Objectives:
• Define the term sick-building syndrome.
• Characterize the scope of indoor air pollution and
assess potential solutions.
•
Define the term sick-building
syndrome.
Sick-Building Syndrome:
A building-related illness
produced by indoor
pollution in which the
specific cause is not
identifiable.
Characterize the scope of indoor air pollution and assess potential
solutions.
• Indoor air pollutions cause far more deaths and heath
problems worldwide than outdoor air pollution.
• Indoor burning of fuel wood is the developing world’s
primary indoor pollution risk.
• Tobacco smoke and radon are the deadliest indoor
pollutants in the developed world.
• Volatile organic compounds and living organisms can
pollute indoor air.
• Using low toxicity building materials, keeping spaces clean,
monitoring air quality, and maximizing ventilation are some
of the steps we can take to reduce indoor air pollutions.
Indoor air pollution
Indoor air pollution in the developing
world
Tobacco smoke and radon
Radon risk across the U.S.
VOCs pollute indoor air
Sources of indoor air pollution
Living organisms can pollute indoors
We can reduce indoor air pollution
In developed countries:
• Open a window.
• Buy safer products.
• Maintain humidity below 50
percent.
• Minimize pet dander.
• Don’t harbor dust mites.
• Test homes and offices and use CO
detectors
In developing countries:
• Dry wood before burning
• Cook outside
• Use less-polluting fuels (natural gas)
TED Video
Amy Smith designs cheap, practical fixes
for tough problems in developing
countries. Among her many
accomplishments, the MIT engineer
received a MacArthur "genius" grant in
2004 and was the first woman to win the
Lemelson-MIT Prize for turning her ideas
into inventions.
Fumes from indoor cooking fires kill more than 2 million children a year
in the developing world. MIT engineer Amy Smith details an exciting but
simple solution: a tool for turning farm waste into clean-burning
charcoal.
Amy Smith shares simple, lifesaving design (15:03)
Air Pollutants Quiz
After Quiz work on
study guide
Families
• What is the difference between
‘Global Warming’ and ‘Climate Change’?
Climate change
Global Warming
Climate change is the fastest-developing area
of environmental science
Climate = an area’s long-term atmospheric
conditions (Temperature, moisture, wind,
precipitation, etc. )
Global climate change = describes trends and
variations in Earth’s climate
(Temperature, precipitation, storm
frequency)
**Global warming = an increase in Earth’s
average temperature**
Only one aspect of climate change
Natural Causes of Climate Change
Solar variation
Ocean currents
Fluctuations in Atmosphere components
Change in earth’s tilt or orbital path
Human (Anthropogenic) Causes Climate Change
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
GreenHouse Gases Cause the
GreenHouse Effect (Global Warming
Characterize human influences on the atmosphere and climate.
• Increased greenhouse gas emissions enhance the
greenhouse effect.
• By burning fossil fuels, clearing forests, and
manufacturing halocarbons, humans are increasing
atmospheric concentrations of many greenhouse
gases.
• Human input of aerosols into the atmosphere
exerts a variable but slight cooling effect.
What caused levels of CO2 to increase?
Fluxes of carbon dioxide
Other greenhouse gases add to warming
U.S. emissions of major greenhouse
gases
Feedback complicates our predictions
Most aerosols exert a cooling effect
Supplementary: Goldilocks and the
Greenhouse: Science and Climate Change
Goldilocks and the Greenhouse: Science and Climate
Change (5:54)