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Environmental Science > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

Donora, PA

A

In the first 5 days, 20 people died

In 1 month, 50 more people died, 6,000 got sick, and 800 animals died

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2
Q

When does inversion occur?

A

When temperature gradient is flipped

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3
Q

Inversion

A

Warm air sits on top of cool air

- there is no flow

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4
Q

Industrial smog

A

An irritating, grayish mix of soot, sulfur compounds, and water vapor

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5
Q

Where does industrial smog occur?

A

In industrialized, cool areas that use coal

- China, India, Korea, eastern European countries

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6
Q

Photochemical smog

A

A brownish, irritating haze in warm, sunny areas

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7
Q

What causes photochemical smog?

A

When pollutants from vehicle exhaust are acted upon by sunlight

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8
Q

Examples of photochemical smog

A

Nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds

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9
Q

Where does photochemical smog occur?

A

In cities with huge freeway systems

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10
Q

What do long-term temperature inversions allow pollutants to do?

A

build up to dangerous levels

- can cause air pollution

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11
Q

Atmospheric brown cloud (ABC)

A

1 - 3 km blanket of pollution over south/central Asia

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12
Q

What are ABC’s similar too?

A

North Temperate Zone’s aerosol pollution

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13
Q

What are ABC’s made of?

A

black carbon and soot

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14
Q

How long to ABC’s last?

A

year round

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15
Q

Where do ABC’s come from?

A

burning biomass and fossil fuels (coal, diesel)

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16
Q

Impacts of atmospheric brown clouds

A

dimming over large cities
less rainfall
heating of air
decreased reflection of snow and ice

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17
Q

Lead

A

toxic, causes brain damage in children (from combustion of leaded fuels and manufacture of batteries)

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18
Q

What was added to gasoline to reduce engine knock

A

Lead

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19
Q

U.S. air concentrations have dropped by…

A

99% because we went to unleaded gasoline

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20
Q

What does lead poisoning cause?

A

Mental retardation, learning disabilities in children, and high blood pressure in adults

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21
Q

The major source of lead

A

leaded gasoline

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22
Q

What dramatically reduced lead in the environment?

A

The EPA mandated elimination of leaded gasoline

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23
Q

Acid precipitation

A

any precipitation (rain, fog, mist, snow) more acidic than usual

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24
Q

Acid deposition

A

acid precipitation plus dry-particle fallout

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25
Q

What can acid precipitation leach?

A

heavy metals from solids as the water percolates through it, which are absorbed by organisms and are highly toxic

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26
Q

Limestone (CACO3)

A

obtained from soil

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27
Q

A natural buffer protecting many lakes

A

limestone

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28
Q

Anthropogenic

A

Environmental pollution and pollutants originating in human activity

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29
Q

Blue water

A

water in liquid form

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30
Q

Condensation

A

the collecting of water molecules in the gaseous state to form the liquid state

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31
Q

Rain shadow

A

the dry region downwind of a mountain range

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32
Q

Where do deserts occur on mountains?

A

The leeward side

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33
Q

Infiltration-runoff ratio

A

the amount of water that soaks into the ground compared with the amount that runs off

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34
Q

Gray water

A

slightly dirtied water from sinks, showers, tubs, and laundry

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35
Q

What does the drip irrigation method use?

A

pipes with holes to drip water at the base of each plant

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36
Q

What does the drip irrigation method do?

A

wastes less water, retards salination, increases yields

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37
Q

Why don’t farmers switch to drip irrigation?

A

It’s cheaper to use traditional method than switch

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38
Q

Why don’t farmers switch to drip irrigation?

A

It’s cheaper to use traditional method than switch

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39
Q

What do low-cost treadle pumps allow farmers to do?

A

irrigate fields

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40
Q

How does the dreadle work?

