Test Three
What is unique about this list of different classes of coal (lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous, anthracite)? Why is this important?
(1) Coal varies from deposit to deposit in the amount of water, carbon, and potential energy it contains. As peat decomposes further as it is buried under sediments, as heat and pressure increase, and as time passes, moisture is squeezed out and carbon compound compress more tightly, forming col. The more coal is compressed, the denser is its carbon content and the greater is its energy content per unit volume. (2) Of the four classes of coal, anthracite coal is formed under the greatest pressure, where temperatures are high and moisture content is low. Anthracite coal has the densest carbon content and so contains the most potential energy.
Why would a coal-fired power plant in the U.S. EXCEPT would not follow the standard step of carbon capture? What are the consequences of not practicing carbon capture? What are the benefits of not practicing carbon capture?
(1) It is expensive to place scrubbers and filters on the smokestacks, which would capture the carbon. Industries that are making money would have to start using their profits to reinvest back into the company to pay for the scrubbers and filters. (2) It does make sense when looking at it environmentally because it avoids the danger that carbon might leak and make its way back into the atmosphere.
What is carbon monoxide (C0), where does it come from and why is it so harmful to animals?
A colorless, odorless gas produced primarily by the incomplete combustion of fuel. Carbon monoxide is hazardous because it binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells, which in turn prevents the hemoglobin from binding with oxygen. Carbon monoxide poisoning induces nausea
What is lead, how does it pollute our environment, and what is the impact of lead on human health.
A heavy metal that enters the atmosphere as a particulate pollutant. The lead-containing compounds tetraethyl lead and tetramethyl lead, when added to gasoline, improve engine performance. However, exhaust from the combustion of leaded gasoline emits airborne lead, which can be inhaled or can be deposited on land and water. When lead enters the food chain, it accumulates in body tissues and can cause central nervous system malfunction and many other ailments.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are considered the primary causes of acid deposition. What acid depositions, what causes them and what do they do?
Acid deposition, the deposition of acidic or acid-forming pollutants from the atmosphere onto Earth's surface. Acid deposition originated primarily with the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, largely through fossil fuel combustion by automobiles, electric utilities, and industrial facilities. Once airborne, these pollutants react with water, oxygen, and oxidants to produce compounds of low pH, primarily sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Suspended in the troposphere, droplets of these acids may travel days or weeks for hundreds of kilometers.
What recommendation or agreements did the Montreal Protocol suggest as a strategy to significantly reduce the production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) by signatory nations?
Aimed to cut CFC production in half. By being a part of the Montreal Protocol, each country was required to begin phasing out CFC's by 20% as of 1994. By 1998 they were expected to be reduced by 50%. They were required to freeze their production and consumption of halons; to control new chemicals and to help developing countries to comply
Explain how tropospheric ozone is produced.
Also called ground-level ozone, is a secondary pollutant, created by the reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile carbon-containing chemicals in the presence of sunlight.
What is an oil refinery? What does it do? How is oil separated into its components compounds?
An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined. It refines it into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. It is separated by fractional distillation. They have different boiling points. The crude oil is evaporated and its vapors are allowed to condense at different temperatures in the fractioning column.
Why does the melting of the permafrost (permanently frozen ground) exacerbate climate change? Why would this be called a positive feedback mechanism?
As ice crystals within permafrost melt, the thawing soil settles, destabilizing buildings, pipelines, and other infrastructure. When permafrost thaws, it also can release methane that has been stored for thousands of years. Because methane is a potent greenhouse gas, its release acts as a positive feedback mechanism that intensifies climate change. In a process of positive feedback, warming causes more ice and snow to melt, which in turn causes more absorption of radiation and more warming.
Why do you think that greenhouse gas production by Australia is increasing faster than other countries like US, Canada, Japan, and Russia?
Australia's high ranking in greenhouse gasses is fueled by their reliance of coal fired energy. They have also lagged behind other nations in attempts to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. They use 70% coal power electricity, with the remainder mainly gas. They use no nuclear, hydropower, solar power, wind or wave power like other countries do.
