Lecture 3 Flashcards
When was the Kyoto Protocol negotiated?
1997
When was the Kyoto Protocol open for signature?
1998
When did the Kyoto Protocol come into force?
February 16, 2005
Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by how much compared to the year 1990?
5.2%
The Kyoto Protocol reduces the expected emissions in 2010 by how much?
29%
The Kyoto Protocol’s goal is to reduce overall emissions over what five-year period?
2008-2012
What is the Kyoto’s Protocol reduction target for the European Union?
8%
What is the Kyoto’s Protocol reduction target for the US?
7%
What is the Kyoto’s Protocol reduction target for Japan?
6%
What is the Kyoto’s Protocol reduction target for Russia?
0%
What is the Kyoto’s Protocol reduction target for Australia?
Australia is permitted an 8% increase.
What is the Kyoto’s Protocol reduction target for Iceland?
Iceland is permitted an 10% increase.
What is the limit temperature rise as per the Paris Agreement?
2 degrees Celsius.
The Paris Agreement is the first universal what?
Climate agreement.
The Paris Agreement promises $100 billion a year in climate finance for which types of countries?
Developing nations.
As per the Paris Agreement, 186 countries submitted plans detailing the reduction of what type of pollution?
GHG emissions.
The Paris Agreement seeks carbon neutrality by what year?
2050
By which method is heat transferred from the sun to the earth?
Radiation.
The maximum rate at which heat can be radiated by a body at a given temperature is given by what equation?
The Stefan-Boltzmann equation:
Qmax = σAT^4
Describe the components of the Stefan-Boltzmann equation.
σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67 X 10^-8 W/m^2-K^4), A is the surface area of the body (m^2), and T is the absolute temperature of the body (K).
An object radiating at the maximum possible rate is known as what?
As a black body.
Define heat flux.
The rate of heat transfer per unit of surface area.
What is the relationship between heat flux and the maximum rate of radiation?
q = Qmax/A
Why doesn’t earth’s surface approximate a black body?
Because of the greenhouse effect.
What name is given to the fraction of incoming radiation that is reflected back off the object?
Albedo.
What does the albedo of a surface depend on?
Albedo depends on the properties of a surface.
What is the albedo of Earth’s surface currently estimated to be?
31%
If albedo is denoted by a, and the incoming radiation is denoted by S0, then what equation denotes the rate of energy absorbed (W/m^2)?
S0(1 - a).
Does earth’s estimated 31% albedo consider the effects of GHGs?
No.
The average surface temperature is 15°C. What would it be without greenhouse gases?
-19°C.
If ΔF is radiative forcing, write ΔF in terms of Δqout and Δqin.
Δqout - Δqin
What two phenomena may modify Earth’s ΔF?
Change in the solar input, or changes in Earth’s albedo.
Does positive radiative forcing increase or decrease the radiation absorbed by earth?
Increases.
Does negative radiative forcing increase or decrease the radiation absorbed by earth?
Decreases.
Radiative forcing increases linearly with increase in concentrations of GHGs.
False - there are diminishing returns, meaning the affect of new concentrations depend on the original concentration.
Which equation expresses the total radiative forcing from multiple greenhouse gases as an equivalent CO2 concentration?
Cequiv(ppmvCO2) = Co exp(ΔFtot/6.3), or ΔFtot = 6.3ln(Cequi/Co).
What is the climate sensitivity factor (γ)?
γ is the ratio of the final temperature change (Δte) to the change in radiative forcing ΔFrad.
Write the equation of the climate sensitivity factor γ.
γ = Δte / ΔFrad.
What is earth’s climate sensitivity factor, based on empirical correlations?
γ= 0.65 °C/W-m^2
Most of the energy used throughout the world is in the form of what?
Fossil fuels.
What’s the atomic weight of carbon, and molecular weight of CO2?
Atomic weight of 12, and molecular weight of 44.
Every 24 grams of carbon in fuel produces how much CO2?
88g
How many mass units of CO2 per mass unit of C?
3.667
What is the equation for the mass of CO2 emitted, given the mass fraction of carbon and the mass of the fuel burned?
Mass of CO2 emitted = mass fraction of carbon x Mass of fuel burned.
What term (and what units) are used to denote the quantity of energy per unit of fuel mass?
The heating value (kJ/g or kJ/mol).
What equation expresses the carbon content of a fuel in relation to the fuel energy content?
Carbon intensity = Fraction of C in fuel / Fuel heating value.
What is gross domestic product (GDP) used for?
As a measure of economic well-being of a country, expressed on a per capita basis.
What equation gives the CO2 emissions per year of a country, in part using the GDP per capita?
CO2 emissions per year ＝ (Population per year) x ( GDP per capita) x ( Energy use per GDP) x (CO2 emissions per unit energy).
What term is used to refer to metals found in low concentrations in the environment?
Trace metals.
Calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc are all essential for our nutrition.
True.
All metals, whether essential or nonessential, become toxic at sufficiently large concentrations.
True.
Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, Nickel and phosphorous are all nonessential metals.
False - phosphorus is considered essential.
Which nonessential metal causes learning and behavioral disorders?
Lead.
Which nonessential metal causes problems in motor coordination?
