Chapter 13

Question 1

Composition of the Atmosphere

Answer 1

nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and a mix of gases at dilute concentrations; 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, 1% argon and minute concentrations

Question 2

Troposphere (Tropopause)

Answer 2

altitude: 0-11 km; temp drops with increasing altitude; ozone concentration low

Question 3

Stratosphere

Answer 3

11-50 km; temps rises with increasing altitude; ozone concentration high

Question 4

Mesosphere

Answer 4

50-85 km; temp drops with increasing altitude

Question 5

Thermosphere

Answer 5

85-120 km; temp rises with increasing altitude

Question 6

Properties of the Atmosphere

Answer 6

Temperature
Pressure
Humidity
Solar Radiation

Question 7

Hadley Cells

Answer 7

convective cells near the equator set in motion by solar radiation; a large-scale atmospheric convection cell in which air rises at the equator and sinks at medium latitudes, typically about 30° north or south.

Question 8

Ferrel Cells

Answer 8

the average motion of air in the mid-latitudes. It is characterized by sinking air near 30 degrees and rising air farther poleward. the air flows poleward and eastward near the surface and equatorward and westward at higher levels.

Question 9

Polar Cells

Answer 9

Air rises, diverges, and travels toward the poles.

Question 10

Coriolis Effect

Answer 10

from the perspective of a Earth-bound observer air currents that flow north or south appear to be deflected from a straight path or curved b/c of the Earth’s rotation; from space the path appears straight; it results in the curving global wind patterns (westerlies and trade winds)

Question 11

Westerlies

Answer 11

the belt of prevailing westerly winds in the mid-latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres.

Question 12

Trade Winds

Answer 12

wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea. Two belts of trade winds encircle the earth, blowing from the tropical high-pressure belts to the low-pressure zone at the equator.

Question 13

Thermal Inversions

Answer 13

departure from the normal temperature distribution in the atmosphere, in which a pocket of relatively cold air occurs near the ground with warmer air above it. The cold air, denser than the air above it, traps pollutants near the ground and can thereby cause buildup of smog

Question 14

Hurricane

Answer 14

a huge storm; It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean. Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters.

Question 15

Cyclone

Answer 15

a system of winds rotating inward to an area of low atmospheric pressure, with a counterclockwise (northern hemisphere) or clockwise (southern hemisphere) circulation

Question 16

Typhoon

Answer 16

a tropical storm in the region of the Indian or western Pacific oceans

Question 17

Tornado

Answer 17

a mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath a large storm system

Question 18

Natural Air Pollution Sources

Answer 18

wildfires, volcanoes and dust storms

Question 19

Anthropogenic Air Pollution Sources

Answer 19

controlled burns, gasoline emissions, waste disposal landfills, factory emissions

Question 20

Primary Pollutants

Answer 20

pollutants released directly from a source

Question 21

Secondary Pollutants

Answer 21

when primary pollutants interact or react with constituents of the atmosphere and form other pollutants; examples include ozone from pollutants in urban smog; acids in acid rain

Question 22

Residence time

Answer 22

the amount of time a pollutant spends in the atmosphere

Question 23

Clean Air Acts of 1955, 1963, 1970, 1990

Answer 23

first enacted in 1963 and amended multiple times; funds research into pollution control, sets standards for air quality, imposes limits on emissions from new sources, and enables citizens to sue parties violating the standards

Question 24

Carbon monoxide

Answer 24

(CO) colorless, odorless gas produced primarily by the incomplete combustion of fuel; vehicles and engines account for most CO emissions in the U.S.; other sources: industrial processes, waste combustion, residential wood burning; binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells preventing hemoglobin from binding with oxygen

Question 25

Sulfur Dioxide

Answer 25

colorless gas with a pungent odor; results from the combustion of coal for electricity and industry; may settle back to the Earth as acid deposition

Question 26

Nitrogen Oxides

Answer 26

includes nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide; results from rxn with the atmosphere and hot vehicle engines/ combustion; also from fuel combustion in industry and at electrical utilities; contributes to smog, acid deposition and stratospheric ozone depletion

Question 27

Volatile Organic Compounds

Answer 27

carbon-containing chemicals emitted by vehicle engines and a wide variety of solvents, industrial processes, household chemicals and consumer items; ie benzene, formaldehyde, acetone; anthropogenic VOCs consist of hydrocarbons and naturally occurring VOCs are emitted by plants; can react to produce secondary pollutants in smog for examples

