APES 7.3 -7.8
Describe the use of fluidized-bed combustion in the boiler furnaces.
(controls of sulfur dioxide an acid rain) used to remove SO2 from emissions by combusting coal close to calcium carbonate (limestone), which removes sulfur in a reaction that produces gypsum, the mineral used in drywall
Describe the use of electrostatic precipitators in exhaust systems.
A type of filtration device that uses an electrical charge to make particles coalesce so they can be removed
What would most likely indicate to scientists (besides pH) that a local stream is being affected by acid deposition?
An increase in the concentration of soluble heavy metals, such as aluminum can be caused by acid deposition
What would be the strongest evidence in support of a scientist's contention that a local area was experiencing acid deposition?
An increase in the concentrations of soluble heavy metals in a local pond
What is composed of fibers known to cause lung disease?
Asbestos
What is the human health impact most closely associated with atmospheric particulates?
Asthma
Why is noise pollution bad?
Can cause physiological stress and hearing loss
What pollutant has a stronger affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen has?
Carbon Monoxide
How would acid rain and/or acid deposition affect a northern forest?
Causes a decreased ability of trees to withstand cold weather
What is a natural process that adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?
Cellular Respiration
What is primarily responsible for acid rain in the northeast United States?
Coal
Describe an environmental disadvantage of using industrial scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators for pollution abatement.
Coal ash is stored and not disposed of which contributes to acid mine drainage, surface and groundwater pollution.
In the figure below, the letters A, B, C, and D represent the different thermal layers present in an inversion.What is the correct sequence of thermal layers as one moves vertically upwards from the surface of Earth?
Cool sea breeze → Warm → Cool
What would be the most likely effect of acid deposition on a northern forest?
Decreased ability of trees to withstand cold weather
What are the consequences of indoor air pollutants?
Fatigue, Eye stinging, respiratory issues
What pollutant is emitted from most manufactured building materials and furniture?
Formaldehyde
Which cities regularly experience the worst levels of photochemical smog that is enhanced by thermal inversions?
LA and Mexico City
What pollutant is found in old plumbing pipes and fixtures and some ceramic glazes?
Lead
What is an important precursor to acid rain?
Nitrogen oxides
Is the major pollutant that electrostatic precipitators are designed to remove from power-plant smokestack emissions.
Particulates
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?
Photosynthesis
What pollutant has been implicated as the cause of as much as 15 percent of lung cancer cases?
Radon
What pollutant is a 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?
Reducing the use of fossil fuels
What is a natural source of atmospheric carbon dioxide?
Respiration Volcanic eruptions Decomposition
What is a potential human health effect most likely to be associated with a thermal inversion?
Respiratory problems
What is an appropriate remediation strategy for removing radon gas from the home?
Seal or ventilate places where radon enters the living space
What is true about noise pollution?
Sudden or persistent noise may lead to permanent hearing loss.
What causes acid rain and deposition?
Sulfur acid from coal-burning power plants
Most often cited as the causative factor for acid deposition?
Sulfur dioxide
What is most often cited as the causative factor for acid deposition?
Sulfur dioxide Nitrogen Oxides
Acid rain is associated with what?
Sulfur dioxide the burning of fossil fuels
What important phenomenon that often plays a role in air pollution episodes in some cities?
Temperature inversion
Why does a thermal inversion tend to concentrate pollutants in the air layer closest to the Earth's surface?
The air layer closest to the Earth's surface is denser than the layer above it.
The major source of radon in houses in the United States is what?
Uranium
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 Earth's surface to the one farthest from the Earth's surface would be what? Use temperature of air layers as your guide.
Warm air, cool air, cooler air
The danger from radon gas would most likely be greatest in what situation?
Well-insulated homes
What is a problem that is associated with a thermal inversion?
Wind pollution
Smoke from forest fires is most likely to affect air quality over larger areas for many days when this happens?
a persistent atmospheric inversion exists in the region
What location in the US would most likely receive acid deposition?
a town downwind from a coal-fired power plant
Describe the use of baghouse filters in exhaust systems.
a type of filtration device that allows gases to pass through them but remove PARTICULATE MATTER
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?
because of the noise pollution effect on hearing it deprives them of habitat or impairing hunting
The primary cause of acid precipitation in the northeastern United States is what?
burning of sulfur-containing fossil fuels to produce electricity
Catalytic converters reduce which of the following pairs of pollutants in car exhaust?
carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons
Acid deposition would most likely result in what?
the release of aluminum ions from soil
How do we reduce SO2 emissions from coal-burning power plants?
use coal that contains less sulfur or wet scrubbers