Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Environmental Science > Exam 5 (Chps 17 - 20) > Flashcards

Exam 5 (Chps 17 - 20) Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

adaptation strategies

A
  • shift agriculture
  • eco structures
  • emergency preparedness
  • help poor
  • promote development/ economic progress
  • control disease
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Safe Drinking Water Act

A
  • 1974
  • higher standards than CWA
  • 94 contaminents
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

sources of VOCs

A
  • incomplete combustion
  • evaporation of solvents and gas
  • emissions from plants
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

climate sensitivity

A
  • response to greenhouse gases
  • concentrations measured in rise in temp as a result of rise in greenhouse gas concentration
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

primary clarifiers

A
  • 3rd step in primary treatment
  • organic matter settles to bottom, fat to top
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

4 environmental hazards

A
  1. Chemical
  2. Cultural
  3. Biological
  4. Physical
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

A
  • CSAPR
  • replaces CAIR
  • requires reductions in NOx and SO2 to aid states in the East to achieve ozone and particulate matter reductions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Biological Nutrient Removal

A

removing nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus) and oxidizing detritus from treated waste water so no eutrophication occurs.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Atmospheric-Ocean General Circulation Models

A
  • AOGCM
  • computer models generated from:
    • atmosphiric circulation patterns
    • ocean circulation
    • radiation feedback from clouds
    • land surface processes
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

bar screen

A
  • 1st step in primary treatment
  • removes debris (which is incinerated)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

sources of nitric acid

A

photochemical reactions between NOx and OH radicals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q
A
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

eutrophication

A

nutrient rich water supporting algae or other surfact plants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

positive feedback

A

a process leads to even more intensification of that process

ex: evaporation leads to more water vapor leads to more heat leads to more evaporation…

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

risk factors of povery

A
  • shorter life (less medical treatment)
  • malnutrition
  • less education
  • priorities/inequality (how government helps or not, environmental racisim)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

sources of lead

A
  • battery manufacture
  • lead smelters
  • combustion of leaded fuels and solid waste
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

oligotrophic

A

low in nutrients

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

windrows

A

long narrow piles that allow air to circulate easily

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

sources of ozone and peroxyacetyl nitrates

A

photochemical reactions between VOCs and NOx

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Meridional Overturning Circulation

A
  • MOC
  • conveyor belt of ocean continually moving water masses from the deep to the surface
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Health effects of air pollution

A
  • respiratory (ozone, particulates, NOx)
  • blood function (carbon monoxide)
  • immune system (NOx)
  • brain (mercury)
  • cancer (benzene)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Milankovitch cycles

A
  • periodic oscillations in climate due to solar orbit
  • 100K, 41K, 23K cycles
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

activated sludge

A

mixture of detritus feeding organisms that breadk down biomass in secondary treatment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

criteria maximum concentration

A

any pollutant over this highest single concentration will have negative impact

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

sources of suspended particulate matter

A
  • soot,
  • smoke,
  • salts,
  • combustion carbon,
  • dust,
  • dirt
  • metals,
  • atmospheric reaction of gases
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

A
  • 2011
  • EPA rules that require all coal and oil fired power plants to limit emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants
  • industries had 4 years to comply
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Mitigation strategies

A
  • cap and trade
  • remove subsidies
  • tax fossil fuels
  • renewable energy
  • nuclear energy
  • carbon capture (sequestration and reforestation)
  • stabilize population growth
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

climate

A

average temp expected in a typical year in a given region

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

A

progressive lung disease that makes it hard to breathe involving asthma, bronchitis and emphysema

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

biogas

A

gaseous mixture 2/3rds methane

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Clean Air Interstate Rule

A
  • CAIR
  • 2005
  • EPA rule establishing cap-and-trade programs for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in 28 eastern states
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

secondary pollutants types

A
  • sulfuric acid
  • peroxyacetyl nitrates
  • ozone
  • nitric acid
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Air Pollution Control Act

