Class Test Flashcards
What does GDP measure?
The value of all goods & services produced in a country over a specific time period
How have groundwater extraction, fertiliser use, & copper production depleted natural resources?
Groundwater extraction can cause subsidence, fertilisers cause ocean acidification & anoxia, & copper depletes REEs
What does ecological footprint measure?
How fast natural resources are consumed & waste is generated compared to how fast nature can generate new resources and absorb our waste
What is ecological overshoot?
The point at which our demand on nature exceeds what ecosystems can supply/regenerate
What are the 4 main GHG emission target events?
Kyoto Protocol (1997), UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), Paris Agreement (2015), COP26 (2021)
What are the costs of climate change & climate change prevention on global GDP (per year)?
Climate change: at least 5% of GGDP, up to 20%
Prevention: ~1% GGDP
What is the atmospheric GHG target for climate stabilisation? What is the current level? How much do the levels rise per year?
450-550ppm; current level ~420ppm; levels rise ~2ppm per year
What GHG emission reduction target does the UK 2008 Climate Change Act commit to by 2050?
100%
Name 2 government levers for economic-based risk reduction
Carbon tax (used in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, & UK) & tradable permits/cap & trade (used in EU)
What are the 5 primary anthropogenic pollutants?
CO, NOx, particles, NMVOC, & SO2
What are the 4 categories of particulate matter & how are they determined?
Inhalable, thoracic, respirable, & ultrafine; they are based on the area of the human body that they can reach (extrathoracic, trachea, deep lung, & alveoli)
What are the 4 primary steps of pollution & how are they controlled?
Emission, chemical transformation, dispersion, & concentration. They are controlled by source, atmospheric chemistry, weather, & topography
How have PM, SO2, & NOx concentrations changed since 1970?
PM has exponentially decreased, with a large descent in 2020 and subsequent rise in 2021, but wood-burning has increased emissions in the last decade
SO2 has fallen by 98% in an exponential pattern
NOx has sharply decreased from 1990
What are thermal inversions & how do they influence pollutant dispersion?
Areas in which cold air is trapped in valleys or against hill ranges
They cause warmer pollutants to rise & become trapped, reacting with solar radiation to worsen pollution (London Smog, 1952)
What conditions lead to high PM?
Winter inversions, bonfires & fireworks, hot, sunny weather with no wind, sea salt & gales, Saharan dust plumes, agriculture, & forest fires
What are the 2 international agreements for reducing trans-boundary pollution?
National Emissions Ceilings Directive (EU ceilings for SO2, NOx, NMVOC, & NH3) & Gothenburg Protocol
What are the primary effects of PM on the human body?
Cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, & lung cancer
What are pollutant critical loads & exceedance?
The amount of acid or nitrogen deposition below which significant harmful effects do not occur to sensitive habitats
Exceedance marks the amount of excess
What 4 factors are used to model pollution?
Emission, chemical reactions (between gases & aerosols), transport & dispersion (by winds), & removal processes
What is the UK AURN?
Automatic Urban & Rural Network; largest automatic monitoring network with 174 stations, used for compliance reporting, public data, & forecasts
What is the Air Quality Index based on?
The concentration of the 5 main pollutants at PM2.5 & PM10
What are the 4 main types of PM monitors?
Gravimetric (filters PM), Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance/Filter Dynamics Measurement Systems (measures volatile component), Beta Attenuation Monitor (measures mass concentration), Optical Analysers (uses visibility loss of light)
What is the Clean Air Act?
Enacted in response to London Smog, limiting smoke fuels and moving power stations away from cities. Now also regulates industrial chimneys and prohibits dark smoke
What is the NAPCP
The National Air Pollution Control Program sets out measurements & analysis for meeting emission reduction commitments
How did the Environmental Protection Act change pollution regulation?
It brought many small emission sources under air pollution control by local authorities for the first time
What are the 2 dominant geological indoor pollution risks?
Radon (decay product of uranium, present in granite & some limestones) & asbestos (fibrous suite of minerals formerly widely used in building). Radon percolates into dwellings, while asbestos is still present in many buildings
How are environmental pollutants transferred into humans?
Inhalation, ingestion, or absorption
What health problems does indoor pollution exposure cause?