Why is fossil fuel energy considered to be nonrenewable? What are four examples of renewable energy?
Because once they are used they are gone. Wind, water, solar power, geothermal, ocean waves are all renewable sources of energy. It takes hundreds of thousands, even millions of years to produce fossil fuels. We are using it up faster than the earth can supply it.
How does the Coriolis effect contribute to global wind patterns?
Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is reflected towards the right in the Northern Hemisphere and towards the left in the Southern Hemisphere, It circulates the atmosphere. It DOES NOT impact the wind speed, only wind direction - it also effects climate.
Why do industrialized nations have such high rate of radon and cigarette smoke? So, what?
Because we can afford to build better homes that have high insulation, which can keep outside pollutants out BUT can also keep inside pollutants in such as radon and cigarette smoke.
China produces approximately half of the world's annual coal. So, what?
China is now the world's primary producer of coal, but it is also the world's primary consumer of it as well.
What is crude oil? How is it turned into gasoline, plastics, lubricants and other products?
Crude oil is unrefined petroleum. It is a mixture of naturally occurring fossil fuels produced by the conversion of organic compounds by heat and pressure. Crude oil is put through a distilling process that involves the separation of heavy crude oil into lighter groups called fractions.
What are the gases of the Earth's atmosphere, their relative amounts and their roles relative to living organisms?
Earth's atmosphere consists of 78% Nitrogen (N2) and 21% Oxygen (02) by volume of dry air. The remaining 1% is composed of Argon (Ar) and minute concentrations of other gases. The atmosphere also contains water vapor (H20) in concentrations that vary with time and place from 0% to 4%. Atmospheric nitrogen becomes part of living organisms in two ways. The first is through bacteria in the soil that form nitrates out of nitrogen in the air. The second is through lightning. During electrical storms, large amounts of nitrogen are oxidized and united with water to produce an acid that falls to Earth in rainfall and deposits nitrates in the soil. Oxygen is key for generating energy in cellular respiration; a complex biological process that breaks down sugars, fat and proteins and transforms these materials into energy for the functioning of the organism. This tiny amount of argon is not very important to biology or to Earth's climate, but it's useful to scientists and to modern society.
The US per capita energy use increased sharply from 1950 to the 1970s but has since declined but energy intensity has been declining since 1970. What is energy intensity? What does it mean to say that energy use is increasing but energy intensity if decreasing?
Energy intensity is energy used per dollar of GDP. Lower energy intensity indicates greater efficiency. When energy use increases but energy intensity decreases, it means that the people could reduce their energy consumption considerably without diminishing quality of life.
The Earth's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen. What are these gases used for by living organisms?
Even though the atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen, we do not use it as living organisms. Oxygen is used for our electronegativity. It is what our respiratory system requires to survive.
Mesosphere:
Found directly above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere. It extends from about 50 to 85 km (31 to 53 miles) above our planet. Temperature decreases with height throughout the mesosphere. The coldest temperatures in Earth's atmosphere, about -90° C (-130° F), are found near the top of this layer.
What is global warming? How does the Earth's atmosphere cause global warming?
Global Warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, generally attributed to the greenhouse gas effect caused by the increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFC's and other pollutants. Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. When the earth warms, so do the poles, where ice caps are melting, causing sea levels to rise. Higher temperatures can also affect crops, for the good and bad. "A blanket effect".
EROI stands for energy returned divided by energy invested. Why is this important?
Higher EROI ratios mean that we receive more energy from each unit of energy that we invest. Fossil fuels are widely used because their EROI ratios have historically been high. However, EROI ratios can change over time. Ratios rise as the technologies to extract, and they fall as resources are depleted and become harder to extract.
What did the Keeling's reports from Mauna Loa demonstrate? What did they say about the tropospheric CO2 increase since the 1950s?
In 1958, Keeling began analyzing hourly air samples from a monitoring station at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory. Here, unpolluted, well-mixed air from over vast stretches of ocean blows across the top of Earth's most massive mountains. These data show that atmospheric CO2 concentrations increased from 315 ppm in 1958 to just over 400 ppm today.
