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eesc > modules 5 and 6 > Flashcards

modules 5 and 6 Flashcards

1
Q

Explain how the density of water varies with temperature, and two reasons that this behavior is environmentally significant.

A

density decreases as temp changes so same amount of water will take up more space

-can get in cracks in rocks and freeze and crack the rock and eventually create soil
-fish can live in lakes year-round because the less dense frozen water floats

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2
Q

Explain the difference between specific heat capacity and latent heat of vaporization, and why water’s high value of each is environmentally significant.

A

specific heat capacity is how much energy it takes to heat up 1 kg of a substance by 1ºC
- when oceans cools, heat is given off and warms surrounding area

latent heat of vaporization is the heat change between liquid and gas forms
- when water vapor in air condenses, there’s a release of energy (transport of energy linked with water cycle)

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3
Q

What is the largest stock of freshwater on Earth? What is the largest easily accessible stock of freshwater on Earth?

A

largest are glaciers and ice caps

most accessible is groundwater

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4
Q

In which stock does water have the longest average residence time? In which stock does it have the shortest?

A

longest in deep groundwater
shortest in atmosphere

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5
Q

What information would need to be included on a map to draw the watershed of a river? Explain? Why do watersheds matter?

A

topography to know what direction the water flows
know where pollution is coming from or will go to, where water is coming from, water supply in certain areas

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6
Q

How do deforestation and urbanization each alter the distribution of flows in the hydrologic cycle?

A

deforestation causes a decrease in transpiration
urbanization causes more runoff

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7
Q

aquifer

A

saturated subsurface rock

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8
Q

condensation

A

transformation of water from vapor to liquid form

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9
Q

evaporation

A

transformation of water from its liquid state to water vapor

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10
Q

infiltration

A

flow of water into the ground from the surface

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11
Q

ocean

A

largest stock of water on Earth

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12
Q

precipitation

A

flow of water from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface

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13
Q

sublimation

A

transformation of water from its solid state to water vapor (solid to gas)

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14
Q

transpiration

A

flow of water from the ground to the atmosphere through plants’ leaves

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15
Q

streamflow

A

flow of water in stream/channels

volume of water flowing thru a designated area over a fixed period of time

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16
Q

watershed

A

area of land that drains to a particular outlet point

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17
Q

Explain the difference between consumptive and non-consumptive water use. Give an example of each, and explain why they fall into that category.

A

consumptive isn’t directly returned to the body from which it was taken or isn’t returned at the same quality
-making paper/coffee because water is used to create something else and not returned how it was taken

non-consumptive is returned to the same body from which it was taken, at the same quality
-swimming because water is used to swim in but when the person is done swimming, the water is left unchanged

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18
Q

Why is water storage an important component of managing water supply? (Relate this to natural characteristics of the hydrologic cycle.)

A

in areas where there are dry and wet seasons, it is important to store the heavy rainfall so it can be used during the dry season

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19
Q

What is the significance of 15 million acre-feet in the Colorado River?

A

in the early nineteen hundreds, they came up with an agreement of how much water each state could take from the Colorado River and it was based on the minimum flow at the time of about 15 million acre-feet. since then, the natural flow of the river is oftentimes below that line which has led to decreases in lake levels

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20
Q

Explain what saltwater intrusion is and how human activity directly and indirectly makes it worse.

A

it’s when saltwater gets into wells either because the well itself has changed the flow pattern of the freshwater or because too much freshwater has been removed so saltwater moves in underneath and ends up getting in the wells.

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21
Q

Describe different water conservation strategies and list advantages and disadvantages of each.

A

-desalinate water uses a lot of energy but saltwater is very abundant
-water-efficient technologies are relatively low in terms of costs you get out of it but a small change will have a large impact because of the amount of water used in agriculture
-water efficient vegetation

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22
Q

Explain what virtual water is and how it relates to a product’s water footprint

A

it is the water used to form a product

oftentimes indirect and overlook but it increases a product’s water footprint

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23
Q

Explain the difference between point and nonpoint sources of water pollution and give an example of each. Why is it harder to regulate and reduce nonpoint sources?

A

point sources come from a single direct source
-industry dumping waste into a river

non-point sources are derived from diffuse sources
-deposition from air or agricultural runoff
-harder to regulate and reduce because don’t know exactly where it’s coming from and it can be spread out over a large area

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24
Q

Explain how “improved water source” and “sanitation” are different, and how they are related to each other.

