EVR FINAL REVIEW chp. 19 Air Pollution

The Clean Air Act

1955 and significant updates in 1970 and 1990 Authorizes EPA to set limits on amount of specific air pollutants permitted Act has led to decreases in air pollutants

Watershed vs airshed

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that falls in it and drains off of it goes to a common outlet. What determines it is topography An airshed is the air supply of a given region, also the geographical area covered by air supply. What determines it is topography and the pollutant we are talking about.

Managing Acid Deposition

Acid deposition is cross boundary issue Pollution in one place, problem in another

Air Pollution Around the World

Air quality is deteriorating rapidly in developing countries Developing countries have older cars Shenyang, China Residents only see sunlight a few weeks each year

5 worst cities in the world for air pollution

Beijing, China and New Delhi, India are tied for first; Santiago, Chile; Mexico City, Mexico; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Ecosystem services of the atmosphere

Blocks UV radiation Moderates the climate Redistributes water in the hydrologic cycle

Photochemical Smog

Brownish-orange haze formed by chemical reactions involving sunlight, nitrogen oxide, and hydrocarbons ex) los angeles

Efforts to Reduce Ozone in S. California

CA consolidated efforts to improve air quality (1977) Improvements due to a few major regulations

Air pollution

Chemicals added to the atmosphere by natural events or human activities in high enough concentrations to be harmful

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Contributes to smog Ex: compounds released from paints, cleaning products, dry cleaners, bakeries

Effects of Acid Deposition

Declining Aquatic Animal Populations Thin-shelled eggs prevent bird reproduction Calcium is unavailable in acidic soil Forest decline

Hydrocarbons

Diverse group of organic compounds that contain only hydrogen and carbon (ex: CH4 - methane) Some are related to photochemical smog and greenhouse gases

Smokestacks with electrostatic precipitator

Electrode imparts negative charge on the air pollutants Negatively charged pollutants are then attracted to positively charged walls- fall into collector

Stratospheric Ozone

Essential component that screens out UV radiation in the upper atmosphere (want this) Man- made pollutants (ex: CFCs) can destroy it

Forest burning in Sumatra

Fires are set to clear forests for planting Burning results in severe air pollution Silviculture (commercial production of forest products) Smoke is full of small particles that can lodge in lungs and cause illness/disease

Ozone thinning/hole in the Stratosphere

First identified in 1985 over Antarctica Occurs annually between Sept and Nov because: Caused by human-produced bromine and chlorine containing chemicals (Ex: CFCs)

Carbon oxides

Gases carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) Greenhouse gases

Nitrogen oxides

Gases produced by the chemical interactions between atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen at high temperature Greenhouse gases that cause difficulty breathing (problems for human health)

Sulfur oxides

Gases produced by the chemical interactions between sulfur and oxygen Causes acid precipitation

Children and air pollution

Greater health threat to children than adults Air pollution can restrict lung development Children breath more often than adults Children who live in high ozone areas are more likely to develop asthma

Primary air pollutant

Harmful substance emitted directly into the atmosphere ex) CO, SO2, CO2, NO2, NO, most hydrocarbons, most particulates

Secondary air pollutant

Harmful substance formed in the atmosphere when a primary air pollutant reacts with substances normally found in the atmosphere or with other air pollutants ex) HNO2, HNO3, H2O2, O3, SO3, H2SO4, salts, most NO3-, most SO4 (2-)

Effects of Ozone Depletion

Higher levels of UV-radiation hitting the earth Eye cataracts Skin cancer (right) Weakened immunity May disrupt ecosystems May damage crops and forests

Why do we care about air pollution?

Human health (children and older people), acid rain depositions have impacts on ecosystems

Cigarette smoke (indoor air pollution)

Increasing in developing nations

What happens when polar stratospheric clouds form to the ozone layer?

It enables chemical reactions that cause Cl and Br to destroy ozone

Effects of Air Pollution

Low level exposure Irritates eyes Causes inflammation of respiratory tract Can develop into chronic respiratory diseases Emphysema Chronic bronchitis

Tropospheric Ozone

Man-made pollutant in the lower atmosphere (don't want it) Secondary air pollutant Component of photochemical smog

Dangers of particulate material

May contain materials with toxic/carcinogenic effects Small particles can become lodged in lungs (respiratory problems)

Recovery of Ozone layer

Montreal Protocol (1987) Reduction of CFCs Started using HCFCs (greenhouse gas) Phase out of all ozone destroying chemicals is underway globally Satellite pictures in 2000 indicated that ozone layer was recovering Full recovery will not occur until 2050

What is the most dramatic decrease due to the Clean Air Act?

