Exam 3-Chapter 19

Question 1

about smog/types

Answer 1

smoke + fog/industrial - irritating, grayish, soot and sulfur. can be from coal burning. photochemical - in morning traffic, brownish, irritating haze, warm and sunny areas

Question 2

what is acid deposition

Answer 2

acid precipitation plus dry-particulate fallout

Question 3

what is the ozone layer

Answer 3

stratospheric ozone layer protects Earth from harmful UV radiation

Question 4

What are air pollutants

Answer 4

substances in the atmosphere that have harmful effects (gases/aerosols)

Question 5

impacts of air pollution

Answer 5

plants stressed and vulnerable to drought and insects, acute exposure is life threatening, chronic exposure is gradual deterioration and premature mortality (air pollution is the greatest worldwide environmental health hazard).

Question 6

CAIR

Answer 6

Clean Air Interstate rule - sets new lower caps on SO2 and NOx in 28 states/used cap-and-trade

Question 7

how does acid deposition affect the environment

Answer 7

lakes become acidic, acid snow melt, dry fallout damages vegetation, acid leaching into the ground, acid snow and rain

Question 8

general familiarity with the pH scale (and what acid and base is/difference between 5 and 6)

Answer 8

0-14. 0 is highly acidic like stomach acid, 7 is neutral like milk, 14 is highly basic like ammonia or lye (5 to 6=5 is ten times more acidic than 6)

Question 9

why does tropospheric ozone only accumulate in the presence of VOCs and why

Answer 9

nitric oxide reacts with VOCs creating noxious compounds. ozone accumulates because nitric oxide is tied up

Question 10

CSAPR

Answer 10

Cross-state air pollution rule (2011) - replaced CAIR/addressed same pollutants but adds several midwestern states/also required reduced NOx and SO2 from power plants/used cap-and-trade

Question 11

effects of ozone on plants

Answer 11

ozone enters plants through stomata(pores). black flecks, yellow leaves, ambient levels damage soybeans, corn and wheat

Question 12

secondary pollutants

Answer 12

formed by primary pollutants (ozone, sulfuric and nitric acid)

Question 13

ABCs (atmospheric brown clouds)

Answer 13

from burning biomass and fossil fuels, blanket of pollution over central and south asia, south africa and amazon basin

Question 14

How has clean air act affected emissions

Answer 14

have dropped significantly (lead and SO2 almost all removed). CO signifant drop by over half

Question 15

how do CFC’s destroy the ozone layer

Answer 15

CFCs react with UV and release chlorine which can react with ozone to produce chlorine monoxide (COI). this results in mid-altitude ozone loss

Question 16

how have we reduced air pollutants

Answer 16

Air pollution control act (1955) first federal regulations. Clean air act (1970) - EPA.

Question 17

directly or inversely proportional to growth proxies

Answer 17

they have decreased despite increased GDP, miles traveled, population and energy use

Question 18

what are the causes of acid deposition

Answer 18

burning fossil fuels releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in troposphere. hydroxyl radicals oxidize tropospheric SO2 and NOx (sulfuric acid and nitric acid)

Question 19

primary pollutants

Answer 19

direct product of combustion and evaporation (VOCs, CO, NOx, SO2, lead)

Question 20

major products of hydroxyl radical neutralization of air pollutants

Answer 20

carbon dioxide, nitric acid, sulfuric acid and water

Question 21

how are pollutants affected in the troposphere vs stratosphere

Answer 21

troposphere has air mixing and precipitation/site of weather so pollutants are usually removed within hours or days. the stratosphere resists cleansing because there is little or no vertical air mixing (pollutants stay much longer)

Question 22

three major mechanisms to remove pollutants from the atmosphere

Answer 22

hydroxyl radicals (OH) - naturally occurring compound that oxidizes pollutants. Sea salts - picked by sea spray to help from raindrops that remove pollutants from the air. Sunlight - breaks down organic molecules.

Question 23

what determines the level of air pollution

Answer 23

amount of pollutants entering the air and amount of space into which the pollution is added (dilution)