A

1955

became Clean Air Act

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

epidemiology

A

study of the causes of disease through an examination and comparison of large populations in different locations or following different lifestyles or habits

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

cap-and-trade

A

a form of market-based environmental policy that sets a maximum level of pollutant, distributes permits, and allows industries to trade permits to achieve their allowable pollution

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

trickling filter system

A
  • 1st step of secondary treatment
  • allows water to percolate through bed of rocks with various bacteria and detritus
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System

A

An EPA administered program that addresses point-source water pollution through issuance of permits that regulate pollution discharge.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

North Atlantic Deep Water

A
  • NADW
  • Water from the south moves north, cools, sinks to 4000m
  • becomes denser when evaporation increases salinity
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

sources of sulfuric acid

A

photochemical reactions between sulfur dioxide and OH radicals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

maximum contaminent level

A

max level of pollutants in drinking water

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

industrial smog

A
  • smoke + fog
  • soot, sulfurous compounds, water vapor
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

stratosphere

A
  • 16-50K
  • temp increases w/ altitude
  • little vertical mixing, slow exchange of gases w/ tropo via diffusion
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

phosphorus in water

A

a limiting factor or an organic pollutant

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

acid deposition

A

any form of acid precipitation but also fallout of dry acid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

inversions

A
  • flip the usual warm air below / cool air above
  • warm air traps pollutants
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

atmospheric brown cloud

A

ABC

forest fires, fossil fuels, farm wastes, stoves

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

pH

A

expression of concentration of hydrogen ions from 0-7

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

albedo

A

reflectivity of surface to sunlight

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

biosludge

A
  • organic matter remaining after anaerobic digestion
  • nutrient-rich humus-like material suspended in water
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

3 factors that influence atmospheric cleansing

A
  1. amount
  2. space
  3. mechanisms that remove pollutant
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

Thermohaline Circulation

A
  • movement of temp and salinity in the oceans
  • Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC)
  • North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
52
Q

ENSO

A
  • El Niño La Niña Southern Oscillation
  • reverse the trade winds
  • El Niño is warm
  • La Niña is cold
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
53
Q

Montreal Protocol

A
  • 1987
  • reduce CFCs 50% by 2000
  • 196 nations
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
54
Q

acid neutralizing capacity

A

in a water body, ability to neutralize acid with buffer chemicals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
55
Q

Maximum Achievable Control Technology

A

MACT

The best technology available for reducing the output of especially toxic industrial pollutants

56
Q

evidence for recent climate change

A
  • increase in warter temps / decrease in cooler
  • heat waves and droughts increasing and intensifying
  • droughts cover more land
  • more fires
  • patterns of precipitation changing, increasing floods and storms
  • shifting seasons
  • melting sea ice and glaciers
  • migrating wildlife
  • ocean acidification
57
Q

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

A

Legislation establishing energy policy by emphasizing demand-side policies (conserving energy, renewables)

58
Q

normal atmospheric cleansing

A
  1. hydroxyl radicals - render pollutants harmless
  2. sea salts - aerosols that form rain
  3. sunlight - breaks molecules
59
Q

toxicology

A

study of the impacts of toxic substances on human health and the pathways by which such substances reach humans

60
Q

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

A

NAAQS

allowable levels of ambient criteria air pollutants set by EPA

61
Q

Ocean Atmospheric Oscillations

A
  • North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
  • Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO)
  • El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
62
Q

Integrated Risk Information System

A

IRIS

evaluation of risk information on hazards that chemicals pose to human health

run by the EPA

63
Q

photochemical smog

A

produced when several pollutants from cars (nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons) are acted on by sunlight

