Environmental Issues - Pollution

Question 1

Define: Pollution

Answer 1

Release of substances of forms or forms of energy into the environment that cause harm, especially to living organisms

Question 2

What is Atmospheric pollution usually caused by?

Answer 2

Human activities such as smoke from forest fires, acidic gases released by volcanoes

Question 3

Atmospheric pollution

Answer 3

Behaves differently to other pollutants

Rapid distribution due to wind will lead to dispersal over a large area and interactions with electromagnetic radiation can cause chemical reactions to occur

Question 4

Pollution of water

Answer 4

Rivers, lakes and oceans have been used to dump waste for a long time

The water cycle is a natural purification process, water vapour produced by evaporation is pure. When it falls and travels to a body of water it may carry dissolved and suspended pollutants. When the water evaporates again, the pollutants are left behind

Factors are:

Effluent quantity
Volume
Resistance

Question 5

Water Pollution - Removal

Answer 5

Pollutants can become less of a problem if they become part of the sediment in the body of water, effectively removing the pollutant from the water

Question 6

Water Pollution - Dispersal

Answer 6

Water currents will move pollutants away and making them more dilute

Dilution of pollutants in seas and lakes can reduce the effects of the pollution, but can be damaging and more concentrated if the pollutant does not biodegrade

Pollutants may bioaccumulate in organisms within the body of water