A

like a step exercise machine

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41
Q

Zoonotic diseases

A

spread from animals to humans

- 61% of 1,415 pathogens are zoonotic

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42
Q

Epidemiology

A

the study of the presence, distribution, and prevention of deiseas in populations

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43
Q

Epidemiologic transition

A

decreasing death rates that accompany development

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44
Q

Cultural hazards

A

many factors that cause death or sidability are a matter of choice

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45
Q

Biological hazards

A

Humans have always battled bacteria and viruses (black plague and typhus killed millions)
- vaccinations

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46
Q

Physical hazards

A

natural disasters result from hydrological, meteorological, or geological forces

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47
Q

Chemical hazards

A

Toxicity, exposure is through ingestion, breathing, the skin, direct use, or by accident

48
Q

r-selected species (r-strategists)

A

have high reproductive potential (r), short-lived, low parental care

49
Q

K-seleced species (K-strategists)

A

remain close to carrying capacity (K), long life spans, older age at first reproduction, parental care, fewer offspring

50
Q

Neolithic Revolution (12,000 years ago)

A

-people in the Middle East began to develop animal husbandry and agriculture (abundant food supply)

51
Q

What did the Neolithic Revolution result in?

A

settlements and specialization of labor

- technology produced tools, trae, cities, food storage (trade and commerce were born)

52
Q

What did the Neolithic Revolution reduce?

A

mortality and reliable food production equals population growth

53
Q

What led to the Industrial Revolution?

A

the birth of modern science and technology in the 17th and 18th centuries

54
Q

Industrial Revolution

A
  • technology energized by fossil fuels
  • coal, oil, and natural gas let people do much more work than by human or animal power
  • the extra energy let people produce more food
55
Q

Negatives of the Industrial Revolution

A

produced pollution and resource exploitation

56
Q

What led to the Medical Revolution?

A
  • diseases hit infants and children the hardest
  • Epidemics killed adults
  • humans had high reproductive rates and high mortality rates, resulting in low population growth
  • scientists were able to tell that diseases were caused by infectious agents
57
Q

The Medical Revolution (18th century)

A
  1. Decreases in child and infant mortality

2. High birth rates and low mortality rates resulted in exponential population growth

58
Q

What were the decreases in child and infant mortality due to?

A
  1. vaccinations
  2. cities and towns treating sewage and drinking water
  3. penicillin cured pneumonia and blood poisoning
  4. nutritional improvements
59
Q

Green Revolution (industrialized agriculture)

A

Crops, fertilizer, irrigation, and pesticides are all part of industrialized agriculture

60
Q

What caused the Green Revolution?

A

concerns over producing food for the larger populations

  • pesticides, irrigation, and fertilizer increased yields
  • countries could feed growing populations
61
Q

Costs of the Green Revolution

A
  1. erosion, soil and water pollution, loss of native plants
  2. soil and water being used faster than they can be replaced
  3. pesticide resistance
62
Q

The newest revolution

A

The Environmental Revolution

63
Q

What will the Environmental Revolution come from?

A
  1. efficient technologies, urban and regional planning
  2. policy and industrial changes
  3. personal decisions to reduce impact on planet
64
Q

Which revolution has the greatest impact on the future quality of human life?

A

The Environmental Revolution

65
Q

What is the best estimate for human carrying capacity?

A

7.7 billion

66
Q

When are we expected to exceed this carrying capacity?

A

2024

67
Q

What is the I=PAT formula?

A

Environmental Impact = Population x Affluence and Consumption x Level of Technology of the Society

68
Q

What does the I=PAT formula describe?

A

human factors that contribute to environmental deterioration and resource depletion

69
Q

How can developed nations severely impact the environment?

A

High A and T, but a small P

70
Q

Ecological (environmental) footprint

A

estimate of the amount of land and ocean required to provide resources and absorb wastes

71
Q

What can help estimate an environmental footprint?

A

IPAT formula

72
Q

In the 1970s and 1980s, what did closing old landfills create?

A

A “solid waste crisis” that turned out to be temporary

73
Q

What have many old landfills been converted into?

