Climate Change + Solid and Hazardous Waste

Climate Change

Altered over the past 3 billion years by: the sun’s output of energy, volcanic eruptions, impacts by large meteorites, changes in the earth’s orbit, and glacial and interglacial periods. It can also help drive ¼ to ½ of all plants and animals to extinction by the end of this century.

Weather

Deals with events that happen day to day. Based on wind patterns and flows West to East.

Climate

General pattern of atmospheric or weather conditions over long periods of time (30 years ideally).

Polar Cell (Up in the poles), Ferrel cells (Blows West to East in North and South), and Hadley Cells (Blows East to West).

What are the 3 cells of Global Atmospheric Circulation?

H₂O, CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O

What are the greenhouse gases?

Greenhouse effect

A naturally warming effect on the troposphere.

Smog Equation

VOCs +NO₂+Heat+Sunlight yields

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

Breaks apart into a radical and NO₂ and has a half life of 32 minutes.

Glaciers

Big sheets of Ice that help stabilize climate by reflecting heat.

Albedo Effect

A measure of how much light that hits a surface is being reflected without being absorbed. (Why people wear light colored clothing in the summer).

Greenhouse Effect

Interaction between glacier loss, warming, and CO₂.

Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health

Severe Weather, Air pollution, Changes in Vector Ecology, Increasing allergens, Water Quality impacts, Water and Food Supply Impacts, Environmental Degradation, and Extreme Heat.

Solid Waste

Industrial, Municipal, Hazardous, and Electronic. It can be found in your home and random isolated places. It creates problems because it wastes earth’s resources and can cause air/water pollution and greenhouse gases.

Industrial Waste

The US produces 98.5% of this type of waste.

Anthropogenic mass

Mass that humans create that can cause problems.

Energy, Food, Water, Raw Materials, Manufacturing, Money, and Information

Inputs of Society.

Solid wastes, Waste heat, air pollutants, water pollutants, greenhouse gases, manufacturing, noise, wealth, and ideas.

Outputs of Society

Electronic Waste

Fastest-growing solid waste problem worldwide.

Burn, Bury, Waste management, waste reduction, and integrated waste management.

Types of Disposal Methods

Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling

Redesigning manufacturing processes that they are more efficient + developing reusable products, eliminate unnecessary packaging, cradle-to-grave responsibility, restructure urban transportation system, using glass bottles, PET plastic.

Open dumps and sanitary landfills

2 types of Landfills

Sanitary landfills

A method of solid waste disposal on land, where waste is buried in layers and compacted, then covered with soil daily to minimize environmental impact. It can be built by the trench method or the area method.

Advantages of sanitary landfills

Low operating costs, can handle large amounts of waste, filled land can be used for other purposes, no shortage of landfill space in many areas.

Disadvantages of sanitary landfills

Noise, traffic, and dust; releases greenhouse gases unless they are collected, output approach that encourages waste production, eventually leaks and cans can contaminate groundwater.

Alternative Disposal methods

Physical methods, Chemical methods, biological methods, phytoremediation, and or incineration.