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75 Cards in this Set

  • Front
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Primary Pollutants

Produced naturally and by human activities; ex: dust storms,car emissions

Secondary Pollutants

Produced by chemical reactions with primary pollutants; ex: ozone

Ozone

Forms through photochemical reactions from the emission of NOx. In cities its high concentrations during the day are due to burning gasoline in cars.

Sulfur Dioxide

Mainly added to the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels(esp. coal). It can damage many types of plants and cause repertory disease and contributes to acid rain.

Nitrogen Oxides

Mainly added to the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels in power plants and cars. Contributes to the development of photochemical smog and acid rain. Irritates eyes, lungs and throats of humans and increases susceptibility to viral infections.

Particulates

Particles in the atmosphere that are smaller than 10 microns. Most particulate matter are natural sources. Human sources include wind erosion due to farming or construction, industrial processes and the burning of fossil fuels. Particulates less than 2.5 microns are the most dangerous since they can directly enter the blood stream through the lungs.

Carbon Monoxide

Mostly a natural source, but humans produces by burning, reduces ability of blood to carry oxygen

Acid rain

Forms as NOx and SO2 from the atmosphere is dissolved in rainwater,thereby decreasing the rain to pH levels less than 5.6. Acid rain damages ecosystems by reducing available nutrients (in soil and water), reducing primary production (trees and algae). In the U.S. most acid rain falls in the east coast.

Acid deposition

Caused by sulfuric and nitric acids (H2SO4, HNO3), resulting in lowered pH of surface waters, soil acidifcation and destruction of building materials

Sick building syndrom

Describes the buildings that seem to concentrate pollutants making people ill. Cause of illness is often difficult to diagnose. Pollutants concentrate because of poor circulation/closed windows.

Most dangerous indoor air pollutants

Formaldehyde(from particle board furniture glue), asbestos (small particulate that has been shown to cause cancer, used as insulation and tiles), radon ( from radioactive decay in granite rocks), cigarette smoke

Air pollution is hazardous to

Children, the elderly, people with chronic health conditions that affect the heart or lungs, such as asthema

Clean Aier Act

(CAA, 1970) Set emission standards for cars and limits for release of air pollutants

Temperature Inversion

Layer of dense, cool air trapped under a layer of warm dense air, pollution in trapped layer may build to harmful levels; frequent in Los Angeles, California and Mexico City, Mexico

Number one water pollution problem for human society

Lack of disease-free drinking water

Thermal pollution

Heated water from power plant cooling or other industrial processes

Sewage

Human waste which contains nutrients and pathogens

Sediment

Suspended spoil particles cause by excessive erosion

Radioactive waste

Leakage of radioactive wastes into natural waterways

Nutrients

Phosphorous and nitrogen fertilizers that can lead to eutrophication

Organic chemicals

Includes a wide variety of toxic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, and dioxins

Organic matter

Includes materials such as agricultural waste which can increase biological oxygen demand

Heavy metals

Includes elements such as lead, arsenic, mercury, selenium, and cadmium, all of which are extremely toxic to living things

Inorganic chemicals

These include most acids,bases and salts. A major water pollutant.

Oil

Oil pollution occurs from major spills and from routine maritime operations

Garbage

This is trash thrown into any body of water or waterway from boats or from offshore

Fresh water treatment

For urban use and includes settling,filtration, and disinfection with chlorine,ozone,iodine, or UV radiation

Waste water treatment

Involves three major steps plus sludge processing and disinfection of the final effluent before it is released into the environment. The three major steps are Primary Treatment, secondary treatment, and tertiary or advanced treatment.

