Air and Water Pollution - Quiz 2

Carbon Oxides

CO

• poisonous, but not GHG

CO2

• GHG

Hydrocarbons

diverse group of organic compounds

• contains ONLY hydrogen/carbon

some VOC’s create photochemical smog and/or are GHGs

Smog

soup of pollutants

photochemical smog

• contains O3, particulates, acids, VOCs, formaldehydes, etc

• pollutant makeup varies with location

• mostly respiratory irritants

Pressure/Temperature

warmer/more pressure with lower altitude

• more particles to capture heat; more IR

Tropospheric Ozone

man made pollutant in lower atmosphere

• secondary air pollutant

• component of photochem smog

• beachball to stratosphere

*west regulates photochem smog; east can’t due to tree density

Stratospheric Ozone

essential component that screens out UV-B radiation in lower/mid stratosphere

man made pollutants can destroy it

• CFC (chlorofluorocarbon’s)

  • inert/stable; heavier than oxygen

  • UV-A can not break bonds; B can

  • does not mix w water

  *ozone pollution in India kills enough crops to feed 94 million people

photolyzed in stratosphere

Acid Rain

NOx/SOx

starves plants by sapping nutrients

Sources for Outdoor Air Pollution

2 main

• transportation

• industry

main sources of smog

• trucks, buses, passenger vehicles

Children/Air Pollution

can restrict lung development

children breath more often than adults

Ozone Depletion in Stratosphere

ozone protects earth from UV-B radiation

ozone thinning/hole

• first discovered over antarctica

• occurs annually between Sept-Nov

caused by human made bromine/chlorine

worse in Antarctica, but still occurs in Arctic

Properties of CFC’s

can capture IR, making them a GHG

lasts between 60 and 522 years in stratosphere

ODP - ozone depleting potential

• correlated with # of Cl

sequestered by ClONO2, HOCl, HCl, etc

• safe form of Cl; Cl only dangerous when by itself

• monoatomic Cl = solo Cl

Antarctic Vortex

in stratosphere over Antarctic continent

desequesters; pulls Cl off (happens on ice crystals inside polar stratospheric clouds)

hole forms on first sunlight with “explosion” of chlorine molecules

ozone holes requires

• circumpolar vortex - mass of cold air

• polar stratospheric clouds

• sunlight to split Cl2/Br2 → Cl, Br

• radicals making O3

Effects of Ozone Depletion

more UV-B hitting Earth

• eye cataracts, skin cancer, weakened immunity

• may disrupt ecosystems

• may damage crops/forests

International Reaction to Ozone Depletion

CFCs banned in NA in 1970’s

*Molina/Rowland

industry skeptics proved wrong in 1985

• thought economic chaos would ensue if CFC phased out

Recovery of Ozone Layer

Montreal Protocol (1987)

• reduction of CFCs; start using HCFCs (a GHG)

• phase out all ozone destroying chems is underway globally

• ozone hole stopped getting worse

Kigali Amendment

• HFCs phased out

• CFC → HCFC → HFC →

Acid Deposition

lower pH, higher acidity

limestone (calcium carbonate) buffers acid rain

declining aquatic animal populations

forest decline; thin shelled eggs prevent bird reproduction

• starves trees; ca++ not available in acidic soil