APES Chapter 15 and 16 Section Review
List several additional hazardous air toxins that are regulated
Carbon Dioxide Nitrous Oxide Hydrofluorocarbons Perfluorocarbons Sulfur Hexafluoride Fluorine Chlorine Bromine Iodine
Define Primary Air Pollutants and Secondary Air Pollutants
Primary Pollutants: Released directly from the source into the air in a harmful form Secondary Pollutants: Converted to a hazardous form after they enter the air or are formed by chemical reactions as components of the air mix and interact - Solar Radiation provides energy for these reactions - Photochemical oxidants and Atmospheric acids most important pollutants in terms of health and ecosystem damage
What is the difference between ambient and stratospheric ozone? What is destroying stratospheric ozone?
- Ambient ozone is a pollutant - Stratospheric Ozone is helpful because it absorbs much of the harmful UV radiation that enters the outer atmosphere Chlorine based aerosols, CFCs, and halon gases
What is the Coriolis effect, and how might it cause trade winds?
- Coriolis Effect: Apparent curvature of winds - Merry-go-Round - Coriolis effect produces predictable wind patterns and currents - Regional Scale- produces cyclonic winds or wind movements controlled by the earth's spin - Cyclonic winds spiral clockwise out of an area of high pressure in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise into a low pressure zone
What are three Milankovitch cycles?
- Earth's elliptical orbit stretches and shortens in 100,000 year cycles - Axis of the rotation changes its angle of tilt in a 40,000 year cycle - 26,000 year period the axis wobbles like an out of balance spinning top - Periodic cold spells associated with worldwide expansion of glaciers every 100,000 years
Explain the idea of a greenhouse gas, and list four of them
- Greenhouse effect: Retention of long-wave terrestrial energy in the atmosphere (Greenhouse- transmit sunlight while trapping heat inside) - Trace gases that are especially effective at capturing the long wavelength energy from the earth's surface - Examples - Water Vapor (H2O)- Most abundant - Carbon Dioxide (CO2)- Most abundant and long lasting human-caused greenhouse gas - Methane (CH4) - Nitrous Oxide (N2O) - Fluorine Gases
What is albedo, and why is it important?
- Reflectivity of earth's surfaces - Absorbed energy heats the absorbing surface, evaporates water, or provides the energy for photosynthesis in plants - Water is extremely effective at absorbing and storing water (worries at poles)
Why does it rain?
- Two things 1) Water condenses as air cools 2) Air cools as it rises - As air is lifted, condensation and rainfall are likely to occur - Intense solar heating, frequent colliding air masses, or mountains tend to receive a great deal of precipitation
What is a cyclonic storm?
- Vigorously rising air can produce especially strong storm systems - Releases latent heat - Latent heat intensifies circulation, producing swirling winds that capture still more moisture and latent heat energy - Dictated by Coriolis effect (CW in NH, CCW in SH) - Examples - Hurricanes - Tornadoes
What is latent heat?
- Water vapor stored as energy - Can further warm and accelerate rising air currents
List several reasons for public disputes over climate evidence
1) Change is threatening and many of us would rather ignore it or dispute it rather than acknowledge it 2) Lack of information 3) Public might be more impressed by one or two recent events (Ex. snowy winter in their local area) than by studies done by scientist
List five to ten effects of changing climate
1) Polar regions have warmed much faster than the rest of the world 2) Arctic sea ice is only half as thick now as it was 30 years ago, and the area covered by sea ice has decreased by more than 1 million km2 (an area larger than Texas and Oklahoma combined) in just three decades 3) Ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula are breaking up and disappearing rapidly, and Emperor and Adelie penguin populations have declined by half over the past 50 years as the ice shelves on which they depend for feeding and breeding disappear 4) Glaciers are disappearing at an accelerating rate 5) Drought has expanded and deepened in many agricultural regions, including much of the US 6) Sea Level has risen worldwide approximately 15-20cm (6-8in) in the past century, with accelerating sea-level rise in the past 20 years 7) Biologists report that many animals are breeding earlier or extending their range into new territory as the climate changes 8) Coral reefs worldwide are "bleaching," losing their photosynthetic algae, as water temperatures rise above 30*C (85*F) 9) The oceans have apparently been absorbing CO2 and storing heat, thus postponing the impact of our GHG emissions 10) Storms are becoming stronger and more damaging
Approximately how much has atmospheric CO2 changed since 1959?
85ppm - .5 percent per year - May, levels drop (photosynthesis) - Winter, levels increase (respiration) CO2 rising at an accelerating rate (2ppm each year) Double preindustrial concentration of CO2 which was 280ppm
How might past temperatures be reconstructed from ice cores
By looking at the proportions of heavier and lighter oxygen atoms (isotopes)
What is acid deposition? Identify two of the pollutants that cause it.
