Acid Rain
What color does blue litmus paper turn in a base?
stays blue
Roughly how many people reside on Earth.
8 billion
What would the temperature be like if there were no greenhouse gasses?
circa zero degrees / freezing temperatures. Not good for life as we know it.
higher
What is a pesticide?
A chemical used to kill insects
what color does red litmus paper turn in a base?
turns blue
Wind is what category of resource (renewable / nonrenewable)?
renewable
methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor
Name two different chemicals which are observed to biomagnify?
Mercury, PCB's, PFAS
What is DDT and why was it banned?
DDT is a pesticide that was banned as it was thinning the eggshells of eagles and falcons, and also increased the risk of cancer and other diseases in humans.
what are the major chemicals involved in acid rain?
Nitrogen oxides and Sulfur Dioxide
Explain why coal is nonrenewable.
It is regenerated, but at a rate much more slowly than humans use it. Effectively, from the perspective of human lifetimes, it is not renewed.
What does human activity have to do with the greenhouse effect?
Human activities (burning of fossil fuels for energy) produce greenhouse gasses.
clear land for farming
timber for construction / furniture / paper / fires
land for human settlement / roads
Mining for materials
What is a biological control and why is it beneficial to the environment?
A biological control is something natural, like a natural predator, that controls a pest population without the need for chemical pesticides
The pollution can be derived from remote areas, different regions of the country, even different countries
Explain why, even though the sun will go out one day, it is categorized as renewable.
The sun has enough fuel to continue shining for billions of years. This will likely exceed the length of time that humans are around.
When we capture solar rays, that does not prevent more from shining tomorrow.
What human activities released the CFC's that are responsible for the hole in the ozone layer
refrigeration, aerosols
If we were to cut down a forest, how would that impact the oxygen / carbon dioxide cycle?
Trees use CO2 for photosynthesis. So removing those trees effectively means more CO2 (a greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere.
Have legislators done anything about pollution?
Yes, we discussed multiple laws (clean air acts) that for example created emissions standards on cars and smokestacks
Something which has a pH of 4 would be described as ______ while something that has a pH of 7 would be described as _____ while something with pH 12 would be described as _______
acidic, neutral, basic
What is the big deal about having a large population? Explain.
Each person accounts for a certain amount of energy used (transportation, agriculture, electricity, etc.). As long as the energy mix is predominantly fossil fuel burning, the more people = the more pollution.
Why does an invasive species flourish?
No natural predators in the new environment, outcompetes natural members of the ecosystem for one or more resources
How does deforestation impact soil?
Soil is eroded. This results in more chemical fertilizers bein used to improve crop yields in the eroded soil.
It takes global coordination amongst a large group of sovereign nations