Mesothelioma, lung cancer, & asbestosis
What are the 3 sources of pollutants?
Geogenic (volcanoes, landslides/debris flow, desert dust, mined materials), geoanthropogenic (wildfires, contaminated sediments/waters, building debris from natural disasters), & anthropogenic (industrial/synthetic chemicals, building debris, tobacco smoke)
What are the chemical, biological, & physical pathways of environmental exposure?
Chemical: air pollutants, chemicals, & elements interact with the body’s biochemical pathways
Biological: organisms in food & water cause infection
Physical: noise, radiation, & temperature cause damage to the body
What are the 3 factors quantifying human pollution exposure?
Intensity, frequency, & duration
What is dose?
The amount of an agent deposited in the body
What are stochastic & non-stochastic dose-response models?
Stochastic (random): linear relationships between risk & dose
Non-stochastic (deterministic): linear relationship between severity & dose (safe dosages exist)
What steps should be included in an environmental health management risk assessment? (HECDR)
- Hazard Identification
- Exposure Assessment
- Clinical Testing
- Dose-Response Analysis
- Risk Characterisation
What is carbon net zero?
A target of completely negating the amount of GHG produced by human activity
What are HFCs, PFCs, & SF6 and how are they formed?
Hydrofluorobarbons, perfluorocarbons, & sulphur hexafluoride; they are only caused by human activity
What low/zero carbon sources are both renewable and sustainable?
Wind, solar, wave, tidal, biofuels, & hydropower
What does water quality refer to?
The suitability of water to sustain various uses or processes, including chemical, physical, & biological characteristics
What is the water framework directive?
EU legislation transposed into UK law, setting standards for dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, reactive phosphorous, ammonia, & priority substances
How is the status of a water body determined for EQS?
In chemical (physical & chemical properties) & ecological status (health of river’s biological communities)
What differentiates diffuse & point sources of pollution?
Diffuse sources occur on a catchment scale, including fertilisers & deposition of airborne pollutants, whereas point sources are single, identifiable sources, including waste from a specific plant
What are hydromorphological pollutants?
Pollutants that impact natural river flow (e.g. dams), leading to nutrient enrichment, chemical pollution, & habitat alteration
What solute types can be found in rivers?
Ions, organic carbon, trace metals, nutrients, & pharmaceuticals
What are uPBTs & how did they effect 2019 UK water quality?
Ubiquitous, persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances. They were added to the framework in 2019, causing all rivers to fail on chemical status
What are PFAS?
Poly-fluoroalkyl substances: synthetic organic compounds containing multiple F atoms bonded to C to form ‘forever chemicals’
What is UK REACH?
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, & Restriction of Chemicals: part of chemical regulation framework ensuring protection for human & environmental health
What are the 2 key activities of UK REACH?
Restriction on manufacture of substances & regulatory management options analysis to assess human & environmental health risks of substances
What are the 5 priority chemicals in UK REACH?
PFAS, formaldehyde, bisphenols in thermal paper, hazardous flame retardants, & intentionally added microplastics
What was the Flint River Water Crisis?
Galvanic corrosion in drinking water pipes allowed lead to enter the water supply
What are the steps to an environmental impact assessment? (NESMSM)
- Neccesity of EIA
- Extent of Consideration
- Significance of Impacts
- Mitigation Plans
- Statement
- Monitoring
What are risk & hazard?
Risk: the chance of an adverse event with specific consequences
Hazard: a situation that could lead to harm
How are risks ranked? (HRH HXR)
- Hazard Identification
- Receptor Identification
- Hazard Likelihood
- Hazard Consequence
- Likelihood & Consequence
- Rank Risks
What is a market externality?
The economic cost or benefit that is the by-product of economic activity for which no appropriate compensation is paid (e.g. pollution when a company does not bear all costs)
What is net national welfare?
The adjustment of GDP upwards for the value of non-market efforts & consumption plus the value of capital services
What are the 6 steps in a cost benefit analysis?
- Define the project
- Identify physical impacts
- Valuation of impacts
- Discount cost/benefit flows
- Apply net present value
- Sensitivity analysis of NPV
What are cost & benefit flows?
The movement of expenses & outcomes over a period of time; these can be converted into present value
What is net present value?
The time-discounted profit/loss that a project is expected to generate