A

improved water source refers to on premise, non-contaminated, and on demand water
sanitation is more sewage disposal

they relate because bad sanitation can affect surrounding water sources. also wastewater treatment

25
Q

Explain how nitrogen in the water indirectly affects human health, even though it is not directly harmful.

A

can lead to excessive algae growth which decays and absorbs the oxygen in the water causing fish to die leading to dead zones thus affecting the quality of water

26
Q

Describe how a heavy rainfall can lead to untreated sewage ending up in a lake or river.

A

it can lead to an overflow of sewage in the system and the overflow gets directly deposited into rivers and lakes

27
Q

Describe two distinct ways that vegetation can reduce water pollution.

A

can treat wastewater with constructed wetlands
can time irrigation to reduce runoff

28
Q

Describe the different clean-up strategies for a pollutant that is less dense than water (floats) and one is more dense (sinks to the bottom).

A

floats: containment boom and in-situ burning or dispersants

sinks: physically remove from bottom of water or aerating water

29
Q

Describe an example of how trying to clean up water pollution can lead to an increase in air pollution or vice versa.

A

burning oil for instance to get it out of the water will lead to increased air pollution

30
Q

What are three different ways in which a flood can hurt human health or well-being?

A

destroy crops, water pollution, waterborne diseases, death, damage to infrastructure

31
Q

What are three distinctly different causes of river flooding? Urban flooding?

A

river flooding: large amount of rainfall, short intense rainfall, snowmelt, levee failure

urban flooding: large depth of rainfall, insufficient drainage, insufficient storage

32
Q

What explains the significant increase in the cost of natural disasters in the U.S. in the late summer?

A

hurricanes and the destruction they cause

33
Q

Describe a situation in which a levee reduces flood damage and one in which it increases flood damage.

A

it reduces because walls surrounding a river are built so the water must be higher in order to overflow

it increases damage because more water is able to flow through the river so if it were to break, more water can rush out than could have before the levee

34
Q

Explain what can cause flooding to occur on a day it is not raining. How would the situation in Jakarta make this problem worse?

A

normal tidal movements can cause flooding because of sea level rises, land subsiding, and loss of natural barriers

the land in Jakarta is subsiding so it will make it even easier for tides to cause flooding

35
Q

Describe steps that an inland community could take to reduce flood damage from the river that flows through it. Do the same for a coastal community.

A

cities: increase infiltration and storage, porous pavements, vegetation, wetlands, strengthen levees/dams, limit construction in floodplains

coastal: enhance protection, mangrove forests, wetlands, barrier islands/structures

36
Q

What is the relationship between the probability of a flood occurring and its recurrence interval? Give an example to explain.

A

each event gets measured as a 1/x chance of happening where x could be 50, 100, 200, 500, etc.
-look at past and project into future

Hurricane Katrina was a 1/100 chance storm

37
Q

Are fossil fuels a larger part of the energy mix for total (primary) energy use or for electricity generation? Explain why.

A

For total energy use because a lot is used for transportation and heat which mainly come from fossil fuels

38
Q

What is the difference between energy and power? Name a common unit for each.

A

energy is the ability to do work (joules)
power is the rate at which energy is produced/consumed (watt)

39
Q

Consider the ideal characteristics of energy sources. Which are satisfied by coal, and which are not? Which ones depend on your location in the world?

A

abundancy, accessible, affordable, secure, clean, just

coal is abundant and affordable. it can be relatively accessible depending on where you are in the world. the security of it depends on where you are in the world. it is not clean and not just because it disproportionately affects people

40
Q

Compare and contrast the life cycles of nonrenewable and renewable energy sources. (In other words: How are they similar? How are they different?)

A

they both involve extraction of some kind, both require transport and use

non-renewables require processing, oftentimes combustion, and waste management
renewables require construction/assembly

41
Q

Since coal is made from biological material (biomass), why is it not considered a renewable resource?

A

it is not consistently being renewed by the Earth because it forms from dead plants at high pressure and heat over a long time

42
Q

What does the R/P ratio tell you? What are factors that could cause the R/P ratio for a region to increase or decrease between now and 2050?