Deposition of wet acidic solutions or dry acidic particles from the air - Lower pH of water (5.6) - Sulfur, Chlorine (released in sea spray, volcanic emissions, and biological decomposition) - Raise pH of water (5.6) above 7 - Alkaline dust
Why might drought be associated with climate warming?
Drought would be associated with climate change because it would lead to less plant life to take in CO2 which would lea to desertification
How do we know recent climate change is human caused
Experiments have been done to prove it
List several illnesses that are made worse by dirty air?
Heart attacks Respiratory Diseases Lung Cancer Asthma Bronchitis Immune Suppression Abnormal fetal development
What is the ratio of direct costs and benefits of the Clean Air Act? What costs are mainly saved?
In a 2011 study, the EPA found that the direct benefits of air quality protection by 2020 will be $2 trillion while the cost will be $65 billion - Direct benefits were prevented costs of premature illness, death, and work losses - Half of the direct costs were improvements in cars and trucks - A quarter of the cost involved cleaner furnaces and pollutant capture at electricity generating power plants and other facilities - Remaining cost involved pollution reductions at smaller businesses, municipal facilities, construction sites, and other sources
Describe a monsoon, a cold front, and a warm front
Monsoon: Regular seasonal rains - Come when seasonal winds blow hot humid air from the Indian Ocean - Produces strong convection currents that lift this air causing heavy rain across the subcontinent Cold Front: Cooler air pushes away warmer air - Push under the lighter warmer air as it advances Warm Front: Advancing warmer air slides up over cooler air masses creating a long wedge-shaped profile with broad band of clouds and precipitation
How are sulfur and particulate matter removed from effluent?
Particulate Removal - Filters trap particulates in a mesh of cotton cloth, spun glass fibers, or asbestos-cellulose - Industrial Bags (10-15m long/ 2-3m wide) trap the gas like a vacuum cleaner - Every few days or weeks the bags are opened to remove the dust cake Sulfur Removal - Switching from high sulfur content coal to low sulfur content coal - Switching to cleaner oil or gas would eliminate metal effluents as well s sulfur - Coal can be crushed, washed, and gasified to eliminate sulfur and metals before combustion - Improves heat content and firing properties; but may replace air pollution with solid-waste and water pollution problems- expensive
What did the Montreal Protocol aim to accomplish?
Phase out CFC's by 2000 - Global CFC production has been cut by more than 95 percent since 1988 - Stratospheric Ozone levels should be back to normal by 2049
What is an atmospheric temperature inversion, and why is it a problem?
Stable layer of warmer air lies above cooler air - Prevent convection currents from dispersing pollutants Occurs when cold air settles in a valley that is surrounded by hills or mountains
What are the six criteria pollutants in the original Clean Air Act? Why were they chosen?
Sulfur Dioxide - Combustion of sulfur-containing fuel - Purification of sour (sulfur-containing) natural gas or oil - Industrial processes (Smelting of sulfide ores) - China and US Nitrogen Oxides - Nitric Oxide-Nitrogen Dioxide - Fuel Combustion/Electric Power generation Carbon Monoxide - Incomplete combustion of fuel (coal, oil, charcoal, or gas) - Transportation - Land clearing fires/Cooking fires Ozone - Product of photochemical reactions Lead - Toxic to our nervous system and other critical functions - Produced by wide range of industrial and mining processes - Smelting of metal ores, Mining, Burning coal and municipal waste Particulate Matter - Aerosols: Fine solid or liquid particles in the atmosphere - Dust, Ash, Soot, Lint, Smoke, Pollen, Spores, Algal Cells, - PM2.5 - Smoke/Haze - Produced by fires, power plants, or vehicle exhaust, - Most dangerous (get into lungs) - Important Strategy: Reducing sulfur in coal and diesel fuels - PM10 - 2.5micrometers-10micrometers - Found near roads, visible dust sources - Important Strategy: Better management of dust at construction sites - Contribute the largest volume of air quality degradation - Most serious threats to human health and welfare - Transportation and Power Plants dominate sources of criteria pollutants
Explain the idea of the "synergistic effects"
The injury caused by exposure to two factors together is more than the sum of exposure to each factor individually -
Describe the Troposphere and Stratosphere
Troposphere - layer of air immediately adjacent to earth's surface - Air is in constant motion redistributing heat and moisture around the world - Air absorbs energy from the sun warmed earth's surface and from moisture evaporating from oceans Stratosphere - No water vapor, More ozone (O3) - Ozone absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation known as UV-B - Absorbed energy warms the stratosphere/protects life on the earth's surface
List four important greenhouse gases, and identify major sources
Water (H2O) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - Burning fossil fuels - Deforestation - Cement production Methane (CH4) - Plant matter decays in oxygen free conditions - Natural gas wells Nitrous Oxide (N2O) - Plant decay - Vehicle engines - Denitrification of soils
How do ocean and atmosphere interact in EL Nino cycles?
When convection currents weaken, it allows warm water to surge back across to the coast of South America and California
