Unit 7 quiz

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

CO2, NOx, and VOCs

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

Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons

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

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

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 20.0μg/m3 over the three-year study period. The National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 is an annual mean level of 12.0μg/m3, 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 (dry scrubbers) at the plant.

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.

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

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

carbon monoxide

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

Which of the following emission is implicated in human neurological damage?

lead

Which of the following was once widely used in the United States as a gasoline additive?

lead

The beneficial ozone layer is in this region of the atmosphere.

stratosphere

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

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

wet scrubber