Pollution: Mid 1

Lecture 1,2,3

Water is not a cyclic resource

False, it has a water cycle

Water pollution

Pollution of water bodies usually caused by human activities. A change in the physical, chemical, or biological properties of water that have harmful consequences.

Water pollution causes

• Domestic effluents and sewage

• Industrial effluents

• Radioactive waste

• Thermal pollution

• Oil pollution

Domestic waste and sewage

Household purposes that go through drain pipes and into rivers, reservoir, or lakes. this depletes oxygen

Ex. cooking, cleaning, cooling bathing

Domestic waste and sewage contain many organisms in the form of bacteria and viruses

True

What is the cause of high infant mortality rate in developing contries?

The untreated wastewater that carry viruses and bacteria coupled with poor household sanitation.

Sewage supports the growth of other forms of life that consume oxygen, measured in in Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

True

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Amount of oxygen that is demanded by microorganisms in order to break down excess levels of nutrients and organic materials

Industrial effluents

Industrial activities generate a wide variety of waste products, normally categorized as heavy or synthetic organic compounds.

Normally discharged into water courses through direct discharge or leaching waste dumps.

How are industrial discharge controlled?

Developing countries largely uncontrolled

Developed countries: strictly controlled

How does the paper industry affect nature?

• Effluents produce sludge that blanket fish spawning grounds, destroying certain types of aquatic life

  • Effluent contain: Chlorine, Sulfur dioxide, Methyl mercaptan, etc.

How does the textile industry affect nature?

• Alkaline in nature and demand more oxygen

How does the food industry affect nature?

• Waste products include fats, proteins, and organic wastes

How does the chemical industry affect nature?

• Effluents contain corrosive acids

How does the fertilizers industry affect nature?

• Effluents contain phosphorus, fluorine, silica, and large amount of suspended solids

How does the metal industry affect nature?

Effluents contain copper, led, chromium, zinc, acids, greases, and cleaning agents

How does the petroleum industry affect nature?

• effluents contain hydrocarbons, phenolic compounds, other inorganic sulfur compounds

How does the mining industry affect nature?

• Effluents include metals leaching into acidic, mercury from gold mines.

How does the plastic industry affect nature?

• Effluents contain mercury

How does the agricultural affect nature?

• Pollutes water by fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, and farm animal wastes.

  • The chemicals seep into ground water(leaching) and surface water(run-off)

How are insecticides and pesticides harmful to nature (water)?

Have long lasting residues

How are farm animals harmful to nature?

Wastes contain pathogenic organisms

Sediments of soil and mineral particles wash out from fields into stream channels and reservoirs.

How does radioactive waste affect nature?

Posses highly unstable atomic nuclei, resulting in radiation emission.

During nuclear tests, radioactive dust often comes down to earth as rain

What is Thermal pollution?

Discharge of heated effluents from industrial processes that can affect life processes of aquatic organisms

What is oil pollution?

The spread of oil into the sea

Transported tankers of oil are transported across the ocean

• Oil spills are ether caused by some accident or leakage.

Ecology

The study of the interactions among the organism/group of organisms with their environment

Environment components? Give examples for each

1. Biotic components: living parts

   • Plants

   • Animals

   • Microorganisms (decomposers)

2. Abiotic components: non-living parts

   • Water

   • Oxygen

   • Sunlight

   • Rocks

   • etc.

Types of abiotic components

1. Physical

   • Energy, climate, raw materials, living space

2. Chemical

   • Source for essential nutrints

Types of ecosystems

• Terrestrial ecosystem: relayed to land

• Aquatic ecosystem: related to water

  • Fresh water: running , standing

  • Marine

• Man-made/Artificial ecosystem: operated/maintained by humans

Producers (autotrophs)

• Make their own food by photosynthesis

  • All green plants and trees

Consumers (heterotrophs)

• Primary: Herbivores, consume plants

  • Insects, Rats, Goats

• Secondary: Primary carnivores, consume meat

  • Frogs, Cats, Foxes

• Tertiary: Secondary carnivores, consume the primary carnivores

  • Tigers, Lions

• Decomposer: Detritivores, consume the remains of animals

  • Fungi

Ecosystem function

To allow energy flow and recycle nutrients

Explain Energy Flow

Types of cycles

1. Water cycle

2. Carbon cycle

3. Nitrogen cycle

Types of pollution

• Noise pollution

• Soil pollution

• Radioactive pollution

• Air pollution

• Water pollution

Air

A mixture of diff gases and particles

Why is air important?

It’s essential for respiration

Photosynthesis formula

CO2 + H2O + Sunlight => C6H12O6 + O2

Respiration formula

O2 + C6H12O6 => CO2 + H2O

When is air polluted?

