After Midterm Flashcards
Atmosphere’s 4 layers
Troposphere-Blankets earths surface about 11km’s high
Stratosphere- extends from 11km to 50km asl
- similar to troposphere except 1000 times dryer
- includes the ozone layer from 17km-30km
Mesophere-50km to 85km
Thermosphere- Top layer extends to 500km
-100km is deemed the boundary between atmosphere and outer space as the Thermosphere gradually fades
TORONTO SUCKS MOST TIMES
tropopause
the point at which temperature stops declining with altitude
-acts like a cap, limiting mixing between the troposphere and stratosphere
environmental lapse rate
the rate at which temperature dicreases with height in the troposphere
ozone layer is between __km and __km and in the __________
17-30
stratosphere
The point at which the atmosphere ends and outerspace begins is around ___km leaving the final layer _______
100
Thermosphere
Distinguishing characteristics of air mass (3)
temp
atmospheric pressure
relative humidity
More then ___watts hits the upper atmos continuaouslly
__% is absorbed by atmos and planetary surface
1000
70
weather fronts
the boundary between air masses that differ in moisture content and temperature( and therefore density)
warm front: some of the air rises over the cold air mass and then cools and condences to form clouds that may produce light rain
cold front: colder drier air tends to wedge itself under the warm air making it rise and develop into thunderstorms
once cold air passes through the sky usually clears
warm front
warm front: some of the air rises over the cold air mass and then cools and condences to form clouds that may produce light rain
cold front
cold front: colder drier air tends to wedge itself under the warm air making it rise and develop into thunderstorms
once cold air passes through the sky usually clears
high pressure system
contains are that circulates away from a centre of high pressure as it decends
-typpically bring fair weather
low pressure system
air moves towards the low atmospheric pressure at the centre of the system and spirals upward
-the air expands and cools and clouds and precipitation often occur
Hadley cells
Ferrel Cells & Polar Cells
over the equator and results in arid(desert) conditions at 30 degrees latitude because of intense sunlight at the equator releasing all moisture
do the same thing in that at 60 degrees North they dump all moisture
Trade Winds and Westerlies
Trade winds move from east to west from equator to 30 degrees north and south
-the middle of them or where the S and N trade winds meet is called a doldrum and occures at the Intertopical Convergence Zone
Westerlies in the far North and south originate in the west and blow east
where the N and S trade winds meet and are deflected toward the west, just north and south of the equator, lies a region with little wind known as _______ and occurs in the ______ ______ _____
doldrums
intertopic convergence zone
Primary Pollutants
ex:
are emmited into the troposphere in a form that can be directly harmful or tht can react to form harmful substances
ex: soot and carbon dioxide
Secondary Pollutants
ex:
Harmful substances produced when primary pollutants interact or react with constituents of the atmosphere
ex:ozone, sulphuric acid
Environment Canada groups pollutants into 4 four categories
. criteria air contaminants
- First to be listed as a concern
- ex:sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide
. persistent organic pollutants
- can last in environment for much longer periods
- can travel great distances
- ex:DDT, PCB’S
. heavy metals
- can transported by air, enter water or food supply, and reside for long periods in sediment
- can bioaccumulate and are poisonous
- ex: Mercury, lead
. toxic air pollutants
- “other” category that are known to be toxic
- overlaps with other categories
- most produced bby humans
- ex:lead, mercury, asbestos
Monitoring shows that in Canada air pollution has decreased?