Primary Treatment

Physical seperation fo solids from liquids

Secondary treatment

Biological breakdown of wastes

Tertiary or Advanced treatment

Chemical detoxification of harmful organic and inorganic materials

Clean Water Act

(1972,1977) Money provided to imrpove sewage treatment and reduce water pollution

Safe Drinking Water Act

Sets standards for contaminants in drinking water

Water Quality Act

Established a policy to control non-point sources of water pollution

BOD( Biochemical oxygen demand)

This is the amount of oxygen needed to degrade or decompose a specific amount of organic waste that has entered into a body of water such as a stream or lake

Hazardous waste

Mutagen,Teratogen,Carcinogen

Mutagen

Causes hereditary changes through mutations

Teratogen

Causes fetus deformities

Carcinogen

Causes cancer

Love Canal, NY

(1950s+) Chemicals buried in old canal; school and home built over it; caused birth defects and cancer

Main component of municipal solid waste(MSW)

Paper; most is landfill

Sanitary landfill

Used to dispose of municipal waste

Incineration

Burning solid waste

Advantages of Incineration

Volumes of waste reduced by 90%, and waste heat can be used

Disadvantages of Incineration

Toxic emissions(polyvinyl chloride, dioxins), scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators needed, ash disposal (contains heavy metals)

Best way to solve waste problem

Reduce the amounts of waste at the source(Source reduction)

Source reduction

Reduce the amounts of waste at the source

Resource Conservation & Recovery Act

(1976) Controls hazardous waste with a cradle-to-grave system

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA)

(1980)-"Superfund," designed to identify and clean up abandoned hazardous waste dump sites

Layers of atmosphere

Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere

Greenhouse effect

Heats the planet as infrared rays from the sun are absorbed in the troposphere

Temperature has risen _____ over past 150 years

0.6 C

Carbon dioxide concentration has risen from 280 ppm to above ___ppm

400

Sea level rise

Has occurred at a rate of 2-3 mm/yr due to thermal expansion and melting of glaciers, and ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. Heating of the oceans causes oceans to give off CO2 instead of absorbing it

Negative effects of global warming

Changing precipitation to cause flooding/drought, severe storms, displacement of species, disruption of agriculture, acidification of the ocean, increased spread of tropical disease, increased sea level, possible thermohaline shutdown

Thermohaline shutdown

Normally ocean water freezing in the north Atlantic causes ocean water to increase in salinity and sink; with freshwater melting from Greenland this may stop, changing ocean currents that would trigger an ice age (catastrophic change)

Types of greenhouse gases

Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous oxide, CFCs

General circulation models

Used to predict future climate change. Positive and negative feedbacks have to be well understood to create accurate climate models

Milankovitch cycles

Change in Earth's orbit caused climate to change between ice age and interglacials

Kyoto Protocol

(1997) Controlling global warming by setting greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries; most countries did not keep targets to reduce emissions; U.S. did not pss treaty

CFCs

Depletes ozone in the stratosphere. CFCs are not destroyed in the troposphere so they have long ART. In the stratosphere sunlight breaks the CFCs to release chlorine. Through the catalytic chain reaction chlorine is able to destroy ozone molecules and release CL atom to repeat again

Ozon hole forms

Over the South Pole when the circumpolar vortex and polar stratospheric clouds form in the winter. Most ozone is created over the equator.

Effects of ozone depletion

90% increase in skin cancer, sunburns, cataracts, suppressed immune systems, decreased primary productivity

Montreal Protocol

(1987) phase-out of ozone depleting substances

Cogeneration

Using waste to make heat electricity

Electricity

Generated by fossil fuels, biomass or nuclear power: heat is produced which creates steam, steam turns a turbine the mechanical energy from the turbine is converted to electrical energy in a generator and that energy is transmitted to homes through power lines

Hydroelectric power

Potential energy of stored water is used tot urn a turbine, the mechanical energy from the turbine is converted to electrical energy in a generator and that energy is transmitted to homes through power lines

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be converted from one form to another( Law of Conservation of Energy)

Second Law of Thermodynamics

When energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy, usually heat

Fuel cells

Can be used to store energy like a battery; store hydrogen gas that was separated by electrolysis of water

Nuclear Fission

Nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons

Nuclear Fusion

Two isotpoes of light elements (H) forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus (He). Process is expensive; break-even point not reached yet

Nuclear Accidents

Chernobyl, Ukraine (1986), and Three Mile Island,PA(1979)

Coal Formation

Prehistoric plants buried un-decomposed in oxygen-depleted water of swamps/bogs converted by heat and pressure

Nuclear Reactor

Consists of a core, controls rods, moderator, steam generator, turbine, and containment building