Ozone
What level of the atmosphere has the highest concentration of ozone?
What is the stratosphere?
Where is the largest hole in the ozone located?
What is Antarctica?
Outline two ways that countries can reduce their tropospheric ozone exposure?
What is increased investment into renewable energy/technology?
What are stricter taxes for vehicle/industry emissions?
What are public policy initatives like don't drive days or promoting biking?
What is promoting sustainable agricultural practices?
What is promoting sustainable behavior like carpooling?
What is planting trees or increasing the greenergy in cities to reduce ozone levels?
What are technological improvements like catalytic converters/scrubbers/electric vehicles?
What is improved energy efficiency in buildings and appliances?
What is one reason that models tend to not be as reliable?
What is oversimplification?
What is hard to predict consumer/government/industry behavior?
What is the impact of a decreased concentration of ozone on living organisms?
What is reduced overall productivity, less energy available up the food chain?
What is increased UV radiation levels can cause and increased incidence of cataracts/mutatons during cell division which can result in skin cancer/melanoma
Why did the ozone hole size increase from 1979 to to 87 and then reduce in size in the late 2000s
What is the montreal protocol?
What is a potential impact of increased ground level ozone on human health?
What is lung damage?
What is emphysema?
What is eye irritation?
Also lung cancer, irritation to respiratory tissue, bronchitis, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues
Why do ozone depleting substances have a continued effect on ozone in the atmosphere?
What are chemicals with a long lifetime in the atmosphere?
What is an illegal market for ozone depleting substances persists and requires consistent monitoring?
What are countries that do not comply with international agreements on bans.
Why are phytoplankton so important?
What is the base of the food web?
What is a producer of 50% of the Earth's oxygen?
What is the albedo effect and what is it's role in regulating the Earth's temperature?
How do human activities negatively affect stratospheric ozone?
Which is a greater threat to human species and why? Climate change or biodiversity loss.
How are feedback loops involved in the maintenance the albedo ratio/maintaining global temperature?
rise of global temperature --> increased evaporation --> increased cloud cover --> increeased albedo and reflection of solar radiation --> decrease in global temperature (positive feedback loop)
or a rise in global temperature increases melting in ice caps which decreases albedo which increases solar radiation absorption which results in a rise in global temperature.
What are human activities that can increase the restoration of ozone?
What are pollution management strategies that reduce the manufacture and release of ODS?
What is the Montreal Protocol that was an international agreement that agreed on the reduction of the use of ODS?
What is recycling refrigerants/developing alternatives to gas blown plastics, developing non propellant alternatives?
Why is the need for conservation more significant in tropical biomes?
What is biodiversity? Rainforests have a high productivity and biodiversity and it is also home to many indigenous cultures, species that have not yet been discovered that could have medicinal purposes, tropical biomes are large carbon sinks, home to many endangered species.