Lead.
Which nonessential metal attacks the kidneys, the reproductive system, and the hematopoietic system (responsible for making blood)?
Lead.
What two nonessential metals have been linked to respiratory cancer and are known to cause skin disease?
Nickel and chromium.
Which nonessential metal impairs functioning of the kidneys, but doesn’t affect the reproductive system?
Cadmium.
Which nonessential metal can damage the nervous system and the brain?
Mercury.
What 3 trace metals are found in significant amounts in the atmosphere over land, specifically from soil/dust?
Silicon, aluminum, and iron.
Air over the oceans contains high levels of which trace metal?
Sodium.
What two sources contribute to the trace metals found in surface waters and groundwater?
From the soil and biota.
Airborne levels of what two trace metals increase hundreds to thousands of times above natural levels near smelters?
Cadmium & zinc.
Water draining from what human structure have greatly increased concentrations of metals?
Mines.
Food stored where may become contaminated with metal far above the levels found naturally?
In improperly prepared metal containers.
What are the four primary trace metal exposure routes?
Air, drinking water, food, and soil/dust.
What formula gives the mass of a trace metal absorbed by the body per unit time?
Ai = Ci * Ui * fi, where Ci is the concentration of the trace metal, Ui is the uptake rate, and fi is the fraction of trace metal absorbed by the bloodstream.
Trace metals in the air come in what two forms?
Gases or particles.
Name a volatile metal that is mostly found in the vapor phase (gas form).
Mercury.
Most airborne metals are in a gas form.
False - most airborne metals are predominantly associated with solid particles.
What property of a particle form airborne metal affects its behavior, potential health risks, and environmental impact?
Aerodynamic diameter.
Particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 1μm will be carried by winds in a manner similar to that of a perfect sphere of diameter 1 μm and with what density?
A density equal to that of water - 1 g/cm^3.
Particles with a high density will have an aerodynamic diameter greater or less than their physical diameter?
Greater.
The size distribution, or aerodynamic diameter of airborne trace metal particles depend on what?
How the particles were formed.
Particle mass in the range 0.02-0.05 μm aerodynamic diameter are referred to as what?
As being in the nuclei mode.
What do particles in the nuclei mode do at high concentrations?
They collide to form larger particles.
What is known about airborne trace metal particles in accumulation mode?
These particles have reached a stable size.
If spherical particles are 0.5 μm in diameter, how many are needed to form a particle in accumulation mode, if accumulation mode for this particle implies a diameter of 1.0 μm?
8
The fraction of the trace metal entering the body via inhalation that is eventually absorbed into the bloodstream is the result of what two factors?
The rate of deposition in the lower lung and the absorption factor of the metal from the lower lung into the bloodstream.
Name two major factors that influence the rate of deposition in the lower lung (pulmonary region) of airborne trace metal particles.
Particle size and breathing rate.
We sometimes assume that all metal reaching the lower lung is absorbed into the bloodstream. In this case, what is fair (the fraction of trace metal absorbed by the bloodstream)?
fair is then equal to the rate of deposition in the lower lung.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, what is the fraction of lead absorbed from inhalation?
0.3
What two forms do trace metals take in water?
Dissolved or undissolved (suspended particles).
Name 4 major sources of trace metals in drinking water.
Runoff from agricultural lands containing fertilizers/pesticides, metals from industries, contaminated rain, and
Construction activities.
Pipes made of lead add significant amounts of lead to the drinking water when used in water distribution systems.
True.
Human exposure to trace metals in drinking water occurs uniquely through drinking the water directly.
False - also through drinking beverages and eating foods made with water containing trace metals.
The absorption of trace metals from drinking water (fwater) depends on the absorption of a trace metal through the walls of what two organs?
The stomach and small intestines.
What is the absorption of lead in water (fwater)?
0.5
Name 3 major sources of trace metals in foods.
Airborne trace metals that deposit onto food grown outdoors, soldered cans containing food, and metal-containing dust in food processing areas.
The absorption of trace metals from food (ffood) depends on the absorption of a trace metal through the walls of what two organs?
The stomach and small intestines.
How can you obtain ffood, given fwater of a trace material?
ffood = fwater.
Define dust.
Settled airborne particles, often indoors, generally due to human activity.
Define soil.
Soil is outdoor grounded particles, generally assumed to be natural with contamination due to human activity.
Trace metals are found in soils near what type of source of pollution?
Stationary sources, such as smelters or heavily travelled roads.
When are small amounts of dust ingested by humans?
When food that is handled with fingers is ingested.
How does the absorption of trace metals from dust/soil (fdust) compare to that of food and water?
fdust is less than ffood/fwater, since trace metals associated with soil/dust are likely to be less soluble than metals in food and water.
When determining the absorption of a trace metal from all exposure routes, we must multiply together they absorption factors (fi).
False - we must compute net absorption for each route separately, and then add these quantities up.
Define the dose (Dtotal) of a trace metal.
To total amount of that trace metal absorbed up until the present.
When does the following formula hold true, where Atotal is the total absorption rate from all exposure routes and T is the time of exposure?
Dtotal = Atotal x T
As long as the absorption rate, Atotal, is constant over time.