What is the Permanent Fund of Alaska? What does it have to do with the trans-Alaska pipeline? Why do all Alaska residents get paid yearly dividends?
In Alaska, the oil industry gains support for drilling by paying the Alaskan government a portion of its revenues. Since the 1970s, the state of Alaska has received more than $70 billion in oil revenues. One-quarter of these revenues are placed in the Permanent Fund, an investment fund that pays yearly dividends to all citizens. Since 1982, each Alaska resident has received annual payouts ranging from $331 to $2072. The local residents are being compensated due to the fact that they are suffering from pollution; extraction is taking place there.
What is the Kyoto Protocol? When was it proposed and what recommendations did it propose for reducing the emission of six greenhouse gases?
In Kyoto, Japan, 1997, the FCCC drafted this protocol. Nations came together to forge a binding treaty to require emissions reduction. It mandated signatory nations, by 2008-2017, to reduce emissions of the 6 greenhouse gases to levels below those of 1990. The treaty took effect in 2005. To cut greenhouse gasses, industries would have to make a lot of adjustments which would cost large amounts of money, and the U.S doesn't want to be the one that has to make all the adjustments.
What does it mean to say that only 3-4% of passenger trips in the US are by public transportation? What would it mean if the percentages were much higher?
In the United States, public transportation currently serves 3 - 4% of passenger trips, reducing gasoline use by 4.2 billion gallons each year and saving 37 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, the American Public Transportation Association estimates. If U.S. residents were to increase their use of mass transit to the levels of Canadians (7% of daily travel needs) or Europeans (10% of daily travel needs), the United States could cut its air pollution, its dependence on imported oil, and its contribution to climate change.
What give the stratospheric ozone layer the ability to absorb and scatter UV light?
In this region of the stratosphere, concentrations of ozone reach only about 12 parts per million, but ozone molecules are so effective at absorbing the sun's ultraviolet radiation that even this diffuse concentration helps to protect life on Earth's surface from UV radiation's damaging impacts on tissues and DNA.
How does CFC affect ozone layer in such a way as to lead to an increase in skin cancer in humans?
It destroys the Earth's protective ozone layer, which shields the earth from harmful UV rays generated from the sun. CFC is a man-made greenhouse gas. It is an organic compound that produces a volatile derivative of methane and ethane. As CFC breaks down the ozone layer, the UV rays come through and cause skin cells to grow out of control which can lead to skin cancer. CFC's come from air conditions, refrigeration, insulation and packing materials, aerosols and solvents. It also contributes to global warming.
What are anthropogenic greenhouse gases? What is the biggest source of them?
It is a gas caused by human activity. It is the influence of humans on nature. They are caused by burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, land use changes, livestock production, fertilization, waste management, and industrial processes. The biggest sources are: burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), deforestation, and electricity.
What is the logic that suggests that improved transportation is one of the best way to improve the air quality?
It will reduce overall vehicle emissions and the pollutants that cause smog, most rail transit vehicles emit little to no pollution. Buses use alternative fuels such as compressed natural air, liquefied natural gas, or fuel cells. Those that do not are being replaced by hybrid or bio-diesel buses. All of these transitions would reduce greenhouse gases and can save our natural resources. Energy in a car is 14% efficient, the rest is lost to heat.
What is Alaska expected to experience the greatest increase in temperature by 2100? What are the potential consequences, and how do we help prevent it?
Its closest to the poles and that is where the ozone is depleted the most. Greater exposure to the ozone, temperatures go up, and ice melts. It's a global problem, so we have to get the world to reduce the CFC and greenhouse gasses.
Why are small island nations such as the Maldives spotlighted as being the first nations that may be completely flooded by rising sea levels?
Maldives' capital is crowded onto an island averaging just 1.5 m (5 ft.) above sea level. In 2009, the Maldives' president led his cabinet in an underwater meeting to focus international attention on the plight of island nations vulnerable to sea-level rise. For these reasons, leaders of the Maldives have played a prominent role in international efforts to fight global warming.
Explain how natural and human processes are contributing to Earth's climate change.
