Outcome 7.1
What are the two types of acid deposition?
Wet deposition
Dry deposition
What does "VOC" stand for?
Volatile organic compound
True or false: "Restricting vehicle use in urban areas is not a strategy used to manage air pollution."
False
What unit is ozone concentration measured in?
Dobson Units
Define smog.
A mixture of smoke and fog.
Provide an example for each type of acid deposition.
Wet deposition: snow, rain, hail, or fog
Dry deposition: dust or gases
What is needed for photochemical smog to appear?
Sunlight
What can reducing the use of fossils fuels help towards?
Managing air pollution
Define ozone hole.
An area where the average concentration of ozone is below 100 Dobson Units
Define primary air pollutant.
An air pollutant emitted directly from the source.
"Enhanced chemical weathering" is an impact of acid deposition that effects:
Stone and brick buildings
What impact does photochemical smog have on humans?
Eye and respiratory irritation
Define the polluter pays principle.
An environmental policy that holds individuals and organizations responsible for paying the costs associated with the pollution they cause.
Decreased crop yields
Biodiversity loss of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
Issues in human health such as cataracts and skin cancer
Degradation of materials used in clothing and construction
Define secondary air pollutant.
When pollutants react in the atmosphere.
Define acid deposition.
A mix of air pollutants that deposit from the atmosphere as acidic wet deposition (with a pH < 5.6) or acidic dry deposition
What impacts do photochemical smog have on the environment?
Decreased crop yields
Deterioration of plastics and rubber
How can legislation be used to manage air pollution?
Through local, national, and international legislation
Through the polluter pays principle
Outline how ozone depletion occurs.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from aerosols and
refrigerants move into the stratosphere and break
down in the presence of ultraviolet light to
release a chlorine atom which then reacts with ozone and breaks down ozone (O3) to oxygen (O2)
Define polar stratospheric clouds.
Stratospheric clouds that form over the poles in winter at altitudes 15000m to 25000m.
Outline the formation of acid deposition.
Fossil fuels containing sulfur compounds combust and release sulfur dioxide gas which then reacts with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid
or
Nitrogen from the atmosphere reacts with
oxygen in the high temperatures of vehicle
engines to form nitrogen monoxide gas which then reacts with the oxygen and water in the atmosphere to form nitric acid
or
When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water, oxygen, other substances in the atmosphere to then create sulfuric and nitric acid
Define photochemical smog.
A mixture of air pollutants and particulates that is formed when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds react in the presence of sunlight
One way air pollution can be managed is by reducing the emissions of:
Sulfur dioxide by flue gas desulfurization and fuel desulfurization
Oxides of nitrogen by catalytic converters
Particulates using electrostatic precipitators
Volatile organic compounds through safe usage, storage, and disposal of household products
Explain why ozone depletion has been the greatest over Antarctica using one or more of the following terms:
Temperature
Polar Vortex
Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs)
Very low temperatures at different levels in the stratosphere over a large area of the Antarctic for a long period of time in the winter cause polar stratospheric clouds to form which accelerates ozone-depleting chemical reactions
or
Polar vortexes isolate the Antarctic stratosphere from the rest of the atmosphere, preventing ozone-rich air from entering which is then amplified by the extremely cold temperatures that allow the formation of polar stratospheric clouds
Define polar vortex.
A large, long-lasting, rotating mass of cold air located over the North and South poles.