Question 28

Particulate Matter

Answer 28

composed of solid or liquid particles small enough to be suspended in the atmosphere; includes primary pollutants such as dust and soot and secondary pollutants such as sulfates and nitrates; classified by the size of the particle

Question 29

Lead

Answer 29

a heavy metal that enters the atmosphere as a particulate pollutant; can be added to gasoline to improve engine performance but emits airborne lead; when it enters the food chain it bioaccumulates; since the 1980s U.S. has phased out leaded gasoline

Question 30

Impacts of legislation

Answer 30

(fig 13.7, 13.10, 13.11) U.S. emissions have declines sharply since 1970; concentrations of criteria pollutants in ambient air across the U.S. have steadily fallen, in most U.S. cities air has become cleaner

Question 31

Smog

Answer 31

an unhealthy mixture of air pollutants that often forms over urban areas as a result of fossil fuel combustion; air pollution is getting worse in industrializing nations

Question 32

Industrial Smog

Answer 32

in cities; “gray air”; caused by the incomplete combustion of coal or oil when burned; fossil fuel combustion (fig 13.13)

Question 33

Photochemical smog

Answer 33

“brown air”; caused by light-driven reactions of primary pollutants with normal atmospheric compounds that produce a mix of over 100 different chemicals, ground-level ozone often being the most abundant among them (fig 13.14)

Question 34

Greenhouse Gases

Answer 34

a gas that absorbs infrared radiation released by Earth’s surface and then warms the surface and troposphere by emitting energy, thus giving rise to the greenhouse effect; include CO2, water vapor, ozone, nitrous oxide, halocarbon gases and methane

Question 35

Ozone Depletion

Answer 35

certain airborne chemicals destroy ozone and most are human-made; ie CFCs

Question 36

Stratospheric Ozone

Answer 36

protects life on Earth by absorbing the sun’s UV radiation which damages tissues and DNA

Question 37

Tropospheric Ozone

Answer 37

a pollutant in photochemical smog

Question 38

Chlorofluorocarbons

Answer 38

CFCs; a type of halocarbon that used to be used as refrigerants, as fire extinguishers, propellants for aerosol spray cans, cleaners for electronics and for making polystyrene foam; can linger in the stratosphere for a century or more

Question 39

Ozone Hole

Answer 39

a chlorine atom released from a CFC molecule in the presence of UV radiation reacts with an ozone molecule forming one molecule of oxygen gas and one chlorine monoxide molecule; the oxygen atom of the ClO molecule then binds with a stray oxygen atom to form oxygen gas leaving the chlorine atom to begin the destructive cycle again; this leaves a thinned ozone concentration over the Antarctic

Question 40

1987 Montreal Protocol

Answer 40

restricts the production of CFCs and cut them by half in 1998; follow up agreements have phased out ozone depleting substances by now; as a result the ozone hole has stopped growing worse

Question 41

Acid deposition

Answer 41

AKA acid rain; acid-forming pollutants from the atmosphere that fall onto Earth’s surface; often takes place as precipitation but can also occur by fog, gases or the deposition of dry particles

Question 42

Causes of acid depostion

Answer 42

the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, largely through fossil fuel combustion by automobiles, electric utilities and industrial facilities; once airborne they react with water, oxygen and oxidants to produce compounds of low pH

Question 43

Impacts of acid deposition

Answer 43

leach nutrients from topsoil, alters soil chemistry, harms plants and soil organisms; “mobilizes” toxic metal ions by chemically converting them from insoluable to soluable forms; can damage root tissue of plants, hinder their uptake of water and nutrients, kill trees

Question 44

Clean Air Act: Acid Rain Program

Answer 44

fights acid deposition in the U.S. ; set up an emissions trading system for sulfur dioxide; coal-fired power plants were allocated permits for emitting sulfur dioxide and could buy, sell or trade these allowances; pollution decreased and precipitation have become less acidic as air quality improved under the Clean Air Act

Question 45

Developing Nations

Answer 45

indoor air pollution exerts most impact in the developing world b/c poverty forces people to burn wood, charcoal, animal manure or crop waste inside their home for cooking and heating with little or no ventilation; soot and carbon monoxide increased risks of death, pneumonia, lung cancer, allergies, asthma, heart disease

Question 46

Developed Nations

Answer 46

primary indoor health risks are smoke and radon;

Question 47

Chemical Indoor Air Pollution

Answer 47

smoke; gasoline; old paint; heating and cooling ducts; fireplaces; pesticides; insulation

Question 48

Biological Indoor Air Pollution

Answer 48

pets/animal dander; rocks and soil beneath the house: radon;