chapter 7 APES

Which of the following is a problem that is associated with a thermal inversion?

An increase in pollutants trapped at Earth's surface, which increases the number of cases of human respiratory problems

Which of the curves on the graph depicts the concentration of ozone, which requires sunlight to form?

C

Which of the following is a natural source of atmospheric carbon dioxide?

Decomposition of organic matter

Of the following cities, which regularly experiences the worst levels of photochemical smog that is enhanced by thermal inversions?

Los Angeles, California

Which of the following is used to reduce SO2 emissions from coal-burning power plants?

Wet-scrubber units

The three main anthropogenic sources of gaseous air pollutants in the United States are

industry, transportation, and energy production

What important phenomenon that often plays a role in air pollution episodes is illustrated in the diagram above?

inversion

All of the following are likely consequences of indoor air pollution EXCEPT an increase in

the risk of developing skin cancer

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

warm air, cool air, cooler air

A) Sulfur dioxide (B) Lead (C) Ozone (D) Hydrocarbons (E) Particulates Implicated in human neurological damage

B) lead

(A) Asbestos (B) Radon (C) Lead(D) Carbon monoxide (E) Formaldehyde Found in old plumbing pipes and fixtures and some ceramic glazes

B)lead

Catalytic converters reduce which of the following pairs of pollutants in car exhaust?

Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons

Important factors that contribute to smog formation in the Los Angeles basin include which of the following? Ample summer sunshine Sea-level elevation High concentration of automobiles

I and III only

Which of the following describes a potential human health effect most likely to be associated with a thermal inversion?

Increase in respiratory irritation due to increased levels of fine airborne particulates

The following questions(s) refer to the diagram below, which depicts the concentrations of various gases in the air over a city on a typical smoggy day. Which of the following best explains the pattern in NO concentration?

NO is produced by rush-hour traffic and is quickly oxidized in the atmosphere.

The primary cause of acid precipitation in the northeastern United States is

burning of sulfur-containing fossil fuels to produce electricity

Ground-level ozone in most major United States cities results primarily from

motor-vehicle exhaust

The average vehicle releases 1.39grams of NOx per mile driven. If a vehicle is driven 22,000miles per year for 15 years, how much NOx does that vehicle release?

458,700 grams

Which of the different components of smog depicted in the graph are most likely released from automobile exhaust?

A and B

Which of the following locations would most likely receive acid deposition?

A town downwind from a coal-fired power plant

(A) Asbestos (B) Radon (C) Lead (D) Carbon monoxide ( E) Formaldehyde Composed of fibers known to cause lung disease

A) Asbestos

Which of the following is the human health impact most closely associated with atmospheric particulates?

Asthma

Which of the following are direct products of the use of hydrocarbon fuels in automobile engines?

CO2, NOx, and VOCs

Which of the following best describes a natural process that adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

Carbon dioxide is released from the interior of Earth during volcanic eruptions.

Which of the following is a nonanthropogenic source of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere?

Cellular respiration

Industrial scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators collect enormous amounts of particulate matter (coal ash) at coal-burning power plants. Which of the following best describes an environmental disadvantage of using industrial scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators for pollution abatement?

Coal ash contains toxic levels of several different pollutants, so when it is collected and stored long-term in coal ash ponds, there is increased risk of exposure to toxic metals.

Which type of electricity-generating power plant releases radioactive materials as well as toxic metals such as lead and arsenic under normal operating conditions?

Coal-burning

The data that were used to create this graph were collected in the winter. Which of the following best describes how the graph would be different if the data were collected in the middle of the summer?

Concentrations for component C would be higher throughout the graph.

In the figure above, the letters A, B, and C represent the different thermal layers present in an inversion. Which of the following shows the correct sequence of thermal layers as one moves vertically upwards from the surface of Earth?

Cool sea breeze → Warm → Cool

Which of the following would most likely reduce the concentration of ground-level ozone in the air of a city?

Decrease in the emissions of nitrogen oxides

(A) Asbestos (B) Radon (C) Lead (D) Carbon monoxide (E) Formaldehyde Emitted from most manufactured building materials and furniture

E) Formaldehyde

(A) Sulfur dioxide (B) Lead (C) Ozone (D) Hydrocarbons (E) Particulates Is the major pollutant that electrostatic precipitators are designed to remove from power-plant smokestack emissions

E) Particulates

Recent studies have found that fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less can have negative human health effects. Which of the following correctly links a negative human health effect to an anthropogenic source of fine particulate matter?

High rates of respiratory disease from power plant emissions

Scientists have observed that the health of people living in moderately developed regions, which have developed transportation and industry but lack environmental control measures, is more likely to be affected by urban outdoor pollution than by indoor air pollution. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the data presented in the graph?

In moderately developed regions such as China and Latin America, an individual's health is more or as likely to be affected by urban outdoor pollution than by indoor pollution.

Which of the following is a human health impact associated with exposure to radon gas inside homes or other buildings?

Increased incidence of lung cancer

Which of the following is an example of an external cost?

Individuals pay for medical treatment of lung disease aggravated by pollution from a coal- fired power plant.

Which of the following best describes one way the Clean Air Act helped reduce air pollution?

