Untitled Flashcards Set

·   Know about the layers of the atmosphere

o   Order

o   Location of ozone layer &effect on temperature

o   Location of most air

o   Location of most weather

·   Which two gases exist in the greatest concentrations in the atmosphere?  What are there approximate concentrations?

·   Give two natural sources of air pollution

·   What is the Atmospheric Brown Cloud?

·   What is an air basin?

·   What’s the main difference between primary & secondary pollutants?

·   What are some sources of the following air pollutants?

o   Carbon monoxide

o   Lead

o   Nitrogen oxides (NOx)

o   Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

o   Particulate Matter (PM)

o   Ozone (O3)

o   Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

·   What pollutants cause industrial smog? 

·   How does ground-level ozone/ photochemical smog form?

·   How can water (from precipitation or sea spray), winds and chemical reactions reduce outdoor air pollution?

·   How can buildings, mountains, high temperatures and the presence of some trees increase outdoor air pollution?

·   What is the grasshopper effect?

·   What is a temperature (thermal) inversion?  What areas are most susceptible to enhanced pollution due to a temperature inversion?

·   Know what acid deposition is and what some effects can be

·   What are some of the symptoms of sick building syndrome?  What types of buildings might become “sick?”

·   What are the sources & effect of these indoor air pollutants?

o   Radon

o   Formaldehyde

·   How can indoor air pollution be prevented & cleaned up?

·   Know your body’s natural lines of defense against air pollution

·   What are some health problems related to air pollution (particularly breathing in fine and ultrafine particulates)?

·   What do the Clean Air Acts do primarily?  What are the National Ambient Air Quality

   Standards?  What are criteria pollutants?

·   How have emissions of major air pollutants changed since 1980 due to the Clean Air Acts?

·   Know at least two problems with the Clean Air Acts.

·   Know how emissions trading (cap-and-trade) programs work and what provisions ensure that they actually work to reduce pollution

·   Know some ways to reduce air pollution from both stationary sources and motor vehicle sources

·   Know what the following are

o   Wet scrubbers

o   Electrostatic precipitators

o   Catalytic converters

·   What are CFC’s used in?

·   What did Rowland & Molina discover?

·   How is ozone created in the stratosphere (the GOOD ozone)?

·   How do CFCs speed up the degradation of ozone in the stratosphere? (know the three steps)

·   In what part of the world was the hole (or thinned area) of the ozone layer detected?

·   What problems are caused for humans and marine food chains by thinning of the ozone layer? 

·   What is the Montreal Protocol?

·   What are the major trends in urban population dynamics?

·   How has the percentage of the US population living in cities changed since 1800?

·   What is urban sprawl?  What factors have contributed to urban sprawl in the US?

·   What are some advantages & disadvantages to urbanization?

·   What is the urban heat island effect?

·   How can cities encourage people to reduce automobile use?  (think about economic methods, alternative modes of transportation etc)

·   Know definitions & how each can be an advantage in creating sustainable cities:

o   Zoning

o   Smart growth