in the United States.
very successful
A major source of smog, _____ organic compounds are organic chemicals that evaporate easily or exist as gases in the air.
volatile
VOCs are _____ _____ compounds.
volatile organic
The provisions to the Clean Air Act allowing for controls of CFCs, a market-based "cap-and-trade" system for sulfur dioxide, and fines for polluters were added in ______.
1990
The Clean Air Act does add cost since removing pollutants costs more than not doing so. However, the economic benefits (reduced illness, less property damage, increased productivity, etc.) have been shown to outweigh the costs by a factor of ______.
25 to 1
What percent of the United States currently meets the NAAQS?
80%
As an example of how widespread this type of pollution is, Sweden alone has thousands of lakes that no longer support game fish or other sensitive aquatic species because of it. Choose the pollutant from the list below.
Acid precipitation
Identify the two most important secondary pollutants from the list below.
Atmospheric acids Photochemical oxidants
Identify all the particulate removal techniques in the list below.
Employing electrostatic precipitators Filtering air using a mesh of material (e.g., cotton cloth)
True or false: Because ozone is valuable in the stratosphere as a shield from ultraviolet radiation, its occurrence at ground level is also positive.
False
______ are specially regulated in the Clean Air Act because of their adverse impact on human health, often at low doses; they include carcinogens, neurotoxins, mutagens, teratogens, and endocrine disruptors.
Hazardous air pollutants
How quickly would it take for air visibility to improve dramatically if all human-sources of pollution were shut down?
In a few days
Although China has been infamous for its air pollution problems, _____ has recently taken the lead, as evidenced by the city of Delhi having the world's highest annual average levels of PM2.5 in 2017.
India
What developing country has currently taken the lead in terms of having the most cities with significant particulate matter air pollution levels?
India
The Clean Air Act has led to a great reduction in levels of most of the "criteria" pollutants. However, two pollutants have not dropped significantly. Identify those two below.
Nitrogen oxides Particulate matter
Why is acid rain no longer the widespread problem it was 30 years ago in the United States and Europe?
Pollution control measures have successfully decreased emissions of SO2 and NOx.
A meeting in Montreal, Canada, produced the Montreal ______, an international agreement to phase out the use of ozone-destroying CFCs by 2000.
Protocol
What spurred the cleanup of Cubatao, Brazil, once so polluted it was known as the "Valley of Death"? (Choose all that apply.)
Public complaints Investment of public and private money Restoration of democracy
Place the steps leading to the bioaccumulation of mercury in order. Place the first step at the top.
The burning of coal releases mercury. Bacteria in aquatic environments convert airborne mercury to methyl mercury. Small fish eat many mercury-laden bacteria. Large fish and other predators eat many mercury-laden smaller animals.
What is the current trend of carbon dioxide emissions by humans?
They are increasing.
What is the purpose of the Toxic Release Inventory?
To report on releases and waste management of HAPs at facilities
The ______ community right-to-know program requires large facilities to report on releases of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), which include carcinogens, neurotoxins, teratogens, and endocrine system disruptors.
Toxic Release Inventory
True or false: Indoor air pollution is often higher than it is outdoors.
True
True or false: It is not uncommon for particulate pollution to be blown across the Pacific Ocean from China to the U.S. West Coast.
True
True or false: Living in an area of heavy air pollution can significantly reduce your life expectancy.
True
What is the defining difference between primary and secondary pollutants.?
When they are harmful
The results of the Clean Air Act overall can be described as ______.
a tremendous success
Air pollutants are commonly inhaled, but direct ______ through the skin is also an important pathway.
absorption
Precipitation that is made more _____ by emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and sulfates does damage to water systems, buildings, and plants.
acidic
Very fine solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere are called ______.
aerosols
The Clean Air Act of 1963 was the first national law in the United States for ______.
air pollution control
NAAQS is the acronym for national ambient _____ _____ standards; these standards are based on health and environmental criteria.
air quality
A lack of vegetation and surface water in cities and the low ______ of concrete and brick, all contribute to cities frequently having warmer temperatures than the surrounding countryside.
albedo
A "cap-and-trade" system to control air pollution is designed to work by allowing the EPA to set maximum emission levels and then ______.
allowing companies to buy credits, allowing them to pollute more or sell credits to others if they are under a pollutant allotment
As referenced in U.S. pollution regulations, the air around us is called ______ air.
ambient
Globally, air pollutants tend to get concentrated at high latitudes because ______.
atmospheric circulation pushes pollutants toward the poles
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), human activities release some 2 ______ metric tons of air pollutants, not counting carbon dioxide, into the world each year.
billion
A neurotoxin is a substance that primarily damages the ______.
brain and nervous system
The market-based system that allows companies to buy and sell pollution credits is called _____-and-_____.
cap; trade
Air pollution can damage buildings and infrastructure by ______. (Choose all that apply.)
