Air pollution Flashcards
How does burning fossil fuels cause pollution?
By causing the emission of gasses.
In what two categories can the gases that cause air pollution be categorized in?
Acidic gases and greenhouse gasses.
What gasses are acidic and what do they do.
CO2, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides.
They dissolve in atmospheric water and to form acid rain.
Acid rain lowers the pH of soil, water systems and also dissolves nutrients in the soil.
What are greenhouse gasses and what is their effect?
Carbon dioxide and water (???). they enhance the greenhouse effect.
What is the role of the greenhouse effect?
It maintains the temperature of the atmosphere at a level that is suitable for life on earth.
How does the greenhouse effect work?
Incoming radiation from the sun passes through the sun, hits the earth and is re-emitted as heat. Most of this outgoing radiation is reflected back to the earth by the CO2 and water vapour.
What is meant by the term ‘enhanced’ greenhouse effect?
Increase amount of heat being reflected due to human activity which causes increase in CO2 in the atmosphere.
What are the other pollutants which enhance the greenhouse effect?
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 1 molecule has the same effect as 10,000 CO2 molecules. Were used in fridges and freezers.
Methane emitted by microorganisms which live in the stomach of cattle or are free-living in water logged soil. 20 times for potent as CO2 but not as long lived.
What will be the effect of increase in global temperature?
Local habitat destruction and will affect the distribution of many species.
in the example of coral bleaching between which two species is there a mutualistic relationship?
coral polyps and zooxanthellae (type of alga).
In what way does the algae benefit?
Gains CO2 and ammonium from the coral polyp.
In what way does the coral benefit?
Gains sugar from algae photosynthesis.
In what way does a temperature rise of even just 1 degree upset the balance of this relationship?
Causes a build up of harmful algal metabolites, the polyp expels its toxic partner but dies as a result and leaves only its limestone skeleton (hence ‘coral bleaching’).
