Environmental problems Flashcards
Ecological footprint
The amount of land necessary to produce and maintain enough food and water, shelter, energy, and waste is called an ecological footprint.
What does it mean to use our resources sustainably?
Sustainable use of resources means using resources in such a way that they will be available for future generations.
What is pollution?
Pollution describes any undesirable factor, or pollutant, that is added to the air, water, or soil.
Smog
Air pollution caused by the interaction of sunlight with pollutants produced by fossil fuel emissions.
Two important kinds: particulate matter and ground-level ozone.
Ground-level ozone
Formed when nitrogen dioxide (NO2) reacts with oxygen (O2) present in the atmosphere. Ozone close to ground=harmful; ozone in stratosphere protects from UV rays.
Particulates
Microscopic bits of dust, metal, and unburned fuel, 1–10 microns in size, that are produced by many different industrial processes. Can cause health problems.
Acid rain- What is it and why is it bad?
Precipitation in which nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides from fossil fuel emissions create sulfuric and nitric acids with low pH. Can cause declining growth, break down leaves and bark, makes trees vulnerable to disease/weather.
What happens as rain falls?
H2O molecules react with CO2 molecules to form a weak carbonic acid, which then breaks apart, leaving lone hydrogen ions. Average pH: 5.6.
What is biomagnification?
It is the accumulation of toxins in the tissues of organisms higher on the food chain more so than in that of those lower on the food chain.
What is global warming?
Increased global temperatures due to increased emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, H2O, methane…)
Possible effects of global warming
Increased flooding, stronger tropical storms, and the loss of biodiversity; melted ice caps, affected weather patterns.
The greenhouse effect
Sun’s UV rays penetrate the atmosphere, absorbed and reradiated as heat, greenhouse gases absorb longer wavelengths of heat (infrared radiation), gas molecules release heat (absorbed by other molecules, Earth’s surface, or lost into space).
Why is biomagnification bad?`
It is bad because PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, chemicals can harm developing organisms like birds and cause issues in the nervous system of adult birds, overall leading to a decrease in population and disrupt the balance of an ecosystem.
Biofilms
Cells that stick together and form a slimy layer on a surface. Natural and necessary. (Ex-dental plaque- bad. Can also be good- biofilm for wastewater treatment.)
Pesticides- 6 kinds
Insecticides (destroy insect exoskeleton/nervous system), herbicides (can either target 1 plant species or all), fungicides (destroy the energy production in cells), rodenticides, bactericides, larvicides (usually added to water for mosquitoes).