Natural changes happen when there is a solar energy, volcanic eruptions and natural changes in greenhouse concentrations. Humans are changing it by our pollutants that we release upon the Earth. Besides atmospheric composition, our climate is influenced by cyclic changes in Earth's rotation and orbit, variation in energy released by the sun, absorption of CO2 by oceans, and ocean circulation patterns.
How does photochemical smog that is formed only in the presence of sunlight differ from industrial smog?
Photochemical smog, created by chemical reactions of pollutants in the presence of sunlight, impairs visibility and human health widely in urban areas, whereas industrial smog from fossil fuel combustion remains a problem in urban and industrial areas of many developing nations.
Why do differences in residence time of pollutants cause environmentalists to treat the pollutants differently?
Pollutants with brief residence times exert localized impacts over short time periods. Most particulate matter and most pollutants from automobile exhaust stay aloft only for hours or days, which is why air quality in a city like Mexico City ot Los Angeles changes from day to day. In contrast, pollutants with long residence times can exert impacts regionally or globally for long periods, even centuries. The pollutants that drive climate change and those that deplete Earth's ozone layer are able to cause these global and long-lasting impacts because they persist in the atmosphere for so long.
Why are developed countries criticized for extracting new fossil fuel deposits in developing countries?
Poor countries are likely to be disproportionately harmed by the floods, droughts, and other weather-related problems spawned by a warming planet.
What is radon, how does it pollute our environment, and what is the impact of radon on human health.
Radon is a radioactive gas resulting from the natural decay of uranium in soil, rock, or water. It seeps up from the ground and can infiltrate buildings. Colorless and odorless, radon's presence can be impossible to predict without knowing an area's underlying geology. The only way to determine whether radon is entering a building is to sample air with a test kit. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the developed world.
Over the past 800,000 years CO2 levels have never been more than 300ppm. How are polar ice core analyses used to determine global carbon dioxide levels? What have the analyses evidence to scientists?
Scientists core drill down into the ice core, and like the burn rings on trees, they can read the CO2 levels across times. They bore down and can read the levels at that location, but also all over the globe. Each level represents a different stage in time. Now the CO2 levels (ppm) has risen significantly proof that it is going up.
Why is it significant to note that the greenhouse effect involves warming of the Earth's surface and troposphere?
Solar energy comes down, warms the surface of the earth, bounces back up, but gets trapped by the gasses in the troposphere. This causes the global warming that we are experiencing today.
What are solar flares? What is solar output? How are the two related? How do they relate to climate change? How does this impact on climate change compare to climate change caused by humans?
Solar flares are a big blast of energy from the sun which causes the earth to warm up. Solar output is when the sun explodes and also sends a heat wave towards earth, warming it. These are related because they both warm the earth and cause global warming. Flares and output happen occasionally, whereas humans cause global warming daily.
Who is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and what do they do? What did they say about how climate change influences wildlife, ecosystems, and society?
The IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change. Climate change can wreak havoc in the ecosystem by loss of habitats for plant and animal species. By affecting the ecosystem, we could lose the services that nature provides us. This could lead to the loss of biodiversity with the worst case leading towards the 6th extinction.
Technologies are not sufficiently reliable, and it is currently too energetically expensive for coal power plants to capture and store their carbon emissions. What does this mean for the status of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the US?
The amount of CO2 captured is not worth the cost that is involved with putting in the CCS technology
Congress mandated strict Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) to encourage automakers to achieve 35 MPG by 2020 in their fleets. What was the purpose of this?
The average fuel efficiency of new vehicles fell from 22.0 mpg in 1987 to 19.3 mpg in 2004, as sales of sport-utility vehicles increased relative to sales of cars. Since 2007, fuel economy has climbed substantially. Yet despite this advance, American automobiles continue to lag behind the vehicles of most other developed nations.
What is the best way to conserve energy in the US? Why does this process depend so heavily on you and more efficient technologies?
The best way for us to conserve energy is through automobile technology, such as electric or hybrid cars, or even through higher mpg. It depends on the person because we have to make personal decisions to drive a car that has a lower impact on the environment, or even turning off lights and appliances when not in need. We rely on more efficient technologies because to make the choice to continue to use products that conserve energy we must create more efficient technology so consumers can take part in reducing their energy consumption. Page 543.
