Unit 3 - Topic 6 Flashcards
N.I.M.B.Y.
Not In My Backyard
Summarizes ppls growing awareness of waste production and storage
Pollution used to be
Local problem
Now global -ll-
Human beings produce
1000 billion kg of solid waste/yr
Acid precipitation results from
Pollutants entering atmosphere
Travelling great distances
Creating environmental problems when falling to ground
Forest fires and volcanic eruptions
Introduced majority of pollutants into atmosphere
Still tru for Southern Hemisphere
Human activities
Biggest source of airborne pollutants in northern hemisphere
Most common pollutant particles
Carbon, surfer, nitrogen oxides
Soot from combustion of fossil fuels
Dust from wind erosion accelerated by agriculture
Heavy metals
Heavy metals
Lead
Nickel
Copper
Heavy metals result from
Industry or combustion processes
1970s
Concentration of airborne lead in northern hemisphere about 1000x higher than normal
Wind patterns in northern hemisphere result in
Airborne particles and gas pollutants concentrating at higher latitudes and eventually washing out by rain and snow
Inuit ppl on Broughton Island in high Arctic
Higher concentrations of PCBs in blood than any other pop
PCBs
Polychlorinated biphenyls
Highly toxic organic chemicals
Result form industrial fires
Bioaccumulate in food chain
Air pollution from industrialized regions in Europe and America travel to Arctic by
Circumpolar winds
Arctic/smog
High levels accumulate
Average transit from Russia to Canada
3 days
CFCs
Chlorofluorocarbons
Human made pollutant
Cheap, not-toxic,stable
CFCs used as
Agent in forming Styrofoam
Propellants in aerosol cans
Coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators
1985
Discovery of hole in ozone layer over Antarctic
Hole over Arctic result of
Ultraviolet breakdown of CFCs
Ozone at Earths surface
Irritating toxin
Biological organisms receive damage to brain cells
Ozone location
Stratosphere
Ozone in stratosphere benefit cuz
Prevents uv radiation from reaching earths surface
What happens in stratosphere
Ur lights reacts w/ CFC molecules producing chloride ions
Chloride ions act as catalyst for breakdown of ozone gas to normal oxygen gas
Ozone equation
O^3(g)
1997/ozone hole
Bigger than area of continental U.S.
ozone levels over Antarctic 40% lower
10% all stratospheric ozone worldwide destroyed
81-country agreement
Stop production and use of CFCs
Problem with CFCs
Stability
Persist in atmosphere for many yrs
Targeting point sources
Controls greatly reduced amount of pollutants entering surface waters
Surface water pollution due to
Everyday activities
Washing laundry
Watering lawns
Waste from everyday activities is
Channeled through storm sewers/surface runoff
Channeled through sanitary sewers/sewage
Law requires/nitrates and phosphates
They be removed from household detergents and other cleaning agents before water returned to watercourse
Sewage treated to
Reduce amount of organic waste and destroy disease-causing bacteria and viruses
Method of choice for destroying bacteria and viruses
Chlorinating water
Using high-intensity uv light
Runoff includes
Fertilizers
Pesticides
Oils
Chemicals
Chlorinating water risk
May result in formation of cancer-causing agents
Primary treatment
Physically separates large solids and suspended sediments
Secondary treatment
Removes much organic compounds by bacterial decomposition
Resulting sludge removed
Remaining liquid effluent treated by chlorinating/ur light exposure to kill any disease organisms that survived
Tertiary treatment
Percolation through soil into ground water and passage through trickling water bed evaporator and/or lagoon or marsh removes nitrates and phosphates remaining
Percent of ppl. in dif countries served by waste water treatment plants
57%/Canada
74%/Americans
86.5%/Germans
99%/Swedes
Water hyacinth plant
Removes pollutants from water
Can be used at waste water treatment facilities to clean water before flows back into streams and aquifers
Surface waters
Oceans
Lakes
Rivers
Glaciers
Canadian ppl relying on ground water for domestic water supplies
26% or 8 million
Ground water
Water that filters down through soil and fills spaces between particles of rock and soil, and the cracks and fractured in underlying rock/or spaces in the ground
Ground water tends to flow towards
Lakes
Rivers
Sea
Rate ground water moves depends on
Permeability of rock and soil formations
Typical ground water rate
15 m/yr
Sometimes couple cm a century
Aquifers
Underwater reserves of water
Common feature of aquifers
Water naturally filtered as moving through and usually free of bacterial contamination
Aquifer con
Contaminants dissolve in water
Can become concentrated in aquifers
Problems w/ contamination multiplying cause of
Pesticides -
l -> Toxic
Herbicides -
Solvents in industry and agriculture
Ground water contamination difficult cuz
Difficult if not impossible to clean up
Best option to avoid producing contaminants in first place
“Green”
Used to indicate product is biodegradable
Biodegradable
Able to broken down by bacteria, fungi, and other organisms into carbon dioxide and water
Problem w/ green label
Says active ingredients biodegradable but not others which may not be