T OR F
T
most dramatic decrease in air polution sources is in atmospheric lead which has decreased by __%
97
scrubbers
chemically convert or physically remove airborne pollutants before they are emmited from smokestacks
two types of smog: _____ and ______
industrial(CO2) and photochemical(NO2)
airshed
geogrpahical area associated with a particular air mass
ex: weather promoting photochemical smog
_____ was the substance that was primarily associated with the discovery of ozone depletion
chlorofluorcarbons
Since the _______ protocal ozone depleting substance use has dropped by __%
Montreal
95
____ _____ is by far the most abundent naturally occuring greenhouse gas in the atmos and contributes most to natural greenhouse effect
water vapour
the higher the internal heat, the more water vapour that will be released into atmos making greenhouse gases worse
radiative forcing
the ammount of change in energy that a given factor causes
positive forcing warms the surface while negative cools it
Milankovitch cycles
changes in wobbling in earths axis , tilt of axis, and change in shape of ofEarths orbit around the sun lead to variations in insolation that are suffecient to trigger climactic changes such as periodic episodes of glaciation and interglaciation
thermohaline circulation
the movement of water through ocean currents affects temperature and climate
paleoclimate
climate in the geological past
proxy evidence
are types of indirect evidence that serve as proxies or substitutes for direct measurement and shed light on past climate
ex: growth rings on trees
by extracting ice cores from greenland and antarctica scientists can now go back in time ___ thousand years to look at climate history
800
stable isotope geochemsistry
allows for reaseachers to look at isotopes and the naturally occuring variations which demonstrates history of climate
We can respond to climate change in 3 distinct ways
mitigation
adaption
intervention(geoengineering)-scientists dont want to risk considering this
-would ither be by aiming to increase fluxes of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or to reduce incoming solar radiation
per person, the most industrialized nations use ___ times as much energy as the least industrialized
100
Net energy(energy return on investment)=______/______
Usable energy returned/energy invested
kerogen
peat
oil and natural gas precursor
precursor to coal
_____ coal is the highest grade of coal
anthracite(black metamorphic)-most compressed
Natural gas can arise from two processes
- ) Biogenic gas created at shallow depths by anaerobic decomposition of organic matter by bactera
- being used at dumps - )Thermogenic gas from compresion of organic material accompanied by heating deep underground
hydraulic fracturing or fracking
involved pumping fluid(usually water) under high pressure into the rocks to crack them. Sand or small glass beads are injected to hold the cracks open once the water is withdrawn
-used to recover shale gas
hydraulic fracturing or fracking used to recover ____ gas
shale
oil accounts for / of total energy consumption
1/3
today our global society produces and consumes nearly ___L of oil each year for each living person
675
sour vs sweet crude
sour=lots of sulphur
sweet=less sulphur
petroleum trap
combination of a source rock, resevoir rock, and cap rock
Thermokarst
terrain associated with melting permafrost
we have already used up 1/3 of the worlds oil
T OR F
F=1/2
used 1.1 trillion barrels
with __ trillion barrels used, the remaining __ trillion will last us approximately __ years
1.1,1.7, 55
oil sands contain ______
bitumen
oil shale vs. shale oil vs. Shale gas
oil shale: a sedimentary rock that contains abundant kerogen, organic precursor to oil and natural gas.
- occurs when not deep enough to have become oil
- mined by strip
- can be burned like coaL
shale oil: the occurence of crude oil within the sedimentary rock shale
-secondary extraction used
Shale gas:Natural gas can be produced by fracking shale
Methane Hydrate
huge potential as there is 20 times the ammount of it compared to natural gas from all other sources
- generally found on ocean floor and underground arctic locations
- no current feasible teachnique known of that can safely extract it yet.
