Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Air Pollution
APES Air Pollution and Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Chap 15
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Air pollution | The introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or microorganisms into the atmosphere at concentrations high enough to harm plants, animals, and materials such as buildings, or to alter ecosystems. |
| Particulate matter (PM) | Solid or liquid particles suspended in air. Also known as Particulates; Particles |
| Haze | Reduced visibility. |
| Photochemical oxidant | A class of air pollutants formed as a result of sunlight acting on compounds such as nitrogen oxides. |
| Ozone (O3) | A secondary pollutant made up of three oxygen atoms bound together. |
| Smog | A type of air pollution that is a mixture of oxidants and particulate matter. |
| Photochemical smog | Smog that is dominated by oxidants such as ozone. Also known as Los Angeles–type Smog; Brown smog. |
| Sulfurous smog | Smog dominated by sulfur dioxide and sulfate compounds. Also known as London-type smog; Gray smog; Industrial smog. |
| Volatile organic compound (VOC) | An organic compound that evaporates at typical atmospheric temperatures. |
| Primary pollutant | A polluting compound that comes directly out of a smokestack, exhaust pipe, or natural emission source. |
| Secondary pollutant | A primary pollutant that has undergone transformation in the presence of sunlight, water, oxygen, or other compounds. |
| Thermal inversion | A situation in which a relatively warm layer of air at mid-altitude covers a layer of cold, dense air below. |
| Inversion layer | The layer of warm air that traps emissions in a thermal inversion. |
| Asbestos | A long, thin, fibrous silicate mineral with insulating properties, which can cause cancer when inhaled. |
| Sick building syndrome | A buildup of toxic pollutants in an airtight space, seen in newer buildings. |
| Sulfur dioxide (SO2) | Is a corrosive gas that comes primarily from combustion of fuels such as coal and oil, volcanoes, and forest fires. It is a respiratory irritant and can adversely affect plant tissue as well. |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx, NO2) | a colorless, odorless gas, a pungent, reddish-brown gas, naturally in the atmosphere as a gas (N2), all combustion from vehicle and fossil fuels lead to compound formation of ozone and smog, natural sources include forest fires, lightning, and microbes |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | is a colorless, odorless gas that is formed during incomplete combustion of most matter, such as vehicle exhaust, malfunctions on exhaust systems on natural gas heaters, cooking with manure, charcoal, or kerosene within poorly ventilated structures. |
| Carbon dioxide (CO2) | is a colorless, odorless gas that is formed during the complete combustion of most matter, including fossil fuels and biomass, is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis and is released during respiration. |
| Lead (Pb) | is a trace metal that occurs naturally in rocks and soils, is present in small concentrations in fuels including oil and coal, was added to gasoline for many years to improve vehicle performance. |
| Mercury (Hg) | a trace metal, is also found in coal and oil and is toxic to the central nervous system of humans and other organisms. |
| Natural Emissions | Volcanoes, lightning, forest fires, and plants both living and dead all release compounds , release sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. Lightning strikes create nitrogen oxides from atmospheric nitrogen. Forest fires |
| Anthropogenic Emissions | human activity from on-road vehicles, power plants, industrial processes, and waste disposal, on-road vehicles, or transportation, electricity generation, natural and human-made fires, road dust, and the generation of electricity. |
| Clean Air Act | require that the EPA establish standards to control pollutants that are harmful to “human health and welfare.” |
| Acid Deposition/Acid Rain | forms when the oxides of sulfur and nitrogen undergo transformations in the atmosphere in the presence of water. |
| Scrubber | uses a combination of water and air that actually separates and removes particles into a liquid, sludge forms and clean gas exits. |
| Stratospheric Ozone | absorbs ultraviolet radiation, filtering out harmful UV rays from the Sun, occurs higher in the atmosphere where its ability to shield the surface below and is critically important to life on Earth. |
| Tropospheric/Ground-level Ozone | a colorless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the earth's surface, is produced when two primary pollutants (NOx and VOCs) react in sunlight and stagnant air. |
| Ozone | O + O2 ---> O3 |
| Montreal Protocol | 24 nations in 1987 signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, a commitment to reduce CFC production by 50 percent by the year 2000, addressing 96 ozone-depleting compounds. |
| Radon (Radon-222) | a radioactive gas that occurs naturally from the decay of uranium, exists in granitic rocks/soils in many parts of the world, seeps into a home in foundation cracks, or from underlying rock, soil, or groundwater, decays into Polonium-210, and may attach |
Created by:
deleted user
Popular Science sets