Air Pollution Part 2 Flashcards
What is the anthropogenic era?
The era of humans
There are ___ as many trees now as there were
Half
Humans altered ___% of the land
50%
How long does CO2 last?
Thousands of years
The extinction rate is ___% higher now than before
55%
What is radon?
What is the solution?
A carcinogen from uranium that seeps in through the soil, ventilation
What is an indoor VOC? Where is it found?
Formaldehyde, carpets and stuffing
What is black carbon?
PM and CO from heating and cooking fires
What’s another word for reflectivity?
Albedo
What does dark PM do?
It warms surfaces
What are 2 solutions to increase albedo?
Green roofs and more efficient cook stoves
What are 5 causes of an urban heat island?
Heat retention, low albedo, lack of wind, lack of evapotranspiration, urban canyon effect
What is the urban canyon effect?
Multiple hot surfaces amplify and release heat
What are 3 solutions to urban heat islands?
Green roofs, trees, reflective white surfaces
Where do we want ozone? Why?
The stratosphere bc it protects us from UV radiation
What 3 things does UV radiation cause?
Cancer, cataracts, kills phytoplankton
Why are phytoplankton important?
They eat CO2 and start the aquatic food chain
Where don’t we want ozone? Why?
The troposphere bc it’s a component of smog
What 3 things does ozone in the troposphere cause?
Eye irritation, decreased lung function, decreased photosynthesis
Ozone blocks UV-___ but not UV-___
B, A
The ozone thinned by ___% when discovered in ____
50-90%, 1985
When is the ozone hole the largest?
When it’s cold (winter/spring)
What element tears apart ozone in the stratosphere?
Chlorine
What are 3 CFCs?
Cl, F, C
What were CFCs used for?
Coolants and refrigerants
CFCs migrate from the ______ to the ______
Troposphere, stratosphere
What does UV light do to CFCs?
It splits Cl from CFCs
What effect does Cl have on O3?
Cl tears O3 into O2 and O
What are the 4 steps of creating an ozone hole?
1) make CFCs (1930s)
2) CFCs migrate from troposphere to stratosphere
3) UV light splits Cl from CFCs
4) Cl tears O3 into O2 and O
What 2 things did the Montreal protocol do?
Banned production of CFCs, substituted HCFCs for CFCs
What can nitrogen do to the ozone layer?
It can erode it
What are 5 benefits of reducing nitrogen emissions?
It reduces eutrophication, blue baby syndrome, acid rain, climate change, and O3 hole issues
What happens in temperature inversion?
A layer of warm air overlays cool air and traps pollutants near surface
Where do temperature inversions typically happen?
Cities surrounded by mountains
What happened in London 1952?
A cold December led to increased coal burning, temp inversion lasted 5 days
What were the consequences of the London temp inversion?
2000 died in 5 days, 2000 more died in 2 weeks
What 3 things were trapped near the ground during the London temp inversion?
Soot, tar, SO2
What was the solution to the London temp inversion, and did it work?
Building smokestacks, no it didn’t work
What’s another name for atmospheric deposition?
Long range transport
What’s are 2 examples of long range transport?
Dust from Sahara settles on Miami, POPs detected in animals in Antarctic
What 4 things do volcanoes release?
PM, SO2, COx, hydrogen sulfide
What are 4 effects of air pollution on humans?
Asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, COPD
What are 3 effects of air pollution on plants?
Cell membranes are weakened, growth and reproduction are disrupted, phytoplankton are killed
What was Sudbury Ontario doing since 1886? What happened?
Smelting, SO2 was released and made sulfuric acid rain
What happened to Sudbury bc of the acid rain?
Plants within 20 square miles were destroyed
What was done to lessen the effect Sudbury had on the environment?
Environmental monitoring and scrubbers were installed in the 1970s
What are the 2 forms of acid rain?
H2SO4
HNO3
What is acid shock?
When snow or ice with acid thaws first leading to concentrated release
What are 4 ways to lessen sulfur emitted by coal?
Anthracite coal, Burning crushed limestone with crushed coal, limestone wet slurry scrubber, fluidized bed combustion
What is a benefit of using anthracite coal?
It has a naturally low sulfur content
Why does burning crushed limestone with crushed coal work?
The Ca in the limestone binds with the S in the coal
What is a limestone wet slurry scrubber?
Soupy limestone is sprayed in smokestacks to bind with S
What is fluidized bed combustion?
Why is it a good way to decrease sulfur?
Coal and limestone are burned together on an upward blowing jet, mixing action provides more efficient removal of S and heat transfer
What are 3 ways to decrease the amount of PMs?
Electrostatic precipitators, bag filters, sediment chambers
How does an electrostatic precipitator work?
Ash is electronically charged and sticks to an oppositely charged plate
What is a bag filter?
A series of bags
How does a sediment chamber work?
The chamber is closed off and gravity settles the heavy things
What are 3 things catalytic converters do?
Reduces NOx, converts CO into CO2, oxidizes hydrocarbons into CO2 and H2O
What is biofiltration?
Gas effluent is directed through soil so micro organisms break down the contaminants
Why is air quality in less developed countries bad?
Lack of infrastructure, lack of legislation, mass burning