carbon capture and sequestration(CCS)
new technology for cleaning up carbon based fuel sources
conventional alternative energy sources (3)
hydro,nucleur,Biomass
new renewables (4) new account for more then \_\_% of energy consumption
Wind, Solar, Tidal, Geothermal
16
two types of hydroelectric tech
Resevoir or Impoundment
-guarentees water flow
Run-of-River
-minimizes negative impacts on environment
thermal pollution
when the temperature is increased causing damage to the environment
ex: hydroelectric dams
define nucleur energy
the reaction that drives the release of nucleur energy within nucleur reactors of power plants is _______
is the energy that holds together protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom
-it is harnessed by releasing it and converting it to thermal energy
fission
fission
the splitting apart of atom nuclei
- the nuclei of a large heavy atom such as uranium or putonium are bombarded with neutrons causing them to break apart
- can cause chain reaction with other atoms
Uranium-___ is much more prevelent in nature and more effecient yet Uranium-___ is used much more often because it is less expensive, safer, and can hold a chain reaction better
Nucleur power is ___ times lower then fossil fuels combustion emissions
238
235
150
fusion
the proccess which drives the sun’s vast output of energy and the force behind hydrogen or themonucleur bombs involves forcing together the small nuclei of lightweight elements under extremely high temperature and pressure
- the current strategy of fusion is unusable as it uses more energy then it puts out
- the need for “cold fusion”
two main types of biofuels are
ethanol and biodeisel
passive solar
built environment is manufacturd in order to promote maximum absorption of sunlight in winter
thermal mass in building materials is used to capture heat on hot days and store it until colder weather
Active solar
make use of technological devices to focus, move, and store energy
ex: solar panels
direct approach to producing electricity from sunlight involves _______(__)___ which collect sunlgiht and convert it to electrical energy
photovoltaic (pv) cells
.it occurs when light strikes one of a pair of metal plate in a PV cell, causing the release of electrons, which are attracted by electrostatic forces from the opposing plate
-flow of electrons from one plate to another creates an electrical current (direct, DC) which can be converted to alternating cureent(AC) and used for residences.
-one plate(N-type) is rich in electrons; other(P-type) is electron poor
____ power is the fastest growing energy sector
wind
3 types of traditional geothermal energy
- dry steam
- hot water
- Ground Source Heat/cooling Pumps
ocean thermal energy conversion
the oceans sun warmed surface is higher in temperature then its deep surface and could provide heat
Hydrogen Fuels
.still being researched, because of its great potential as it might hold the key to energy storage
- use of fuel cells
- renewable sources of energy can produce hydrogen for storage
electrolysis
electricity is input to split hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atoms of water molecules
gangue
the waste rock and nonvaluable minerals associated with ores are refered to as
___ and ____ are the most commonly mined nonmetallic mineral resources
sand and gravel
coltan(tantalum)
used in loads of electronics
-based out of the wartorn congo
alloy
metalls melted and mixed with another metal or nonmetal substance
-ex: metal iron fused with carbon is steel
__ different minerals are mined in Canada
60
Types of Mining (5)
- Subsurface-Most dangerous
- Solution Mining ex:salt
- Strip Mining- mountaintop removal
- open pit
- Placer-river sifting for gold and coltan
Stages of mining
- ) Exploration
- ) Mining and milling
- ) smelting and refining
- ) post-operational management, reclamation, and restoration
EAT MY SMELLY PENIS
____ ____ _____ is considered the most significant environmental liability facing the mining industry in N.A
acid rock drainage
slag
the solid remanant of smelting is a clinkery-looking susbtance called
reserve
in the context of mineral resources, a reserve is that portion of the resource that is economically and legally mineable using current tech
Beare Road pit in Rouge Park, Toronto
example of site reclamation
since 1960 N.A waste generation has increased by ___%
300
waste is devided into ( 4 ) categories
- Municipal Solid Waste-non liguified waaste that comes from homes, etc.
- Industrial
- Hazordous-solid or liquid waste that is toxic
- Waste water
Three main types of Waste management
- Minimizing the ammount of waste we generate
- recovering waste materials and finding ways to recycle them
- disposing of waste safely and effectively
Waste Management Hierarchy: 5
Reduce-Most Desireable Reuse Recycle and Compost Recover(Energy) Residual Management and Disposal-Least Desireable
____ even after recycling is the largest contributor to municipal solid waste
paper
white goods
thrown away old durable goods that still are good just for new ones
__ million tonnes of waste produced in Canada in 2010
25
Hazardous Waste 4 categories
- Flammable
- Corrosive
- Reactive
- Toxic
3 disposal methods for hazourdous waste that do nothing to lessen the hazards but they do help keep the waste isolated from people
- Secure Landfills
- Surface Impoundments(ponds) for liquid or particulate waste (not ideal)
- Deep-well injection(long term)-litterally injecting waste deep into the ground(idiotic)
total number of synthetic chemicals in industrial use probably exceeds ______
only about __% have been tested for harmful effects
100,000
10
teratogens
toxicants that affect the development of embryos in the womb and cause birth deffects
in ____ Canada became the first country to declare ______ _ as dangerous substance
2008, bisphenol A
difference between biomagnification or bioaccumulation and bioconcentration?