64
Q

equity principle

A
  • rich and poor should have the same decision-making powers
  • international and intergenerational
65
Q

base

A

releases hydroxide ions when disolved in water

66
Q

How CFCs and halogens destroy the ozone layer

A

in stratosphere UV breaks them apart releasing chlorine atoms which attack ozone

chlorine catalytic cycle

67
Q

sources of nitrogen oxides

A
  • combustion
  • wood burning
68
Q

raw sludge

A

fat and organic matter seperated in primary clarifiers

69
Q

Steps to bring back the ozone layer

A
  • banned CFCs in cans
  • Montreal Protocol, 1987, reduced 50% by 2000, 196 Nations
  • using HFCs and HCFCs
  • thinking about methyl bromide and nitrous oxide
70
Q

grit chamber

A
  • 2nd step in primary treatment
  • allows grit to settle (then taken to landfill)
71
Q

3 methods for turning sludge to fertilizer

A
  1. anaerobic digestion
  2. pasturization
  3. composting
72
Q

criteria pollutants

A

levels used as gauge for determination of air or water quality

73
Q

primary pollutant types

A
  1. particulates,
  2. VOCs,
  3. Carbon Monoxide,
  4. Nitrogen Oxides,
  5. sulfur dioxide,
  6. lead,
  7. air toxics,
  8. radon
74
Q

sludge cake

A

treated sludge dewatered by rollers

75
Q

pasteurization

A

dried and heated sludge cake

76
Q

nitrogen

A

in water a limiting factor or a nutrient

77
Q

tropopause

A
  • between troposphere and stratosphere
  • air begins to warm
78
Q

criteria continous concentration

A

highest sustained

79
Q

mortality

A

incidence of death in a population

80
Q

acid

A

releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water

81
Q

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System

A

addresses point-source pollution and issues permits that regulate discharges from wastewater treatment plants and industrial sources

82
Q

ambient standards

A

levels that need to be achieved to protect environmental and human health

83
Q

Impacts of Air Pollution on the Environment

A
  • crop damage
  • forest damage
  • ozone depletion
  • acid deposition (including soil damage)
  • pH in aquatic systems
84
Q

Climate Change Science Program

A

20 reports from hundreds of scientists across different disciplines about research on climate change

85
Q

activated sludge system

A

1st step in secondary treatment

detritus-feeding organisms (activated sludge) consume most of the biomass as water percolates over rocks

air bubble or paddle system for aeration

86
Q

how primary pollutants are produced

A

direct products of combustion and evaporation

87
Q

criteria pollutants

A

167 chemicals

88
Q

Tabacco Control Act

A

2009: gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco

89
Q

pathways of risk

A
  • poverty
  • tobacco use
  • disease transmission
  • toxic chemicals
  • natural disasters
90
Q

nonpoint sources

A

discharge of pollution that isn’t easy to ID source (run-off, deposition, etc.)

91
Q

benthic plants

A

attached water plants

  • submerged aquatic veg (SAV)
  • emergent veg
92
Q

rotavirus

A

highly contagious and common virus that almost every child gets. Causes severe diarrhea that can kill children in developing countries.

93
Q

tipping point

A

we are likely close, if not past, but we can mitigate disaster

94
Q

Total Maximum Daily Load

A

evaluates all nonpoint sources according to the water body’s ability to assimilate the pollutant

95
Q

epidemiological study

A

tracks how sickness spreads through a community

96
Q

benzene

A
  • carcinogen
  • organic chemical in oil products and tobacco smoke
97
Q

sources of air toxics

A
  • combustion
  • industrial processes
  • building materials
  • solvents
98
Q

anaerobic digestion

A
  • put in sludge digesters
  • bacteria feeds on sludge w/out oxygen
  • by-product is biogas
99
Q

point sources

A

discharge of substances easy to ID (factories, etc.)

