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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
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