bioconcentration is for terrestrial environments
pesticide drift
airborne transport of pesticides
threshold dose
sometimes no response is see untik a certain dose is exceeded
or
sometimes responces increase with dose until a certain point
or
the point at which possitive effects change to negative
synergistic effects
when two or more chemicals combine to have negative health effects
Anthropocentrism
Takes a human-centered view of our relationship with the environment, denying and ignoring the notion that non-human entities can have rights and measures the costs and benefits of actions solely according to their impact on people
Biocentrism
ascribes values to actions, entities, or properties on the basis of their affects on all living things or on the integrity of the biotic realm in general.
Ecocentrism
judges actions in terms of their benefit or harm to the integrity of whole ecological systems, which consits of biotic and abiotic elements and the relationships among them.
transcentatalism
a movement during the industrial revolution that saw nature as a direct manifestation of god and despised what they saw as an obsession with material things
preservation ethic
believes that we should maintain the natural environment in a pristine unaltered state.
-Muir
conservation ehtic
should put natura resources to good use but also have the responsability to manage them wisely
-Pinchot
Land ethic
view the the land and humans as part of the same community
Leopold
deep ecology
holistic movement resting on principles of “self realization” and biocentric equality
Ecofeminism
arguement that nature is suppressed in the same manner as women
types of economy(2)
- Subsistence-all directly from nature
2. Capitalist Market Economy
Ecological Economics
takes a holistic view of the linkages between environment and economy, applying the principles of ecology to the study of economics
-believe that economics should include long term thinking and a recognition that unsustainable practices cannot be sustsained by technological advancements
Environmental Economics
traditional economics that pays particular attention to valuing environmental goods and services and giving credit for actionas taken on behalf of the environment
-agrees that current practices are unsustainable if population growth and current resource use continues but beieve our current economic system can be sustained while fixing these issues
natural resource accounting
which seeks mechanisms by which to incorporate the economic asset values of natural resources into national accounting systems.
GPI
Genuine Progress Indicator
-includes regular economic profile of GDP but adds non-monetary positives and negatives that are associated
contingent valuation
uses surveys to determine how much people are willing to pay to protect a resource or to restore it after damage has been done
-also includes how much compensation would be needed for this resource being used
global value for ecosystem services is approximately ___ trillion per year
145
3 challenges of environmental policy
- ) protect resources and environmental quality, especially in the context of resources that are commonly owned
- )to deal with the equitable distribution of resources and access to resources
- )to manage downstream environmental costs and costs that are not internalized by the market and to ensure that those costs are distributed equitably
Environment policy was really kicked up a notch in the 19__-19__
60’s-70’s
State-of-the-Environement-Reporting
Used to answer 5 key questions
refers to the collection,organization,and reporting of information that can be used to measure and monitor changes in the environment and in processes or factors that have impacts on the environment over time
- reported using “indicators”
- began with our common future report in 1987
1. )What is happening in the environemtn?
2. )why is it happening?
3. )why is it significant?
4. )what is being done about it
5. ) Is this response sustainable
chapter __ in NAFTA is the one that has the ability to undermine environmental policy because they could be seen as barriers to international free trade
11
command-and-control
top-down policy
- has done alot for the environment
- fails if policy isnt clear and objectives properly explained
- Canada generally avoids this type of approach
- alternatives are market oriented, generally economically related (subsidies,taxes,permit trading,etc.)
environmental primacy
the idea that the other to factors(social and economic) both are dependent upon the environment in sustainability
-“strong sustanability”
Sustainable Development Goals- there are __ of them
17
9 strategies for sustainability
- ) Engage politically and excersize our power as consumers
- ) rethink economic growth and quality of life
- ) stabilize population
- ) encourage the development of green tech
- )mimic the natural systems by promooting closed loop industrial proccesses
- ) think in long term
- )enhance local self-effeciency, yet embrace some aspects of globalization
- )use systems thinking to find holistic solutions
- )promote research, education, and awareness
