APES 7.1-7.4
Which of the following is an example of an external cost?
A gas station goes out of business when gasoline prices go so high that drivers drastically decrease their use of gasoline.
Which of the following are direct products of the use of hydrocarbon fuels in automobile engines?
CO2, H2O, and O3
Which of the following is a primary air pollutant produced from burning coal?
Carbon monoxide
Which of the following is a nonanthropogenic source of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere?
Cellular respiration
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
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
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
Important factors that contribute to smog formation in the Los Angeles basin include which of the following?
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
What important phenomenon that often plays a role in air pollution episodes is illustrated in the diagram above?
Inversion
Which of the following is true of the Clean Air Act?
It has remained largely unmodified since it was originally signed into law.
Implicated in human neurological damage
Lead
Was once widely used in the United States as a gasoline additive
Lead
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 best explains the pattern in NO concentration?
NO is produced by rush-hour traffic and is quickly oxidized in the atmosphere.
Which of the following is a common component of photochemical smog and is a reddish-brown gas with a pungent odor?
Nitrogen dioxide, NO2
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.
If technology that reduces the hydrocarbon concentration had been utilized, which of the following would have been the most likely result?
The concentration of O3 would have been lower.
The majority of atmospheric mercury is produced by
coal-burning power plants
The three main anthropogenic sources of gaseous air pollutants in the United States are
industry, transportation, and energy production
Ground-level ozone in most major United States cities results primarily from
motor-vehicle exhaust
Smoke from forest fires is most likely to affect air quality over larger areas for many days when
smog is produced due to chemical reactions in the atmosphere