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61 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are the five different types of mining?
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-Strip mining
-Subsurface mining -Open pit mining -Placer mining -Mountaintop Removal mining |
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What are some common problems with landfills?
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-Liners can be punctured
-If wet, can leach, heavy metals, benzene -If dry, slows decomposition -May not be maintained |
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What percentage of landfills is paper?
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40%
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Why to garbage surveys not match what is in landfills?
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Because people are not honest about what they throw away such as alcohol containers etc.
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How many people died of smog in 1952?
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4000
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Is the air cleaner or less clean today than it was in the past?
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Cleaner.
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What were the effects of the "cogestion charging project?
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($15) per day
-Pays for bus service. -Congestion decreased -fewer accidents -air quality improved |
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What are the 4 different layers of the air in the atmosphere? (in order top to bottom)
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Thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, topopause. troposphere
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What is the definition of the throposphere?
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The layer of the atmosphere that blankets the earth and gives us the air we need to live.
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What is the definition of the stratosphere?
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The layer of the atmosphere that extends above sea level.
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What happens to the air under normal conditions?
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Warmer toward the core, and cooler up high in the atmosphere.
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What happens to the air under thermal inversion conditions?
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Cool at bottom and top of atmosphere with a warm spot in the middle.
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What are some natural forms of pollution?
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Fires, wind, volcanoes.
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What did the clean air act of 1970 madate?
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-Funds for pollution-control research
-Standards for air quality, limits on emissions -Allows citizens to sue parties violating the standards |
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What did the legislation of the 1990s do in terms of pollution?
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-Starting 1995 – companies can buy, sell, trade permits for pollutants.
-Each year, the allowable pollution decreases. |
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What percentage of all pullution is do to carbon monoxide?
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64%
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What percentage of all pullution is do to nitrogen oxides?
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13%
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What percentage of all pullution is do to volatile organic compounds?
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11%
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What percentage of all pullution is do to sulfer dioxides?
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10%
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What percentage of all pullution is do to particulate matter?
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2%
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What percentage of all pullution is do to lead?
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.001 %
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What did the EPA do about pollution?
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-sets nationwide standards for pollutant emissions.
-States monitor air quality and develop, implement, and enforce regulations. -If state plan is inadequate, EPA can take over -The EPA and states focus on six criteria pollutants. |
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What are the EPAs six main poullutants of focus?
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-Carbon monoxide
-Sulfer dioxides -Nitrogen oxides -Volatile organic compounds -Lead -Particulate matters |
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What are the characteristics of CO?
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Carbon monoxide (CO): colorless, odorless gas
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What are the characteristics of SO2?
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2): colorless gas with a strong odor
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What are the characteristics of NO2?
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2): foul-smelling reddish brown gas
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What are the characteristics of nitrogen oxides?
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Nitrogen oxides (NOx): nitrogen and oxygen react at high temperatures in combustion engines
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What are the characteristics of O3?
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Tropospheric ozone (O3): colorless gas with a strong odor
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What are the characteristics of particulate matter?
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Particulate matter: solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere
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What are the characteristics of lead?
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Lead: particulate pollutant added to gas and used in industrial metal smelting
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Why are there ozone alert days?
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Most frequently this means the amount of ozone exceeds the EPA standard
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What are the characteristics of volatile organic compounds?
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): carbon-containing chemicals emitted by vehicle engines and industrial processes that can react to produce ozone
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What effect to cleaner engines have on air quality?
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Cleaner-burning vehicles and catalytic converters decrease carbon monoxide.
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What is one way to reduce SO2?
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Permit-trading programs and clean coal technologies reduce SO2 emissions.
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What are scrubbers?
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Scrubbers: technologies that chemically convert or physically remove pollutants before they leave the smokestacks
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What is happening to lead based gasoline?
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It is being phased out of the US because of its pollutants but is still used to less fortunate countries.
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What are two ways that air pollution is being reduced?
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Improved technologies and federal policies
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What is the clear skies initiative?
