AIR POLLUTION I
Nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere are hit by sunlight producing smog.
Is this a primary air pollutant or a secondary air pollutant?
What is a secondary air pollutant?
Which statement is not true regarding the air pollution disaster that struck Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948?
A. The event helped to catalyze eventual passage of the Clean Air Act
B. A thermal inversion caused the pollution to build to higher levels than normal
C. The death toll was much higher than that of the London Smog 4 years later.
D. The pollution was the result of coal burning at a zinc and steel plant
What is the death toll was much higher than that of the London smog 4 years later?
This pollutant is the most deadly, binding to hemoglobin in red blood cells and preventing oxygen transport in the body.
What is Carbon Monoxide?
A pH sample was taken from soil in each of the following cities. Assuming the soil compositions are comparable which area had the worst problem with acid precipitation?
Boise Idaho/pH= 5.5; Sacramento, California/pH=6.1; Columbus Ohio/pH = 4.2 Caribou, Maine/pH = 4.8
What is Columbus Ohio?
This is where scientists have discovered a large weakened area in the ozone layer.
What is Antarctica?
Nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds can react in warm, sunlit air to form ground-level ozone.
Is this a primary air pollutant or a secondary air pollutant?
What is a secondary air pollutant?
All of these were a result of what disaster in 1952:
A thermal inversion, an unusually cold winter leading to more coal burning in homes, the use of a softer and more pollution form of coal
What was the London smog of 1952?
Levels of this pollutant have fallen dramatically since the formulation of gasoline was changed in the 1970s and 1980s
What is lead?
This is the most likely explanation for why a city had such a problem with acid precipitation.
What are high amounts of coal burning due to power plants or zinc and steel smelting plants?
An international agreement was signed to deal with the problem of ozone depletion. Following passage of the agreement in 1989, called the ________________, the use of CFCs ____________
What is the montreal protocol and decreased?
Carbon monoxide is directly emitted from the exhaust of internal combustion engines.
Is this a primary air pollutant or a secondary air pollutant?
What is a primary air pollutant?
The clean air act of 1970 charged the EPA with monitoring six criteria air pollutants. Which pollutant was not and is still not part of the law?
What is Carbon Dioxide?
A reddish-brown gas that causes the sharp, sweet smell of car exhaust
What is Nitrogen Oxide?
This causes the following environmental damage:
degradation of marble and granite structures; reduction in the ability of some plants to absorb nutrients due to low pH soil; lowering the survival rate of adult fish and fish eggs.
What is acid rain?
London, following the smog of 1952, began investing heavily in infrastructure that would allow residents to begin using natural gas (methane) instead of coal. This is called .....
What is fuel switching?
A city experiencing a thermal inversion is ________ likely to experience air pollution problems
(More, less, equally)
What is more?
Levels of which foul smelling air pollutant would you expect to be especially high near a coal-burning power plant?
What is Sulfur Dioxide?
Gasoline is mostly made of octane, a chemical compound derived from a fossil fuel. When exposed to the air, it evaporates easily. This is an example of what?
What is a volatile organic compound?
Ozone, when present in the stratosphere, is beneficial to living organisms because it filters out some of the _____________ light given off by the sun.
What is ultraviolet?
The installation of magnetically charged electric plates near the smokestacks of a power plant is an example of .....
What is electrostatic precipitation?
Which of the following geographic locations would be the least likely to experience frequent thermal inversions?
In a low elevation area near a mountain range; along a river; in a valley or on a flat, windy expanse of prarie
What is on a flat, windy expanse of prairie?
Which air pollutant is the most visible, creating most of what we see as "smoke"?
What are particulates?
Air pollution action days are declared when the levels of air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act are dangerously high. What two pollutants pose the greatest risk and are the most likely to trigger an action day?
What is ground level ozone and particulates?
Ozone is a compound derived from __________. It is degraded in the atmosphere when exposed to __________-containing compounds, such as CFCs.
What is Oxygen and Chlorine?
Most automobiles are equipped with a catalytic converter, which decreases the production of what two pollutants?
What is Carbon monoxide and Nitrogen Oxide?