A

parks, golf courses, nature preserves

74
Q

Municipal solid waste (MSW)

A

total of all materials thrown away from homes and small businesses

75
Q

Examples of msw

A

trash, refuse, garbage

76
Q

Who collects MSW?

A

local governments

77
Q

Leaching

A

chemicals dissolve in and are transported by water

78
Q

Leachate

A

water with various pollutants

79
Q

What makes up leachate?

A

organic matter, heavy metals, chemicals

80
Q

Why is leachate dangerous?

A

it can enter groundwater aquifers

81
Q

Biogas

A

methane, CO2, hydrogen

82
Q

An effect of biogas being highly flammable

A

they seep horizontally through soil, entering homes and causing explosions

83
Q

Another problem with biogas

A

it kills vegetation

84
Q

What can happen to biogas after they’re captured

A

they can be purified and used as fuel

85
Q

What happens to waste as it compacts and decomposes?

A

settles

86
Q

Primary recycling

A

the waste is recycled into the same material

87
Q

Secondary recycling

A

waste is made into different products that may or may not be recyclable

88
Q

Bottle laws

A

require a deposit on all beverage containers

89
Q

How many states have adopted bottle laws?

A

11

90
Q

Threshold level

A

the level below which there are no ill effects

91
Q

What do effects of the threshold depend on?

A

concentration and duration of exposure

92
Q

Ignitability

A

substances that catch fire readily (gasoline)

93
Q

Toxicity

A

substances that are injurious when eaten, inhaled, or touched (chlorine, pesticides, etc)

94
Q

Reactivity

A

chemically unstable substances

95
Q

Corrosivity

A

substances that corrode tanks and equipment (acids)

96
Q

Heavy metals

A

are soluble in water and can interfere with enxyme functioning

97
Q

Orphan sites

A

some companies or individuals stored wastes on their own property, then went out of business, abandoning the property and wastes

98
Q

When ealry land disposal was not regulated…

A

deep wells injected wastes into groundwater

99
Q

Deep-well injection

A

boreholes are drilled thousands of feet below groundwater into porous formations

100
Q

Impoundments can receive wastes indefinitely if:

A

the bottom is well sealed, and evaporation equals input of wastes

101
Q

Bisphenol A (BPA)

A

used in plastics

102
Q

Why did the minamata disease occur in Japan?

A

Mercury bioaccumulated and biomagnified

103
Q

Superfund list

A

sites where groundwater contamination threatens human health

104
Q

What state has 145 sites on the Superfund list?

A

Florida

105
Q

What supported the Superfund list?

A

Federal money

106
Q

A farmer extending his farm field bulldozes the bank of a creek, greatly disturbing the creek bed and stirring up clay and humus. The higher levels of clay and humus in the water just downstream will most likely result in…

A

fewer plants, fewer fish, cloudy water

107
Q

Treadle pumps do…

A

all of the above

108
Q

What is not an example of gray water?

A

Water from a toilet

109
Q

What would have most likely prevented the deadly 1948 smog in Donora, PA?

A

add scrubbers to the ssmokestacks used by the Donora industries

110
Q

What is most associated with an air pollution disaster?

A

a temperature inversion

111
Q

The greatest public health concerns about the HSNI bird flu virus, as recently highlighted in the potentially dangerous dual-use experiments, is that it will

A

spread from person to person

112
Q

What is a good example of a chemical hazard to public health?

A

Before the switch to unleaded gas, kids living near highways had high lead exposure

113
Q

Best represents primary recycling

A

collecting up newspapers and reusing them to make more newspaper

114
Q

Heavy metals can quickly move through ecosystems because they

A

are soluble in water as ions and as few other compounds

115
Q

Hard plastic bottles commonly used by hikers often contain the chemical

A

BPA

116
Q

What involves blue water?

A

Perlocation of water through soil

Environmental Science (14 decks)

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