Safety Unit 5 Ch. 1

How does the environment change?

Objects that interact and change through water, air, carbon and soil levels

What is the environment made up of?

Everything living and non living

What is an ecosystem?

Self balancing and self sufficient linked by energy flow and nutrient cycles that all depend on each other to survive

What is biotic?

Living organisms

What is abiotic?

Non living organisms

What are biogeochemical cycles?

Combines terms biological, geological, and chemical. The cycling of matter essential to life involves all 3 segments. As substances move through living (biotic) and non living (abiotic) the atoms and molecules that make up the substances change due to chemical or physical reactions

What elements are continuously recycled?

Oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and water (water cycle). All are passed between organisms. Biogeochemical processes tries to maintain equilibrium

What is the oxygen cycle?

organisms take in oxygen through the air or water and release CO2 in respiration, while plants take in CO2 and exhale oxygen. Photosynthesis makes oxygen, animals (us) breathe it in and exhale CO2, and plants take it in again and repeat.

What percentage of the human body is water?

70%

How much of the earths surface is covered in water?

71%. Oceans hold 96.5% of water

What are rain, snow, and sleet examples of?

precipitation

What does surface flow mean?

generally flowing from high to low elevations

What is it called when water moves to atmosphere?

Evaporation

What is it called when mountain snow evaporates to atmosphere?

Sublimation

What’s it called when plants release moisture?

transpiration

What is it when atmosphere becomes saturated with moisture?

Condensation

What are the physical reactions of water in the water cycle?

Evaporation, condensation, and sublimation

What are the biological functions of water in water cycle?

Respiration and transpiration

What are examples or storage reservoirs for water?

Oceans, ice and snow, lakes and rivers, groundwater, and atmosphere

How does the water cycle work?

Bodies of water through heat evaporate back up to the atmosphere which condenses and forms clouds which causes rain. Rain falls and plants transpire the rain water through their roots back to the atmosphere and the rain flows back into bodies of water and repeat.

How do animals and birds release water?

Through respiration

How does the water get purified?

Through repeated evaporation, condensation and soil filtration

How does evaporation purify the water?

Distillation process, only the water evaporates, not what is dissolved in it

How does soil filtration purify the water?

Removes suspended matter from the water

What does the water cycle introduce to the water?

Impurities

What happens when water vapour condenses?

It dissolves gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide, and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen) from the atmosphere

What is the carbon cycle?

Movement of carbon between the three reservoirs that house it (rocks, oceans and atmosphere). When plants are consumed carbon transfers from the plants to the consumers. When animals consume plants the carbon is used for tissue growth. Carbon is returned through respiration to the atmosphere, the decay of dead organisms and combustion

What are the 2 main sources of carbon in the atmosphere?

Carbon dioxide and methane

How is carbon removed from the atmosphere?

Through photosynthesis. CO2 also dissolves in atmospheric moisture which returns to the land or bodies of water through precipitation

Where is carbon stored?

In all organisms, living or dead. Carbon is also stored in the soil

What is the carbon rock cycle?

Most of earths carbon is stored in rocks.

How are rocks produced?

Hardening of mud (containing organic matter) into shale, and by the collection of calcium carbonate particles from the shells and skeletons of marine organisms into carbon containing sedimentary rocks

What is the atmospheric carbon cycle?

Photosynthesis and respiration are the primary processes of rapid atmospheric CO2 cycling.

What is the third carbon that’s in the air with carbon and methane?

Chloroflurocarbons

What are the 3 main greenhouse gases?

Carbon, methane and chloroflurocarbons

What is the oceanic carbon cycle?

Near the surface most CO2 is consumed by photosynthesis by algae and returns to the atmosphere through respiration and organic decay

What is terrestrial organism carbon cycle?

Land dwellers such as plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi are carbon based organisms. Plants consume carbon from atmosphere through photosynthesis and convert carbon to tissue through being eaten by animals

What is development and composition in the soil cycle?

Type of parent material, topography (shape and surface of the land) of the area, climate and types of organisms present above and below the surface

What is the soil cycle?

Deposits from plants and animals depositing nutrients and organic matter in the form of their dead tissues and wastes. Organisms within the soil break down and redistribute the deposits. When plants and microbes die and decompose deposits are made again

What is ecology?

The study of plants and animals in relation to their environment. They are complex and involve individual organisms

What are the major components in an ecosystem?

Producers, consumers, and inactive organic matter

What are producers?

Green plants. They collect energy from the sun and through photosynthesis create sugar from CO2 and release O2

What are consumers?

Feed on plants or animals to gain energy.

What are decomposers?

Microbes and fungi that break down compounds of dead plants and animals into more simple molecules they can absorb

What is inactive organic matter?

The soil, nutrients in water and sediments. Physical surroundings that support the biological interactions of the producers and consumers in an ecosystem

What is a food web?

Matter follows a cyclic process that is conserved in an ecosystem and cycled through the system. One thing eats another thing, which is then eaten by another thing and so on until the final thing dies, then fungi breakdown the bodies and turns into nutrients.

What is symbiosis?

Interaction of two species that live together in close contact.

What is mutualism?

Interaction that is of mutual benefit

What is parasitism?

Organism benefits at the expense of the other

What are the 3 different parts of the environment?

Air, earth and water

What are examples of planned and approved effects on the environment?

Normal stack emissions, planed vapour and airborne particulate releases, solid waste release and disposal processes, noise generation, odour release, and surface disturbance during construction

What are unplanned effects on the environment?

Non-optimal releases due to plant efficiencies, increased stack emissions during process upsets, hazardous or contaminated liquid releases, and airborne particulate matter not captured

What are the specific regulations that limit stack emissions?

Particulate materials, carbon containing compounds (CO and CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx)

What happens when fuels burn very hot?

Produces higher oxide emissions, and sometimes the NOx produces ground level ozone like brown haze in the atmosphere

Why is poorly optimized firing equipment bad for the environment?

Produces excessive CO emissions due to incomplete combustion, which lowers plant efficiencies. When combined with rain CO and NOx can form acids that harm the soil and water

What percentage of water must be recycled and reused for Albertas SAGD plants?

Before 2012 it was only 10%. After 2012, it’s now 95%

What percentage of water is Alberta allowed to get from fresh water sources for SAGD plants?

5%

What are common problems with particulate matter?

Asthma, lung cancer, and respiration problems

What regulations are in place for solid waste?

Quantities of hazardous materials that can be stored, type of materials that can be stored, method of storage, and length of time materials can be stored until they are disposed

What’s the purpose of an emergency response plan?

Prepare a facility on how to respond to emergencies. Must be a jurisdictional requirement for reporting, containment, cleanup, and disposal of environmentally harmful substances

What are the 3 things the person reporting the ERP must report?

Immediately call the 24 - hour emergency phone line, written reports which must be submitted as soon as possible or within 7 days, and notify members of the public who may be affected by the release.

What information must be included in an Emergency Response Plan (ERP)?

Date and time of the release, description of the circumstances leading up to the release, type and quantity of the substance released, description of responsive actions taken or proposed at release site, and description of the release site and the immediate surrounding area

What is permanent action?

Most desirable because it deals and eliminates the root cause of the problem.

What is interim action?

Allows individual to live with the effects of a problem while making plans to address the cause

What is adaptive action?

Allows the plant to operate with a problem condition

What happens when a plant is decommissioned?

It must be left in a condition suitable for alternate use. It must pose no future threat to public health or the environment

What 4 things should be addressed before a plant closure is announced?

Closure, dismantling, site evaluation, and reclamation procedures