It’s polluted when there is a build up of harmful gases, dust, smoke, or chemicals in the air

what are the compositions of air

1. (N) Nitrogen

2. (O) Oxygen

3. (Ar) Argon

4. (CO2) Carbon dioxide

5. Others.

Weather

The state of the atmosphere at any given time or place

Meteorology

The study of the weather and the atmosphere

Atmosphere

• Gaseous portion of a planet

• The layer of air around the earth, 300miles thick

• 75% of all air

Atmosphere layers according to temp and chemistry from top to bottom

1. Exosphere

2. Thermosphere (w/ Ionosphere)

3. Mesosphere

4. Stratosphere (w/ Ozone layer)

5. Troposphere

   • All weather happens here

Troposphere air and temp levels with height?

• Gases decrease, air becomes thinner

• Temperature decrease, becomes colder

• Almost all weather, clouds, and storms happen here

  • 99% of water vapor is in this layer

Tropopause

The transition boundary between the troposphere and the layer above it (Stratosphere)

Stratosphere air and temp levels with height?

• Holds 19% of atmosphere’s gases

  • No air mixing

  • LITTLE WATER VAPOR

• Temperature increases

  • Oxygen molecules absorb radiation (Ultraviolet)

• Calm layer ideal for commercial airplanes to fly

• Ozone layer

Mesosphere air and temp levels with height?

• Gases continue to become thinner

  • Causes most meteors to burn due to friction

  • Warming by ultraviolet effect becomes less

• Temperature decreases

  • Coldest layer

• Weather balloons are released in this layer

• Burning meteors

Middle atmosphere

• Stratosphere

• Stratopause

• Mesosphere

• Mesopause

Thermosphere air and temp levels with height?

• Upper atmosphere

• Gases extremely thin

  • Only the higher energy UV and X-ray radiation from the sun are absorbed

  • Ionosphere

  • High temperature

• Aurora

  • Northern and Southern Lights

• International Space Station is in this layer.

Where do satellites orbit the earth?

Exosphere and Thermosphere

Exosphere air and temp levels with height?

• Final layer

• Sparce hydrogen and helium molecules

  • Air is constantly and gradually leaking out of the earths atmosphere

• No clear cut upper boundary

• Most weather satellites orbit.

The atmospheres chemical layer

1. Ionosphere

2. Ozone layer

Ozone layer

• In the Stratosphere

• Blocks the harmful UV rays

Ionosphere

• In the thermosphere and Exosphere

• Blocks harmful rays

• Made up of ions

  • Charged atoms and free plasma

How does the Ham Radio work?

The Radio waves bounce off the ionosphere, allowing to send broadcasts around the worlds

Radiosonde

Tool used for studying the upper atmosphere

How are the Radiosondes carried up?

By using weather balloons

What causes Air pollution?

1. Transport

2. Agriculture

3. Household

4. Industrial burning

5. Waste

HF is produced by

• Uranium and steel making

• Brick manufacture

• Glass and ceramic manufacture

• Fertilizer industry by-product

Contact with moisture turns HF into Hydrofluoric acid, HIGHLY corrosive and toxic

Greenhouse gasses

• CO2

• Water vapor

• Methane

Acid rain

Results when SO2 and NOX are emitted into the atmosphere and reacts with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid.

both acids mix with water and the rain becomes Acid rain.

Nitrogen oxides (NOX)

• From fossil fuel combustion

  • for urban areas

• Soil activity, agricultural practices

  • for rural areas

• Exposer may causer respiratory tract inflammation

Particulate matter (PM)

• Solid particles and liquid droplets found in atmospheric air

• Can be natural or industrial and transportation related

Ammonia (NH3)

• A burnt gas

• Flammable

• Toxic

• Important emission focus in agricultural activity

  • Resulting from the use of fertilizers

• NH3 reacts quickly with body moisture and cause damage

Sulfuric dioxide (SO2)

• Invisible gas

• Strong odor

• From fuel combustion

• Exposure leads to respiratory problems

• reacting with water causes Acid rain

Carbon monoxide (CO)

• Odorless gas

• Emitted by incomplete combustion of fuel

• mainly from gasoline or diesel

• Very toxic with increased risk of heart disease

Climate

Trend of temperature and weather over a long period of time

Global warming

Earth’s temperature is getting hotter, a 1C increase over the last 100 years

What is the Green House effect?

Green houses let sunlight and heat in, but most of the heat can’t escape, making it a good environment. But when they get too hot doors and windows can be opened to let the heat out.

The earth is the same, it lets heat and sunlight in.

Greenhouse gases that get released into the atmosphere allow heat to escape the earth

False, they PREVENT heat release.

Short waves

• Radiant energy

• Warm up the atmosphere and surface

• Turn into long waves

  • Escapes earth over time

Earth’s heat budget

• 30% Reflect back to space

• 70% Absorbed by earth

  • 19% Absorbed into water vapor and clouds

  • 51% Absorbed by the earth’s surface

Causes for global warming

1. Fossil fuel pollution

   • CO2 emission

2. Farming

   • Methane from the burping and trumping of cows

3. Deforestation