100
Q

how secondary pollutants are produced

A

primary pollutants undergo reactions with naturally occuring compounds in the atmosphere and produce undesirable compounds

101
Q

weather

A

variable, local, short term

102
Q

radiative forcing

A
  • influence any particular factor has on energy balance of the atmophere-ocean-land system
  • positive = warming
  • negative = cooling
103
Q

phytoplankton

A

photosynthetic algae, protists, cynobacteria

104
Q

secondary treatment

A

or biological treatment

uses organisms (natural decomposers and detritus feeders) to desolve gunk

only oxygen needs to be added

105
Q

bed load

A

sediments washed along the bottom of a body of water

106
Q

pathogens

A

disease causing bacteria, viruses, parasites

107
Q
A
108
Q

Younger Dryas

A
  • at the end of the last ice age
  • 6000 years of warming, then sudden 1,500 yrs of cold
  • then 7 degree increase in 50 years
109
Q

photochemical oxidants

A

formed by interactions between nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons driven by sunlight

110
Q

risk management

A
111
Q

hygiene hypothesis

A

immune systems need to encounter microbes when they are young in order to keep inflammatory responses under control

112
Q

best management practices

A

soil and water

all the practices that can be used to minimize erosion, runoff, leaching

113
Q

monsoon

A

seasonal airflow created by major differences in cooling and heating between oceans and continents usually leading to excessive rain

114
Q

NAO

A
  • North Atlantic Oscillations
  • pressure centers switch, alternating wind and storms
115
Q

CFCs

A

synthetic organic molecules that contain one or more of both chlorine and fluorine atoms and that are known to cauce ozone destruction

116
Q

risk assessment

A

process of evaluating risks associated with a particular hazard

117
Q

hydroxyl radical

A
  • OH
  • oxidizes many gasous pollutants into products that are harmless or can be brought down to earth
118
Q

troposphere

A
  • between 8-16K from the ground
  • temp decreases w/ altitude
  • much verticle mixing, turbulent
  • substances entering may be washed back to Earth
  • all weather and climate
119
Q

Kyoto Protocol

A
  • 1997
  • 38 nations (not developing) agreed to reduce emissions of 6 greenhouse gases to 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2012
  • India, China, US not participating
120
Q

Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation

A
  • IPO
  • pressure centers switch, altering wind and storms (similar to NAO)
  • over decades
121
Q

criteria pollutant types

SPLONC

A
  • sulfur dioxide
  • particulates,
  • lead
  • ozone,
  • nitrogen oxide,
  • carbon monoxide,
122
Q

composting

A

raw sludge mixed with wood chips or water absorbing material then placed in windrows and turned. Bacteria break down to humus-like material

123
Q

sources of radon

A
  • rocks and soil
  • natural breakdown of radium and uranium
124
Q

acid precipitation

A
  • acid rain, fog, snow and any other form of precipitation that is more acidic than normal (less than pH 5.6)
  • sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen
125
Q

chlorine catalyst cycle

A
  • in the stratosphere
  • cyclical chemical process in which chlorine monoxide breaks down ozone
  • promotes chemical reaction without itself being used up
126
Q

sources of sulfur dioxide

A

combustion of sulfur containing fuels (esp. coal)

127
Q

secondary clarifier

A
  • 2nd step of secondary treatment
  • organisms settle and become next batch of activated sludge
  • water trickles out for BNR
128
Q

Copenhagen Accord

A
  • 2009
  • 187 countries
  • pledges to limit temp increases to 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels
  • set targets by 2020
  • not binding
129
Q

cryosphere

A

snow, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice

130
Q

aerosols

A

microscopic liquid or solid particles originating from land and water surfaces

131
Q

morbidity

A

incidence of disease in a populatin

132
Q

Clean Air Act Amendments

A
  • 1970, 1977, 1990
  • set ambient standards
  • established control methods and time tables
133
Q

fronts

A

boundaries of air masses w/ different pressures and temps

134
Q

Durban Platform

A
  • 2011
  • agreement to begin negotiations that would lead to legally binding agreement by 2015,
  • to take effect in 2020
135
Q

National Center of Environmental Assessment

A
  • NCEA
  • EPA agency
  • assessment of substances and processes that are widely released into the environment
136
Q

types of greenhouse gases

A
  1. carbon dioxide
  2. water vapor
  3. methane
  4. nitrous oxide
  5. ozone
  6. CFCs
  7. other hydrocarbons
137
Q

greenhouse gas

A

absorbs infrared energy and contribues to air temp (blanket)

Environmental Science (6 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions