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enveng test 1 > Global Environmental Issues > Flashcards

Global Environmental Issues Flashcards

1
Q

What are 5 main humanities top ten problems over next 50 years

A

energy, water, food, environment, disease

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2
Q

3 global environmental issues

A

climate change, environmental pollution, resource depletion

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3
Q

what are the two main things happening in climate change

A

greenhouse gas emissions, ocean acidification

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4
Q

what are environmental pollution

A

air water soil, emerging contaminants

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5
Q

what are resource depletion

A

renewable and non-renewable, un-sustainability

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6
Q

what are the three factors that influence climate change

A

sun, atmosphere, oceans

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7
Q

what is global climate change

A

changes in earths climate including temperature, precipitation and other variables

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8
Q

what is global warming

A

increase in earths average surface temperature

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9
Q

how many factors are human influencing on climate change

A

2

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10
Q

what are greenhouse gasses

A

atmospheric gases that absorb the emanating radiation from earths surface

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11
Q

how does greenhouse gases warm earths atmosphere

A

by absorbing and re-emitting the radiation

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12
Q

what is a primary greenhouse gas

A

carbon dioxide

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13
Q

what is global warming potential

A

the relative ability of one molecule of a given greenhouse gas to contribute to global warming

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14
Q

what gas is a powerful greenhouse gas

A

Halocarbon gas (including chlorofluoro carbons)

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15
Q

why are the halocarbons effects slowing down

A

bc of the montreal protocol

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16
Q

what is the most abundant greenhouse gas

A

water vapor

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17
Q

how much has CO2 increased in the past 200 years

A

33%

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18
Q

how much has methane increased since 1750

A

150%

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19
Q

why has methane increased so much

A

mainly due to fossil fuels, landfills, cattle, and rice crops

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20
Q

how much has nitrous oxide increased since 1750

A

17%

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21
Q

why has nitrous oxide increased so much

A

mainly due to feedlots, chemical plants, auto emissions, agricultural practices

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22
Q

what are the other factors that contribute to climate change

A

aerosoles (microscopic particles and droplets), sulfate-rich volcanic eruptions, milankovitch cycles

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23
Q

how does aerosoles affect climate

A

warm the climate (soot) or cool the climate (sulfates)

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24
Q

how can sulfate rich volcanic eruptions affect climate

A

cool the earth temporarily

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25
how does milankovitch cycles affect the earths climate
axis wobble, variation of tilt, variation of orbit
26
how does oceans affect the planets climate
surface currents carry warm water from equatorial regions to north atlantic then cool and sink. Keeps Europe warmer than it would be otherwise
27
what will happen if greenlands ice sheet melts
freshwater runoff into the north Atlantic could shut down current, abruptly change the climate of Europe and Eastern North America
28
What are the best known interactions between oceans and climate
El Nino and La Nina events
29
what happens to oceans in normal conditions
winds push warm water to the western pacific ocean. This allows cold water to well up from the deep in the eastern pacific
30
what happens in an El Nino event
winds weaken, warm water sloshes to the east and prevents the cold from upwelling
31
what happens in an El Nina event
trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.
32
how does ice caps and glaciers accumulated over millions of years help with knowing the climate
they contain bubbles of gas preserved from the time when each layer formed. Scientists drill cores and analyse the gas bubbles in each layer to see what the atmosphere was like then.
33
how does sediments of ancient lake beds help with knowing the climate
scientists drill cores into the sediments and identify types of pollen grains in each layer; they can tell what types of plants were growing there at that time. indirect evidence are proxy indicators
34
how do scientists predict what will happen to climate in the future
using climate models - computer simulations, coupled general circulation models
35
natural or anthropogenic factors only =
poor fit
36
both natural and anthropogenic factors =
excellent fit
37
average sea level increased how many cm during 20th century
10-20cm
38
how much has arctic sea thinned in recent decade
10-40%
39
how much has snow cover decreased
10%
40
less snow =
less heat. bc snow is white therefore less reflection
41
what are the biological changes due to climate change
geographic ranges of many species have shifted towards the poles and up in elevation, plants are flowering earlier, birds migrating earlier, animals breeding earlier and insects emerging earlier, coral reefs are bleaching more frequently
42
why is sea level rising
global warming causing glaciers to shrink and polar ice shelves to break away and melt. Ocean is also warming causing water to expand in volume
43
higher sea levels lead to
beach erosion, coastal flooding, intrusion of saltwater into aquifiers
44
what are IPCC future predictions for climate change
temperatures rise 3-5 degrees, droughts, floods, snowpack decline, water shortages, temperature extremes causing health problems, tropical diseases will move towards polar directions, sea level rise will flood coastal wetlands, real estate, ecosystems will be altered, some will disappear
45
where has global warming gone in the past 60 years
the ocean. it has absorbed approximately 93% of the warming of the earths system that occurred since 1955
46
how does ocean acidification work
raising ocean acidity means more H+, which combine with carbonate irons to produce bicarbonate, and thus prevent those carbonate irons from instead combining with Ca in metabolism of phytoplankton, algae, and ea animals to produce CaCo3 or seashell (inhibits carbonate formation)
47
How does rising CO2 affect oceans
partial pressure of CO2 in the ocean vs ocean pH = seasonal oscillations due to phytoplankton blooms.
48
with ocean becoming more acidic, what will happen
large shift in marine species, coral and other aragonite forming species disappear
49
without ocean heat uptake, human induced greenhouse warming of atmosphere would have led to raising surface temperature bt
45 times the current temperature change
50
what is environmental pollution
presence in the environment of an agent which is potentially damaging to either the environment of human helth
51
pollutants come in many forms such as
chemicals, organisms, biological materials, energy in various forms (noise, radiation, heat)
52
what are the three environmental compartments
air, water, soil and sediments
53
how many chemicals were released into the environment over the quest for "better living through chemistry"
80,000 different chemicals -> around 100,000 chemicals now
54
what pollutants are there (9)
organics, PPCPs, PFAS, Persistent Organic Pollutants, Nanoparticles, Emerging contaminants, Microplastics, Inorganics/heavy metals, biological
55
industrial chemicals are used where (3)
septic tanks, WWTP, land applications
56
What are the 5 Endocrine disruptors
DDT, Disphenol A (BPA) - plastic water bottles, white vegetable can liners, Estrogenic substances - birth control pills, Pthalates - in toys and air fresheners, Fire retardents
57
how are disinfection by products formed
when water/wastewater disinfectants react with organics present in the matrix to form more toxic compounds
58
what are the traditional DBP (2)
trihalomethanes, haloacetic acidswhat
59
are emerging DBPs
nitrogenous DBPs like nitrosamines (cancer causing chemical)
60
where are microplastics
EVERYWEHREEEEE
61
why is microplastics a problem
bc plastics attract hydrophobic chemicals in the water -> vector carrying lots of pathogens and toxic chemicals
62
pesticides have a link between
reproductive effect
63
risk
toxicity + exposure
64
how much does UV cleanse at 40mJ/cm2
most pathogens are still at <30% removal, some are at 30-70% removal
65
how much does chlorine cleanse at 3.5mg/L in 24 hrs
a lot still <30% removed, a few at 30-70% removal and a bunch at >70% removal
66
how much does ozone 2.5mg/L cleanse
a few <30% and 30-70% and a lot >70%
67
how much does RO membranes cleanse
most compounds >70%
68
how does RO membrane cleansing work
separates water and chemicals + gives you clean water but need to take care of dirty water and cost.
69
negatives of RO membranes
Its more expensive and needs a lot of energy
70
whats the impact cycle
population growth, drought, increased WW influence on DW, novel treatment technologies, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change
71

enveng test 1 (6 decks)

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