Chapter 17 Questions (p. 372-399)
Ad Eco HW Due Tuesday 3.23.10
1. What gases is the atmosphere made up of? Which of these are greenhouse gases?
79% nitrogen
20%oxygen
1% mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapor & small quantities of other gases.
Carbon dioxide & water vapor
2. What is pollution?
Something produced by humans that interferes our well being or the environment.
3. When population is small and its energy use is low, the impact of people is minimal.
4. The pollution of what four Eastern U.S. cities contributes to pollution over the Atlantic
ocean?
Chicago, Gary, Indiana, Detroit & Cleveland
5. Why did seventeen people die in Donora PA in October 1948?
Donora is located in a valley, and the pollutants became trapped in the valley & a dense
fog formed.
6. How many deaths in Mexico city a year are related to air pollution?
6400
7. List the primary air pollutants.
Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulates, sulfur dioxide (SOx), & nitrogen
compounds (NOX)
8. Primary pollutants can react with one another in the presence of sunlight to form
secondary pollutants. Give an example.
Ozone
9. What is the largest AND second largest source of carbon monoxide? (CO)
Automobiles, and then smoking tobacco
10. Why does carbon monoxide remain a problem even after fuel efficiency & catalytic
converters have reduced emissions per kilometer?
Because the number of total vehicles is increasing so quickly
11. What has been done in Charlottesville city restaurants to cut down on carbon
monoxide emissions?
No smoking in restaurants
12. What modifications have been made in vehicles to reduce hydrocarbon emissions?
Recycling gases through the engine, using higher oxygen concentrations in the fuel-air
mixture, and using valves to prevent the escape of gases & catalytic converters
13. Name five sources that contribute to the particulate load.
Smoke particles from fires, bits of asbestos from brake linings, & insulation, dust
particles, & ash from industrial plants
14. What may have been the earliest environmental legislation concerning air quality?
In 1306 Edward I of England banned the burning of sea coles (coal found on the
seashore) in the city of London
15. What was the source of the “killer fog” in England in 1952?
Factories were releasing smoke and dust into a stagnant layer of air
16. What is NOx?
A mixture of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
17. Photochemical smog is the a mixture of pollutants resulting from the interaction of
Nitrogen oxide with ultraviolet light
18. Why is ozone particularly harmful?
Destroys chlorophyll in plants & damages lung tissue in animals
19. Name the four West coast cities that have trouble with photochemical smog as a
result of their climate and their geographic features.
LA, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, & Denver
20. List other significant air pollutants that have been recognized as significantly
affecting the health and welfare of people.
Lead, radon, toxic chemicals, primary sources are gasoline & paint
Chapter 17 Questions Set 2.
1. Name the US city that has seen the greatest reduction in smog days.
Denver, Colorado
2. Name 3 ways that particulate release can be reduced by industry.
Scrubbers, precipitators, & filters
3. Sulfur dioxide is produced primarily by.
Electric power generating plants
4. One alternative to reduce sulfur dioxide release is to switch from ___________
____________________ ___________ to __________ ____________
_______________.
High sulfur coal to low sulfur coal
5. We can also remove sulfur from fuel before we burn it, but what is the downside to
this?
Increased cost
6. How do taller smokestacks affect emissions?
They dilute the emission downwind
7. When was the Clean Air Act initially enacted?
1967
8. List the 6 pollutants that are controlled through the Clean Air Act.
Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, lead
9. What greenhouse gas was recently added? This is not from your book, but you’ve
heard a lot about this gas in the news & in class.
Carbon dioxide
10. _______________ have primary responsibility for assuring that air quality is
maintained at a level consistent with the National ambient air quality standards. What
agency do you think is responsible in Virginia?
States, DEQ (Virginia Department of Environmental Quality)
11. Where has acid rain been reported to be a problem?
All over the world—Canada, England, Germany, France, Scandinavia, and the United
States
12. Acid rain has a concentration of acid 1000 times greater than normal rain, which is
slightly acidic.
1000
13. Name some effects of acid rain in aquatic ecosystems.
Lakes are more acidic, organisms die off, amphibians are especially susceptible
14. Poorer nations are likely to be more vulnerable to consequences of global
climate change. This is because they are more dependent on climate-sensitive sectors,
such as subsistence agriculture.
15. Name some sources of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). As greenhouse gases, they are
1500 more efficient at retarding heat loss than carbon dioxide.
Refrigerators, air conditioners, cleaning solvents, aerosol containers, and foam products
16. Name two sources of nitrous oxide (NOx).
Fossil fuels & fertilizers
Chapter 17 Questions Set 3.
1. List 3 ways that global climate change can impact human health.
Risk of mortality from heat stress
Respiratory disease (asthma)
Increases the risk of infectious disease
2. By 2100, how much is sea level expected to rise?
15-90 cm
3. Name 3 ways that disruption of the water cycle is manifested.
Flooding
Water quality
Snow & ice pack melt
4. Changing climate is expected to increase both evaporation and
precipitation in most areas of the world.
5. What alternative energy source could be affected by changes in the water cycle?
Hydroelectric power
6. How can disruption of the water cycle affect water quality?
Chemical run-off rates increase, less water available than concentration of pollution is
greater.
7. Climate change could dramatically alter the geographic distributions of
vegetation types. Such changes could have profound effects on national parks
& refuges, as well reduction in biodiversity and economically beneficial species as well.
8. Where would climate change related agricultural damages be most likely?
Poorer countries
9. Our predictions of the effects of climate change are based on:
Computer models
10. What is the formula of the ozone molecule?
O3
11. What service does ozone provide?
Protects us from harmful UV radiation
12. What health problems would increase as a result of holes in the ozone layer?
Increases skin cancer, cataracts, & sun burn
13. Even though many measures have been taken to reduce ozone layer destruction, why
do experts predict that ozone depletion will worsen well into the next century?
Chlorofluorocarbon molecules to get into the stratosphere & then they can react with the
ozone for up to 120 years.
14. List common indoor air pollutants.
Carbon monoxide, asbestos, formaldehyde, wood products & aerosols, pesticide residues,
chloroform, perchloroethylene (dry cleaning), paradichlorobenzene (mothballs & air
fresheners), and disease causing or allergy-producing organisms.