Sources of
Pollution, Human
Impacts on
Ecosystems, and
Endocrine Disruptors
Pollution, Human
Impacts on
Ecosystems, and
Endocrine Disruptors
This type of pollution comes from a single, identifiable source such as a factory pipe or smokestack.
What is point source pollution?
These ecosystems absorb excess water during storms and help reduce flooding.
What are wetlands?
DDT and PCBs are examples of this category of long-lasting synthetic pollutants.
What are persistent organic pollutants (POPs)?
This type of landfill uses liners, leachate collection systems, and methane recovery systems.
What is a sanitary landfill?
This stage of sewage treatment physically removes large debris using screens and grates.
What is primary treatment?
This value represents the dose of a chemical that kills 50% of a test population.
What is LD50?
This atmospheric layer contains ozone that absorbs harmful UV radiation.
What is the stratosphere?
This gas is the reference standard for comparing global warming potential.
What is carbon dioxide (CO₂)?
As atmospheric temperatures rise, the ocean absorbs much of Earth’s excess heat because water has this property.
What is high specific heat?
Species introduced outside their native range that spread rapidly and harm ecosystems are called these.
What are invasive species?
Runoff carrying fertilizer, oil, and sediment from many lawns and roads is this type of pollution source.
What is nonpoint source pollution?
A structure built along rivers to prevent flooding is called this.
What is a levee?
This process occurs when pollutants build up within the tissues of a single organism over time.
What is bioaccumulation?
This liquid forms when water drains through waste in a landfill and carries pollutants with it.
What is leachate?
Bacteria breaking down organic matter in aerated tanks occurs during this stage of sewage treatment.
What is secondary treatment?
On a dose-response curve, the independent variable is usually this factor.
What is chemical dose or concentration?
These human-made chemicals were widely used in refrigerants and aerosol sprays and are a major cause of ozone depletion.
What are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)?
Among the major greenhouse gases discussed in AP Environmental Science, this group of compounds has the highest global warming potential (GWP).
What are CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)?
When corals lose their symbiotic algae due to warming water, this process occurs.
What is coral bleaching?
Zebra mussels were primarily spread between waterways through this shipping-related mechanism.
What is ballast water?
These chemicals interfere with hormone systems and can affect reproduction and development in organisms.
What are endocrine disruptors?
The term referring to excess nitrogen and phosphorus entering waterways that can trigger rapid algal growth.
What is eutrophication?
When pollutant concentrations increase at higher trophic levels in a food web, this process is occurring.
What is biomagnification?
This gas produced by anaerobic decomposition in landfills can be collected and burned for energy.
What is methane?
This stage of wastewater treatment removes nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that remain after the other types of treatment.
What is tertiary treatment?
When scientists determine a “safe” human exposure level for a chemical, they commonly divide the LD50 value from animal studies by this factor to provide a large safety margin.
What is 1,000?
This type of ultraviolet radiation splits O₂ molecules apart to begin ozone formation.
What is UV-C radiation?
The long-term graph showing steadily rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations since 1958 is known by this name.
What is the Keeling Curve?
Warmer ocean water holds lower amounts of this dissolved gas needed by marine organisms.
What is oxygen?
Species with broad niches, flexible diets, and high adaptability are classified as these.
What are generalists?
A species dies when exposed to low pollutant concentrations, while another survives. This ecological concept explains the difference.
What is range of tolerance?
As algae die and decompose after eutrophication, bacteria consume large amounts of this dissolved substance from the water.
What is dissolved oxygen?
Top predators like bald eagles and tuna often contain the highest concentrations of POPs because they occupy this position in a food web.
What is a high trophic level?
Among the three Rs, this strategy is considered the most sustainable because it prevents waste before it is created.
What is reduce?
This term refers to liquid waste discharged from a wastewater treatment plant into a body of water.
What is effluent?
Exposure to asbestos is strongly associated with this type of cancer.
What is mesothelioma?
This international agreement successfully reduced global production and use of ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs.
What is the Montréal Protocol?
Scientists study trapped ancient air bubbles in these to estimate past greenhouse gas concentrations.
What are ice cores?
Ocean acidification begins when atmospheric CO₂ dissolves in seawater and forms this acid.
What is carbonic acid?
This international agreement regulates trade in endangered species between countries.
What is CITES?
After heavy rainfall, fertilizer from large areas of agricultural fields washes into nearby waterways and contributes to algal blooms. This type of pollution source is being described.
What is a nonpoint source?
Hydroelectric dams can disrupt salmon reproduction because they interfere with this natural behavior.
What is migration to spawning grounds?
Dioxins are especially likely to accumulate in meat, dairy, and fish because these pollutants concentrate in this type of biological tissue.
What is fat tissue?
Electronic waste is considered hazardous largely because it contains toxic heavy metals such as these two elements.
What are lead and mercury?
Secondary treatment demands large amounts of this gas because aerobic bacteria need it to decompose organic waste efficiently.
What is oxygen (O₂)?
Unlike stratospheric ozone, this form of ozone worsens asthma and irritates lung tissue.
What is tropospheric ozone?
Polar stratospheric clouds above Antarctica accelerate ozone depletion because they release this highly reactive element from compounds such as HCl and ClONO₂.
What is chlorine?
Sea level rise occurs from melting continental ice sheets and this additional process caused by warming ocean water molecules spreading farther apart.
What is thermal expansion?
Ocean acidification harms shell-forming organisms because increased hydrogen ions reduce the availability of this ion needed to build calcium carbonate shells.
What is carbonate (CO₃²⁻)?
Species with narrow habitat requirements are especially vulnerable to extinction because they are these types of species.
What are specialists?