A

tells you the length of supply for different energy sources

size of current reserve: current production rate

increase: countries switch from non-renewables to renewables so the length of supply of coal for instance will increase because the production of coal will decrease since demand decreased

43
Q

What is energy density, and why does it explain the popularity of fossil fuels?

A

energy content per unit weight
for instance, uranium has a very high energy density so a lot of energy can be produced from not a lot of uranium

44
Q

Explain what “technically recoverable resources” and “economically recoverable resources” are, and external factors that can cause the size of those resources to increase or decrease.

A

technically recoverable: how much we can get out with current technologies
-new technologies being developed to get oil deeper down or what not

economically recoverable: driven by value of oil/gas being sold
-demand of oil changing
-cost of selling oil/gas

45
Q

Explain the difference between conventional and unconventional oil and gas reserves, and how you extract the resource from those different types of environments?

A

conventional reserves are formed in oceans from previous plants and animals and are tapped by wells and have a small footprint on Earth’s surface

unconventional reserves are formed in a material that is so fine that shale is formed. fracking is used to obtain it; they drill down and turn the well horizontally then send water at high temps and pressure through to break the shale and release the oil. obtaining oil this way uses a lot of water, has leakages, causes industrialization in remote areas, and causes waste from the oil/water that comes back up

46
Q

Name 3-4 life-cycle stages for nonrenewable energy use and describe an impact of coal, oil or natural gas at each one.

A

exploration/extraction: has large land use impacts from waste ponds, wells, other infrastructure needed

transportation: water pollution from release of oil in water needed for transportation

combustion/use: air pollution from flaring and burning pf fossil fuels to create energy

waste management: coal disposal sites can be dispersed by storms and are vulnerable to leaking

47
Q

Which renewable energy contributes the most to global electricity production?

A

hydropower

48
Q

Explain how three different renewable energy sources use turbines to generate electricity.

A

geothermal: steam spins turbine
wind: wind spins turbine
hydro: water spins turbine

49
Q

What are three specific ways in which access to reliable electricity can lead to improving economic well-being?

A

access to radio which provides info, ability to work/study when it’s dark, internet which provides access to info and business opportunities, and cooling which preserves food/medicine

50
Q

Two of the challenges with some renewable energy sources is that they are intermittent and non-dispatchable. Explain what this means, and why it leads to a need for storage in the grid.

A

intermittent means it’s not consistently there so output varies
non-dispatchable which means they cannot be turned on/off
because of this storage is needed to house the energy for times when it isn’t sunny/windy and so power can be adjusted according to demand (not wasting energy)

51
Q

What factors are taken into consideration for calculating the land footprint of solar panels? How does their footprint compare to that of coal or natural gas?

A

mining, producing
can do dual land use

coal is mostly higher because of mining
gas is less

52
Q

Explain how the “levelized cost of electricity” is calculated, what its units are, and (1) how the LCOE for solar PV has changed over time OR (2) how the LCOE for wind compares to natural gas in different countries around the world.

A

levelized cost: average net cost of energy sources over a lifetime
units: $/MWh
1) decreased by a factor of 10
2) wind is cheaper than natural gas for many countries

53
Q

Explain what capacity factor is and why nuclear power’s is so high.

A

ratio of how much power/energy something is actually producing to how much that thing is capable of producing

nuclear plants operate close to 100% of potential

54
Q

Explain how a nuclear power plant generates electricity.

A

controlled nuclear reaction that generates heat which warms water and creates steam to spin turbines thus generating electricity

55
Q

In what way is waste an advantage and in what way is waste a disadvantage of nuclear power?

A

it is small in volume but it is radioactive so its very dangerous and must be discarded of carefully and properly

56
Q

Describe the different ways in which nuclear waste can be managed.

A

buried in the ground, in old salt mines, held in storage at facilities

57
Q

How is nuclear power production expected to change in the U.S. and globally in the coming decades?

A

it is not expected to change much because of how long it takes for facilities to be approved and other renewables hoping becoming more popular

57
Q

Discuss why there is so much concern about the safety of nuclear power when its annualized death rate is so low relative to fossil fuels

A

because of the radioactive waste that no one has a solution on how to dispose of it properly. people are concerned with the unknowns surrounding nuclear power

eesc (4 decks)

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