Introduced regulatory measures to control the amount of lead in fuels

Which of the following is true of the Clean Air Act?

It established a cap-and-trade program for SO2 in 1990.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States recommends taking corrective measures to reduce exposure to radon gas. The EPA has set an action level of 4pCiL for radon gas. The graph below shows radon samples taken from seventeen buildings in California. The radon samples were taken from the air inside the buildings, and the uranium concentrations were sampled from the soil under the buildings. Data points from four of the seventeen building locations are labeled A-D. Which of the following conclusions can best be drawn from the data in the graph?

Location A has the greatest need for remediation because the radon levels in the building are the highest and exceed the EPA action level.

Which of the following illustrates the reactants needed to form tropospheric ozone?

NO2+VOCs+O2+sunlight

In addition to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which of the following components must be present in the atmosphere to create photochemical smog?

NOx and UV light

Scientists have been monitoring CO2 in the atmosphere from Mauna Loa in Hawaii since 1958. Which of the following units is used by scientists to measure CO2 in the atmosphere?

Parts per million

Which of the following statements best describes photochemical smog in large cities in the United States?

Photochemical smog causes negative human health impacts such as eye and lung irritation.

Which of the following environmental problems is most often linked to the combustion of fossil fuels?

Photochemical smog formation in the troposphere

(A) Radon (B) Mercury (C) Lead (D) Copper (E) Iron A gaseous decay product of uranium that is found in rocks

Radon

Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Methane, Radon, Sulfur dioxide Has been implicated as the cause of as much as 15 percent of lung cancer cases

Radon

The following questions refer to this list of pollutants. (A) Radon (B) Mercury (C) Lead (D) Copper (E) Iron A leading cause of lung cancer in the United States

Radon

Which of the following is an appropriate remediation strategy for removing radon gas from the home?

Seal or ventilate places where radon enters the living space.

Based on the layers in the diagram, which of the following best explains why a thermal inversion tends 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.

Consumers who get their electricity from coal-fired power plants are not paying the true cost of energy production in their monthly utility bills. Which of the following is true about utility bills for these consumers?

The bills do not include public health costs, such as those associated with air pollution.

Canada has proposed an action plan to address climate change and air pollution. The action plan will reduce the impact of greenhouse gases and pollutants on the environment and human health. Which of the following claims about the Canadian action plan is best supported by the data in the graph?

The plan supports phasing out traditional coal power plants and transitioning to sources like hydroelectricity, wind, and solar power.

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 environment.

Which of the following is true about the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 ?

They allowed power plants to buy and sell SO2 pollution allowances.

Which of the following contributes to global climate change through the direct release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere?

Transporting products from one continent to another on a cargo ship

Which of the following best explains the cause of the trend shown in the graph for lead emissions in the United States from 1970 to 2011 ?

Unleaded gasoline was first introduced in 1974, and amendments to the Clean Air Act required cars with the model year 1975 or later to use only unleaded gasoline.

Scientists have observed that the health of people living in moderately developed regions, which have developed transportation and industry but lack environmental control measures, is more likely to be affected by urban outdoor pollution than by indoor air pollution. Which of the following activities would most likely account for the levels of indoor air pollution in India and sub-Saharan Africa, as shown in the graph?

Use of biomass fuel sources such as wood and charcoal for cooking

Which of the following negative consequences is most often associated with using biomass for energy production?

Using biomass for energy production can result in local deforestation.

Which of the following sources should be examined in a study to determine the impact of a geologic source on levels of CO2 in the atmosphere?

Volcanoes

Smoke from forest fires is most likely to affect air quality over larger areas for many days when

a persistent atmospheric inversion exists in the region

The majority of atmospheric mercury is produced by

coal-burning power plants

The major human health problem related to radon accumulation is

lung cancer

Acid rain is associated with which of the following?

the burning of fossil fuels

The major source of radon in houses in the United States is

the underlying bedrock

Particulates can be removed from smokestack emissions by which of the following methods?

Electrostatic precipitators

Which of the following is a common component of photochemical smog and is a reddish-brown gas with a pungent odor?

Nitrogen dioxide, NO2

Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Methane, Radon, Sulfur dioxide Has a stronger affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen has

Carbon monoxide

Which of the following is a primary air pollutant produced from burning coal?

Carbon monoxide

Increased use of which of the following technologies would cause the greatest reduction in the primary source of photochemical smog?

Catalytic converter

Which of the following energy sources produces the most air pollutants when used during the generation of electricity?

Fuel oil

Over a three-year period, a city's environmental protection department measured the particulate matter (PM2.5) in a ten-square-mile area around one of the city's coal-fired power plants. The annual mean level of PM2.5 measured was 20.0μgm3 over the three-year study period. The National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 is an annual mean level of 12.0μgm3, averaged over three years. The city instructs the manager of the power plant to propose a plan to aid the city in meeting the NAAQS for PM2.5 in the area around the power plant over the next ten years. Which of the following would be the most effective plan for the manager to propose to the city?

Install electrostatic precipitators at the plant.

Chemical compound that leads to formation of photochemical smog in the troposphere when it reacts with other compounds in the presence of sunlight

Nitrogen oxides (NOx)