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Clear Skies Initiative: established a market-based cap-and-trade program for some pollutants
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What are some of the effects of the ozone hole?
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Causes skin cancer, harms crops, and decreases ocean productivity
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How is acid percipitaion caused?
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Burning fossil fuels release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides
Compounds react with water, form sulfuric and nitric acids |
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Why is air pollution prevalent is developing nations?
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-In developing nations, air quality is declining.
-Factories and power plants with few pollution controls -Wood and charcoal used to cook and heat homes. |
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Where in the world has the worst air pollution? What percentage of its cities are polluted?
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-China has the world’s worst air pollution.
-80% of its cities suffer pollution above health standards. |
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How much of the time is the average US citizen indoors?
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The average U.S. citizen spends 90% of the time indoors.
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Which environment contains more pollution indoors or outdoors? Why?
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Indoor air contains higher concentrations of pollutants than outdoor air.
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How many people die per year because of air pollution?
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6,000 people die per day from indoor air pollution.
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Why are indoor pollutants so bad?
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Because you are exposed to synthetic materials that exude volatile chemicals
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What are some common greenhouse gases?
C, m, n, w, c |
-Carbon dioxide
-Methane -Nitrous oxide -Water vapor -CFCs Hint: Cats, may, not, want, coats |
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Why are aerosols bad?
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Because they can potentially cool the atmosphere.
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What are Milankovitch cycles?
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Milankovitch cycles: periodic changes in Earth’s rotation and orbit around the Sun
-Alter the way solar radiation is distributed over Earth’s surface -By modifying patterns of atmospheric heating, these cycles trigger long-term climate variation such as periodic glaciation |
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What is solar output?
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Solar output: the sun varies in the radiation it emits
At each peak of its 11-year sunspot cycle, the sun emits flares strong enough to disrupt satellite communications. But variation in solar energy has not been great enough to change Earth’s temperature. |
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What is ocean absorbtion?
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Ocean absorption: the ocean holds 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and absorbs it from the atmosphere
Carbon absorption by the oceans is slowing global warming but not preventing it. Warmer oceans absorb less CO2 because gases are less soluble in warmer water, which accelerates warming. |
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What is ocean circulation?
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Ocean circulation: ocean water exchanges tremendous amounts of heat with the atmosphere
Moves energy from place to place |
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What is thermohaline circulation?
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Thermohaline circulation: a worldwide current system
Warmer, fresher water moves along the surface and carries heat to Europe North American Deep Water (NADW): the deep portion of the thermohaline circulation, consisting of denser, saltier, cool water that sinks and moves deep beneath the surface |
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What would happen if you interrupted thermohaline circulation?
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Interrupting thermohaline circulation could trigger rapid climate change.
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What would happen if Greenland's ice melted?
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If Greenland’s ice melts, freshwater runoff would dilute surface waters, making them less dense, and stopping NADW.
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What does data suggest about current thermohaline circulation?
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Data suggest thermohaline circulation is slowing.
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What is the definition of ENSO?
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El Niño-southern oscillation (ENSO): a systematic shift in atmospheric pressure, sea surface temperature, and ocean circulation in the tropical Pacific Ocean
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What are normal tide conditions?
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-Normally, winds blow from east to west along the equator, from high to low pressure.
-Water “piles up” in the western Pacific. -Westward-moving surface waters allow nutrient-rich upwelling along the coast of Peru. |
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What is the el nino phenomenon?
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-El Niño: occurs when air pressure increases in the western Pacific and decreases in the eastern Pacific, weakening the equatorial winds
-Water flows eastward, suppressing upwellings, shutting down delivery of nutrients to aquatic life -Coastal industries are devastated; global weather is changed |
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What are la nina events?
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The opposite of El Niño events
Cold surface waters extend far westward in the equatorial Pacific and weather patterns are affected in opposite ways. |
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What effect does global warming have on ENSO cycles?
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ENSO cycles are periodic, occurring every 2-8 years.
Globally warming air and sea temperatures may be increasing their frequency and strength. |