causing flaking corroding steel dissolution creating a buildup of smoke and soot
Because most air pollution in the developed world is associated with transportation and energy production, the most effective air pollution strategy would be _____ measures, such as reducing electricity consumption, insulating homes and offices, and developing better public transportation.
conservation
When rapid nighttime ______ in a valley occurs, the temperature differential can prevent mixing and trap pollutants such as ozone close to the ground.
cooling
Health advocates argue that companies should pay for air pollution prevention upfront. Although it may save companies money to spend less on pollution prevention, the net result of this would be that the public would have to pick up these _____.
costs
The U.S. Clean Air Act was amended in 1970 to address six major pollutants referred to as _____ pollutants.
criteria
The difference between point source and non-point source emissions is that non-point source emissions ______.
do not vent from a single location like a smokestack
Particulates are suspended materials in the atmosphere that include ______.
dust, spores, and ash
A gigantic "haze blob", as much as 3,000 km across, covers much of the ______ United States in the summer. If all human-made sources of air pollution were shut down, the air would clear in a few days and there would be 150 km of visibility everywhere.
eastern
Levels of mercury have risen dramatically in the past 20 years in _____ harvested from both the oceans and freshwater bodies.
fish
The catch phrase, "dilution is the solution to pollution," once characterized the main approach to air pollution. Smokestacks, for example, disperse pollutants over a larger area. However, this approach no longer works because ______.
global industrialization resulted in a worldwide distribution of smokestacks and their pollutants
HAPs, or _____ _____ _____, are toxins that are particularly dangerous.
hazardous air pollutants
From 1970 to 1998, although population and economic activity ______ in the United States, emissions of all criteria air pollutants except for nitrogen oxides and particulate matter ______ significantly.
increased; decreased
Temperature _____ occur when a stable layer of warmer air lies above cooler air, often when cold air settles in a valley surrounded by hills or mountains.
inversions
Air pollutants that are strong ______ include sulfates, SO2, NOx, and O3, which can cause damage to eyes and respiratory pathways. Choose the most specific answer.
irritants
Of the estimated 3.1 million people who die prematurely because of outdoor air pollution, most are located in ______.
large cities of newly industrialized countries
Gasoline with _____, which was banned and phased out in the 1980s in the United States, was formerly the main source of this pollutant.
lead
Since it was banned in gasoline in the United States, children's average blood levels of _____ have dropped by 90%.
lead
Despite high population growth and economic growth for the past 40 years in the United States, EPA regulations have ______.
led to an overall improvement in air quality
Atmospheric acids can quickly destroy buildings made out of marble and ______.
limestone
Air pollution can have negative health effects on people, including increasing occurrences of heart attacks, respiratory diseases, and ______ cancer.
lung
U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards are the ______ allowable emissions for six pollutants that contribute the largest volume of air degradation and are also the most serious threat to human health and welfare.
maximum
Coal combustion, smelting, and waste combustion are the primary sources of _____ in the atmosphere.
mercury
Forty-five states in the U.S. have issued warnings about eating fish due to high levels of _____ pollution that originates from coal-burning.
mercury
Carbon _____ is a colorless, odorless, highly toxic gas produced by the incomplete combustion of fuel.
monoxide
Carbon ______ bonds to hemoglobin and decreases the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen.
monoxide
Mercury is an example of a ______ in that exposure to mercury damages the brain and nervous system, especially in young organisms and developing fetuses.
neurotoxin
While most "criteria" pollutants have been reduced since the passage of the Clean Air Act, the growing number of automobiles has kept levels of ______ high in many areas.
nitrogen oxides
The pollution that leaks out from loose joints, fittings, and holes in pipes directly into the air are known as ______ emissions.
non-point source
Nitrogen and oxygen combine in the heat of combustion to form nitric oxide. Nitric oxide further ______ in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide (the reddish-brown gas in smog).
oxidizes
Ground-level _____, which is a three-atom molecule of oxygen, is formed when volatile organic compounds react with other pollutants in the presence of sunlight.
ozone
This image represents the _____ hole, created primarily by chlorine-based aerosols that deplete its concentrations in the stratosphere.
ozone
_____ pollutants are released directly from the source into the air in a harmful form, while _____ pollutants are converted to a hazardous form after they enter the air following exposure to other chemicals and sunlight.
primary; secondary
Eggs and young fish are killed when lakes receive acid _____ and subsequently, the water's _____ drops to about 5.0.
rain; pH
Conservation techniques such as reducing energy consumption, using public transportation, and insulating buildings better all help to ______ air pollution.
reduce
Ambient air is ______.
the air around us
The pollutants which the EPA classifies as "criteria pollutants" are thought to contribute most to air quality degradation, and include _____. (Choose all that apply.)
total suspended particulate matter lead sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides carbon monoxide and ozone
The bioaccumulation of toxins, like mercury, occurs when ______.
toxins are passed up the food chain as larger organisms consume smaller ones