Concept of Pollution, Global Warming, and Deforestation

Vocabulary flashcards covering environmental pollution types (air, water, soil, thermal), global warming, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, and water treatment processes.

Pollution

Any undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of the air, water, and land that can harmfully affect living organisms and the ecosystem.

Pollutant

Any substance introduced into the environment that adversely affects its properties and has a harmful effect on the ecosystem as a whole.

Biodegradable Pollutants

Pollutants that can be decomposed naturally, such as sewage, agricultural waste, and organic textiles like cotton or leather.

Non-biodegradable Pollutants

Pollutants that cannot be decomposed by natural processes, such as DDT, polythene bags, and plastic bottles.

Particulate Matter

Small suspended particles ranging from $0.001$ to $500\, \mu m$ in diameter, including soot, dust, flyash, and biological agents like spores or pollen.

Carbon monoxide

A highly poisonous product of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels that reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of blood.

Hydrocarbons

Substances such as methane ($CH_4$), Benzene, and Benzpyrene evolved from soil microbes or the burning of coal and petroleum products.

Primary Pollutant

Pollutants emitted directly from human or natural activities, such as $CO_2$, $SO_2$, $NO_x$, and particulate matter.

Secondary Pollutant

Pollutants formed by the reaction of primary pollutants with other components of the atmosphere, such as nitric acid, sulphuric acid, and Ozone ($O_3$).

Acid Rain

Rainwater containing excessive acid (nitric, sulphuric, and carbonic acid) caused by the emission of sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere.

Classical Smog

Also known as reducing smog, it occurs in cool humid climates and is a mixture of smoke, fog, and sulphur dioxide.

Photochemical Smog

Also known as oxidizing smog, it occurs in warm, dry, and sunny climates and results from the action of sunlight on unsaturated hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

A strong oxidizing agent and secondary pollutant in photochemical smog that causes silvering of the lower surface of leaves and suppressed plant growth.

Ozone Hole

The reduction of the ozone umbrella or shield over the Arctic and Antarctic regions caused by chlorine from chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Montreal Protocol

An agreement amended in $1990$ that decided to completely phase out CFCs to prevent damage to the ozone layer.

Global Warming

The increase in the temperature of the global atmosphere caused by atmospheric gases trapping outgoing infrared radiation from the earth.

Greenhouse Effect

The phenomenon where a thick layer of gases like $CO_2$ allows sunlight to filter through but prevents heat from being re-radiated into outer space.

Deforestation

The indiscriminate felling of trees and denudation of forests due to urbanization, industrialization, and over-exploitation for space and materials.

Eutrophication

The process by which a water body becomes rich in plant nutrients (nitrates and phosphates), leading to abnormal algal growth and oxygen depletion.

Biomagnification

The increase in concentration of accumulated toxic chemicals as one moves higher in the food chain.

Itai-Itai disease

A condition caused by Cadmium poisoning, reported in Toyama, Japan in $1912$.

Minamata disease

A condition caused by Mercury (Methyl Mercury) poisoning, reported in Kumamoto, Japan in $1956$.

Primary Treatment

The first stage of wastewater treatment involving mechanical processes such as sedimentation, coagulation (using flocculants like potash alum), and filtration.

Secondary Treatment

Biological treatment of sewage using microorganisms like bacteria and protozoa to consume and metabolize biodegradable organic pollutants.

Tertiary Treatment

The final stage of wastewater treatment focusing on disinfecting water, most commonly using Chlorine to kill bacteria.