Most dramatic is lead - decreased by 98% since 1970 (due to switch to unleaded gasoline)

Radon (indoor air pollution)

Natural form of ionizing radiation Damaging to surface tissues if not diluted with air Trapped in houses

Atmospheric composition

Nitrogen 78.08% Oxygen 20.95% Argon 0.93% Carbon dioxide 0.04%

Indoor air pollution

Pollutants can be 5-100x greater than outdoors Radon, cigarette smoke, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde pesticides, lead, cleaning solvents, ozone, and asbestos

Methods of controlling air pollution

Smokestacks with electrostatic precipitator Smokestacks with scrubbers Particulate material can also be controlled by proper excavating techniques Cars - catalytic converters

Acid Deposition

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions react with water vapor in the atmosphere and form acids that return to the surface as either dry or wet deposition

Hole over Antarctica requires two conditions:

Sunlight just returning to polar region Circumpolar vortex- a mass of cold air that circulates around the southern polar region

Temperature inversions

Temperature increases with altitude (usually reverse) Pollution is trapped in high concentrations near surface and is not distributed

Particulate material

Thousands of different solid or liquid particles suspended in air Includes: soil particles, soot, lead, asbestos, sea salt, and sulfuric acid droplets. main ones are PM 2.5 and 10

Ozone protects earth from _____

UV radiation

Acid deposition has impacted: the Black Forest of southwestern Germany all of these choices are correct tree health in the Appalachian Mountains Adirondacks of New York State the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C

all of these choices are correct

Air pollution is a greater health threat to children than adults because: children need more oxygen than adults children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults children have a higher metabolic rate than adults children's lungs are still developing all of these choices are correct

all of these choices are correct

What happens when you burn coal?

all of these things are generated at the same time. you may have moe or less sulfur oxides. you can reduce this type of pollution

The two atmospheric gases most important to humans and other organisms are: carbon dioxide and oxygen carbon monoxide and oxygen carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxygen and argon hydrogen and oxygen

carbon dioxide and oxygen

In the absence of air pollution control devices, which of the following is the most significant source of sulfur dioxide? refrigeration and air conditioning coal-burning power plants motor vehicles fertilizers fire retardants

coal-burning power plants

Sources of sulfur oxides

electric power plants and other industries

The difference between primary and secondary air pollutants is that primary air pollutants: are not harmful to humans, whereas secondary air pollutants may be toxic to humans only affect plants, while secondary pollutants affect plants and animals are the direct result of natural processes, whereas secondary air pollutants are the result of human activity enter the atmosphere directly, whereas secondary pollutants form from other substances released into the atmosphere are smaller, primary molecules

enter the atmosphere directly, whereas secondary pollutants form from other substances released into the atmosphere

Sources of ozone

formed in atmosphere (secondary air pollutant)

Harm to humans from radon is greatest: in cities in high-rise office buildings outdoors near nuclear power plants in well-insulated homes

in well-insulated homes

Air pollution has been linked to all of the following human health problems except: suppression of the immune system inflammation of the respiratory tract increased susceptibility to West Nile impaired reflexes and increased drowsiness potential development of emphysema and chronic bronchitis

increased susceptibility to West Nile

Sources of particulate matter

industries, electric power plants, motor vehicles, construction, agriculture

The two main human sources of primary air pollutants are: incineration and transportation agriculture and industry agriculture and residential sources industry and transportation industry and incineration

industry and transportation

The Clean Air Act focuses on 6 pollutants:

lead, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone

Chlorofluorocarbons such as CFC-12 are released into the atmosphere by: smoke stacks nuclear power plants leaking air conditioners and old refrigerators. car exhaust pesticides

leaking air conditioners and old refrigerators.

Sources of carbon monoxide

motor vehicles, industries, fireplaces

Sources of nitrogen oxides

motor vehicles, industries, heavily fertilized farm land

Which of the following is NOT an effect of acid deposition? decline in aquatic animal populations mutations and skin cancer decreased hatching success in some birds destruction of monuments and buildings forest decline

mutations and skin cancer

Urban areas receive less sunlight than rural areas, partly as a result of greater quantities of __________ in the air. ozone hydrocarbons nitrogen oxides particulate matter sulfur oxides

particulate matter

List of major classes of air pollutants

particulate matter nitrogen oxides sulfur oxides carbon oxides hydrocarbons ozone

Electrostatic precipitators, and scrubbers in smokestacks, are used primarily to remove which air pollutant? carbon dioxide sulfur dioxide particulate matter ozone oxygen

particulate matter (can also say sulfur dioxide)

Two categories of air pollution

primary air pollutant secondary air pollutant

Forest decline can be caused by all of the following EXCEPT: lead ozone radon acid deposition insects

radon

Lead in the atmosphere has decreased significantly since the 1970s primarily due to: new CAFE standards for automobiles the invention of the catalytic converter increased use of scrubbers in coal-fired power plants the phasing out of leaded paint in buildings replacing leaded gasoline with unleaded gasoline

replacing leaded gasoline with unleaded gasoline

Industrial Smog

sulfur oxides and PM (found in developing countries)

Which of the following air pollutants is correctly paired with one of its major effects? nitrogen oxides — blocks UV radiation carbon oxides — corrosion of metal hydrocarbons — reduced visibility sulfur oxides — acid precipitation particulate matter — production of photochemical smog

sulfur oxides — acid precipitation

Two main sources of outdoor air pollution

transportation and industry. intentional forest fires are also high as well

Why is the atmosphere the ultimate commons?

we all share it