3.4.3 strategies to control pollutants

Question 1

what is the main cause of Delhi’s annual smoke/smog?

Answer 1

Farmers were burning the stubble left from the rice harvest to prepare the farms to sow wheat
23 million tons of crop residue burnt in 80,000sqkm

Question 2

why do the farmers burn stubble?(reason wealth- pollution)

Answer 2

they are too poor to afford the machinery

Question 3

How many people are typically affected by the Delhi smoke/smog?

Answer 3

18million people

Question 4

How long does Delhi’s ‘great smog’ usually last?

Answer 4

3 months

Question 5

What concentration of PM2.5 particles reach in Delhi during the ‘great smog’?

Answer 5

700

Question 6

what concentration of PM2.5 particles does the WHO recommend in a 24 hour period?

Answer 6

25

Question 7

What are some of the effects of the smoke/smog in Delhi?

Answer 7

visibility significantly reduced
smell of burning gas
40,000 premature deaths
medical emergency (hospitals full of wheezing people)

Question 8

Why did India’s ‘green revolution’ in the late 1960’s and 1970’s lead to the annual ‘great smog’?

Answer 8

contribute to the creation and timing of air pollution crisis as now farmers that were struggling now had vast yields over large areas and new machinery which leaves sharp residue that needs to be burnt (as otherwise people and animals would be harmed)

Question 9

What other factors contribute to Delhi’s annual smoke/somg?

Answer 9

construction dust
factory and vehicular emissions

Question 10

What is the Indian governments main solution to the annual smoke/smog?

Answer 10

‘happy seeders’ which help plant wheat seeds without getting jammed by stubble of previous rice crop (reducing the need for burning)

Question 11

Apart from temperature what can affect dispersal of pollution?

Answer 11

Wind direction
Water current

Question 12

What is an example of wind dispersal of pollutants?

Answer 12

after the Chernobyl reactor explosion there was radiation fallout in Europe

Question 13

What was the reason for the dispersal of the radiation from Chernobyl?

Answer 13

presence of strong winds in atmosphere pushed radioactive fallout into west Europe and Scandinavia

Question 14

What country found out the Chernobyl reactor had exploded?

Answer 14

a few days after the explosion raised levels of background radiation were observed in Sweden

Question 15

What other factors added to the radiations impact?(chernobly)

Answer 15

it is persistent so lasts for a long time in the atmosphere (meaning it was still a problem by the time it reached Europe)

Question 16

What will current sin water do to pollutants?

Answer 16

will move the pollutants away, dispersing them through the water so that the pollutants become diluted

Question 17

In what type of river will pollutants be dispersed quickly downstream?

Answer 17

Rivers with a fast and turbulent flow

Question 18

What will happen to pollutants in lakes and slow flowing rivers?

Answer 18

Pollutants will have time to settle out of the water into sediments
Pollutants will remain close to point of discharge

Question 19

Where does temperature influence the degradation of pollutants? (types of habitat affected)

Answer 19

water
sediment
soil
As (bio) chemical reactions are temperature dependant

Question 20

How does temperature affect reactions?

Answer 20

most chemical reactions occur more rapidly as the temperature increases

Question 21

What happens to pollutant degradation at high temperatures?

Answer 21

Typically break down more rapidly

Question 22

What can happen if pollutants are exposed to UV light?

Answer 22

results in chemical reactions eventually leading to the breakdown of pollutants

Question 23

What is an example of UV light and degradation?

Answer 23

photodegradation which involves the process of oxidation breaking down chemical bonds such as CFCs

Question 24

How can pH affect pollutants?

Answer 24

can become more or less soluble with changes in pH

Question 25

What are the effects of pH making a pollutant more or less soluble?

Answer 25

it may take longer to degrade, increasing persistence and potential toxicity within the environment

Question 26

How can pollution interactions affect degradation?

Answer 26

it 2 pollutants begin to degrade the chemical reaction between the 2 can lead to the creation of secondary pollutants which may take longer to degrade