Chapter 20 Reading Guide – Air Pollution
This chapter continues our unit on our environment's quality, focusing this time on air quality. You
should read this chapter completely and answer the following questions.
1. What four gases comprise 99.999% of the atmosphere (excluding water vapor)?
2. What ecosystem services does the atmosphere perform?
3. Define air pollution.
4. Define primary air pollutants. What are the major ones?
5. Define secondary air pollutants. What are the major ones?
6. What are the six major classes of air pollutants? Which ones are greenhouse gases? Which
ones produce acid deposition? Which ones are found in photochemical smog?
7. What are hazardous air pollutants? List examples.
8. What are the two main human sources of primary air pollution? List examples of each and the
pollutants they produce.
9. What health problems result from/are exacerbated by air pollution?
10. Why is air pollution more damaging to children than adults?
11. Define industrial smog and photochemical smog.
12. What are the main sources of ingredients for photochemical smog?
13. How does weather and topography affect air pollution?
14. What can be done to control air pollution and improve air quality?
15. What key federal act regulates air pollution? When was it passed?
16. What is a nonattainment area?
17. Which six air pollutants did the Clean Air Act focus on?
18. Relate a country’s development status to its air pollution.
19. List at least two additional fuel sources for automobiles.
20. What is the global distillation effect?
21. What is the sick building syndrome? What indoor air pollutants are often the cause of it?
22. What’s the problem with randon?
23. What’s the problem with asbestos?
24. Where is ozone found? Why do we need to worry about it?
25. What are the causes of ozone depeletion?
26. Define acid deposition.
27. How is acid deposition measured?
28. What are the effects of acid deposition?
29. What can be done to reduce acid deposition?