If a car is only about 14% efficient at driving, what would happen if you could increase the efficiency to 28%?
The higher the efficiency of the car, the less CO2 emissions are released and the more the pollution levels go down
Stratosphere:
The layer of atmosphere above the troposphere; it contains the ozone layer and extends 11-50 km (7 - 31 mi) above sea level. The stratosphere is very dry; air there contains little water vapor. Because of this, few clouds are found in this layer; almost all clouds occur in the lower, more humid troposphere. Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are the exception.
Troposphere:
The lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. Most of the mass (about 75-80%) of the atmosphere is in the troposphere. Most types of clouds are found in the troposphere, and almost all weather occurs within this layer.
Why does growing rice produce methane? How much methane does growing rice cause?
The methane found is rice is produced by microscopic organisms that respire CO2. CO2 in the atmosphere makes rice plants grow faster and the extra plant growth supplies soil microorganisms with extra energy, pumping up their metabolism. Rice paddies emits as much as 500 million tons, around 20% of total man-made emissions of this gas.
How do bacterial and fungal spores cause "sick-building syndrome"?
The most widespread source of indoor air pollution in the developed world may be living organisms. Tiny dust mites can worsen asthma and cause allergies, as can dander from pets. The airborne spores of some fungi, molds, and mildews can cause allergies, asthma, and other respiratory ailments. Some airborne bacteria can cause infectious disease, including legionnaires' disease. Heating and cooling systems in buildings make ideal breeding grounds for microbes, providing moisture, dust, and foam insulation as substrates, along with air currents to carry the organisms aloft. Microbes that induce allergic responses are thought to be a major cause of building-related illness, a sickness produced by indoor pollution.
Lithosphere:
The outer layer of Earth, consisting of crust and uppermost mantle and located just above the asthenosphere. More generally, the solid part of Earth, including the rocks, sediment, and soil at the surface and extending down many miles underground.
How is relative humidity calculated? Why is this important?
The ratio of water vapor that air contains at a given temperature to the maximum amount it could contain at that temperature. Responsible for formation of clouds, precipitation, and fog.
Biosphere:
The sum total of all the planet's living organisms and the nonliving portions of the environment with which they interact. The biosphere has a great impact on the climate because the biosphere is closely connected to the atmosphere. When plants harness the Sun's energy through photosynthesis, oxygen is released into the atmosphere and carbon dioxide is taken out. When plants and animals respire, carbon dioxide gas is added to the atmosphere and oxygen is taken out. Microbes living in soils can add nitrous oxide gas to the atmosphere. As humans burn components of the biosphere such as fossil fuels, forests and fields, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere.
How is the Ogallala Aquifer put at risk by the Keystone XL pipeline?
There were concerns about damage to the ecologically sensitive Sandhills area of Nebraska and potential contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer (spills could contaminate drinking water for millions of people and irrigation water for America's breadbasket), the State Department asked TransCanada to revise its proposed route to avoid the areas of concern. It concluded that encouraging oil sands extraction by building Keystone XL would increase gas pollution - yet that if the pipeline was not built, Canada would likely find other ways to extract and sell its oil, including transporting it by rail, which presents its own set of risks.
Why would Milankovitch cycles suggest changes in Earth's rotation and orbit may trigger climate variation?
Three types of periodic changes in Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun. Over thousands of years, our planet wobbles on its axis, varies in the tilt of its axis, and experiences change in the shape of its orbit, all in regular long-term cycles of different lengths. These variations, known as Milankovitch cycles, alter the way solar radiation is distributed over Earth's surface. By modifying patterns of atmospheric heating, these cycles trigger long-term climate variation. This includes periodic episodes of glaciation during which global surface temperatures drop and ice sheets expand outward from the poles.
Why did the US fail to ratify the Kyoto Protocol? So, what if they did?
U.S leaders opposed the treaty because it was unfair due to industrial nations required to reduce emissions, but did not require the same of rapidly industrializing nations such as China and India, whose greenhouse gasses were rising quickly.
