Pollution Study Guide

Which greenhouse gases are found in the troposphere

Water vapor and carbon dioxide

What slows wind speed preventing dilution with clean air

Urban buildings

What reduces the flow of air

Hills and mountains

Where do VOC emissions come from

trees and plants

Grasshopper Effect

transfer of pollutants from other regions

Particles heavier than air will naturally settle out due to

Gravity

What help cleanse the air of pollutants

Rain and snow

Primary pollutants

harmful chemicals that are emitted directly into the air

Secondary pollutants

form when primary pollutants react with molecules in the atmosphere or sunlight to form other kinds of pollutants

What are the ideal conditions for the creation of secondary pollutants

solar radiation and water

Thermal inversion

Occurs in areas where air pollutants are released at an altitude much lower than the surrounding areas

catalytic converters

reduce nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions by turning them into less harmful products

fluidized bed combustion

removing sulfur dioxide from coal exhaust during combustion

scrubbers

Use water to catch gravity

electrostatic precipitators

induce an electrostatic charge or particulates and catch them on oppositely charged filters

60% of municipal solid waste comes from

residences

40% of municipal solid waste comes from

institutions

roughly 2% of waste is

e-Waste

Reduce

waste minimization

Source reduction

reducing the use of materials, in the early stages of design and manufacture; material substitution

Reuse

allows a material to cycle within a system longer; repurpose

Recycle

materials are converted into raw materials that are then used to produce new materials

closed-loop (primary) recycling

the recycling of a product into the same product

open-loop (secondary) recycling

one product is recycled into another product

What do materials recovery facilities do

Take mixed urban wastes which have not been sorted to allow for machines to sort it

Open dumps

where everyone throws their trash in one area

Leachate

the water that leaches through the waste

Sanitary landfills

engineered ground facilities designed to hold MSW with as little contamination of the environment as possible

Why clay soil preferable when constructing a landfill

Clay soil impedes the flow of water and retains positively charged ions

What are the most threatening indoor pollutants in developing countries

Smoke and soot from wood and coal

U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Main goal was to protect human health and the natural environment by reducing the generation of hazardous waste

Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act

Imposes a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries

What is one of the most well known Superfund sites

Love Canal

Differentiate between a Superfund site and a brownfield

Superfund sites are on the National Priorities List, and Brownfields are not

environmental justice

an ideal whereby every person is entitled to protection from environmental hazards regardless of anything

Deep-well disposal

liquid hazardous wastes are put into dry, porous, rock formations far beneath the aquifers and separated by clay

How is photochemical smog formed

UV light from the sun reacts with nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, making a yellow-brown haze

How is industrial smog formed

Coal burning

What are some natural sources of pollutants

Volcanoes and forests fires

What are some anthropogenic sources of pollutants

transportation, fuel combustion

Effects of carbon monoxide

Causes fatigue, headaches, confusion, and diziness

What makes acid deposition

Any form of precipitation with acidic components

The major source of anthropogenic sulfur dioxide is

electricity making coal factories

Which method employs the use of calcium carbonate to remove sulfur dioxide from coal exhaust

fluidized bed combustion

For precipitation to be classified as acid rain, it must have a pH of less than

5.6

Photochemical smog is characteristic of urban areas with many vehicles and climate that is

warm, dry, and sunny

Pipe insulation and vinyl celining and floor tiles may be sources of

asbestos

What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere

nitrogen

Which is a major air polltant that is a component of photochemical smog and acid rain

nitrogen oxides

Why is air pollution a worldwide problem?

largest environmental cause of disease and premature death

hazardous waste

threatens human health or the environment toxic, chemically reactive, corrosive or flammable

The majority of hazardous waste is the by-product of

industrial processes

What percentage of paper gets recycled?

64%

surface impoundments

Ponds, pits, or lagoons into which liners are placed and liquid hazardous wastes are stored

Bioremediation

when bacteria and enzymes are used to help destroy toxic or hazardous substances or convert them to harmless compounds

Phytoremediation

involves using natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter, and remove contaminants from polluted soil and water

Ash

Residue that doesn’t combust during incirentaiton

Bottom Ash

Residue collected at the botton of the combustion chamber

Fly Ash

Residue collected from the chimney

Leachate

Liquid that contains elevated levels of pollutants because of it passing through municipal soild waste or contaminated soil

Incineration

Process of burning waste materials to reduce volume and mass

sanitary landfills

engineered ground facilities designed to hold MSW with as little contamination of the environment as possible

siting

the designation of a landfill location

tipping fee

a fee charged of disposing of material in a landfill

compost

organic matter that has decomposed under controlled conditions to produce an organic-rich material

Waste Stream

The flow of solid waste that is recycled, incinerated, and placed in a solid waste landfill

Municipal Solid Waste

Refuse collected by municiplaties from households, small businesses, and institutions

hazardous waste

waste that can be dangerous to humans or ecosystems

waste

material outputs from a system that are not useful