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Envi Study Stuff
Chapters 15-20
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Weather | a term for the short-lived and local patterns of temperature and moisture that result from this circulation |
| Climate | refers to long-term patterns of temperature and precipitation. |
| Aerosols | Minute particles and liquid droplets |
| Troposphere | layer of air immediately adjacent to the earth’s surface, where weather happens |
| Stratosphere | extends from the tropopause up to about 50 km, vastly dilute, contains ozone layer |
| Convection current | occur when warm, low-density air rises above a cooler, denser layer. |
| Ozone | a pollutant near the earth’s surface, but in the stratosphere it serves a very important function |
| Albedo | whiteness, or reflectivity |
| Positive feedback loop | melting leads to further melting, with probably dramatic consequences |
| Greenhouse effect | The retention of long-wave terrestrial energy in the atmosphere |
| Greenhouse gases | a general term for trace gases that are especially effective at capturing the long-wavelength heat energy from the earth’s surface. |
| Latent heat | Incoming solar energy is also used to evaporate water. Each gram of evaporating water absorbs 580 calories of energy as it transforms from liquid to gas |
| Coriolis effect | apparent curvature of the winds |
| Monsoons | most regular seasonal rains |
| Cold front | cooler air pushes away warmer air |
| Warm front | the advancing air mass is warmer than surrounding air. |
| Cyclonic storms | storms swirl in a direction dictated by the Coriolis effect (spiraling upward in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere, clockwise in the South) |
| Hurricanes | storms that can be hundreds of kilometers across with winds up to 320 km/hr (200 mph). |
| Tornadoes | swirling funnel clouds that form over land, also are considered cyclonic storms. |
| Milankovitch cycles | The main drivers in these long-term changes are known as orbital cycles, because they result from shifts in the earth’s movement |
| Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change | has brought together scientists and government representatives from around the world to review scientific evidence on the causes and likely effects of climate change |
| Arctic Amplification | more extreme changes at high latitudes because of declining albedo and loss of permafrost. |
| Bleaching | dying as they lose their photosynthetic algae |
| Kyoto Protocol | the first major global accord on climate change, called for countries to voluntarily set targets for reducing emissions. |
| Wedge Analysis | small steps today multiply into big impacts decades from now |
| Carbon Capture and negative emission technologies | 2 of the terms used to say climate action will require capturing |
| Emissions trading markets | the most widely adopted way to put a price on carbon emissions |
| Carbon taxes | seen as an efficient means to use price to encourage efficiency. |
| Aesthetic degradation | Things such as odors and lost visibility are also important consequences of air pollution. |
| Ambient Air | the air around us |
| Unconventional pollutants | compounds that are produced in less volume than conventional pollutants but that are especially toxic or hazardous, such as asbestos, benzene, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls |
| Primary pollutants | those released directly from the source into the air in a harmful form |
| Secondary pollutants | converted to a hazardous form after they enter the air or are formed by chemical reactions as components of the air mix and interact. |
| Fugitive emissions | those that do not go through a smokestack. |
| Sulfur dioxide | predominant form of anthropogenic sulfur |
| Nitrogen oxide | highly reactive gases formed when nitrogen in fuel or in air is heated (during combustion) to temperatures above 650°C (1,200°F) in the presence of oxygen. |
| Carbon monoxide | colorless, odorless, nonirritating, but highly toxic gas. CO is produced mainly by incomplete combustion of fuel (coal, oil, charcoal, or gas), as in furnaces, incinerators, engines, or fires, as well as in the decomposition of organic matter. |
| Ozone | provides a valuable shield for the biosphere by absorbing incoming ultraviolet radiation. |
| Photochemical oxidants | Ozone has an acrid, biting odor that is a distinctive characteristic of photochemical smog. Ground-level O3 is a product of photochemical reactions (reactions initiated by sunlight) between other pollutants, such as NOx or volatile organic compounds. |
| Volatile organic compounds | general term for organic chemicals that evaporate easily or exist as gases in the air |
| Particulate matter | includes solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air. |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder | airways become permanently constricted and alveoli are damaged or even destroyed |
| Acid Deposition | the deposition of wet acidic solutions or dry acidic particles from the air |
| Hydrologic cycle | water evaporates from moistsurfaces, falls as rain or snow, passes through living organisms, and returns to the ocean |
| Residence time | length of time water typically stays in a compartment |
| Groundwater | After glaciers, the next largest reservoir of fresh water is held in the ground |
| Infiltration | Precipitation that does not evaporate back into the air or run off over the surface percolates through the soil and into fractures and spaces of permeable rocks |
| Zone of aeration | Upper soil layers that hold both air and water |
| Zone of saturation | Lower soil layers where all spaces are filled with water |
| Water table | Top of zone of saturation |
| Aquifers | Porous layers of sand, gravel, or rock lying below the water table |
| Artesian well | The result when a pressurized aquifer intersects the surface, or if it is penetrated by a pipe or conduit, water gushes from it without being pumped |
| Recharge zones | Areas where water infiltrates into an aquifer |
| Discharge | the amount of water that passes a fixed point in a given amount of time. |
| Renewable water supplies | made up, in general, of surface runoff plus the infiltration into accessible freshwater aquifers. |
| Water scarcity | occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount or when poor quality restricts its use. |
| Water stress | occurs when renewable water supplies are inadequate to satisfy essential human or ecosystem needs, bringing about increased competition among potential demands. |
| Withdrawal | is the total amount of water taken from a water body. |
| Consumption | loss of water due to evaporation, absorption, or contamination |
| Saltwater intrusion | frequent consequence of aquifer depletion,Along coastlines and in areas where saltwater deposits are left from ancient oceans, overuse of fresh water reservoirs often allows saltwater to intrude into aquifers used for domestic and agricultural purpose |
| Subsidence | settling of the surface. |
| Water pollution | Any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses |
| Point sources | discharge pollution from specific locations, such as drain pipes, ditches, or sewer outfalls |
| Nonpoint sources | water pollution are scattered or diffuse, having no specific location where they discharge into a particular body of water. |
| Atmospheric deposition | contaminants carried by air currents and precipitated into watersheds or directly onto surface waters as rain, snow, or dry particles. |
| Coliform bacteria | any of the many types that live in the colon or intestines of humans and other animals |
| Biochemical oxygen demand | test for the presence of organic waste in water, incubating a water sample for 5 days and comparing oxygen levels in the water before and after incubation |
| Dissolved oxygen content | can be measured directly using an oxygen electrode. |
| Oxygen sag | oxygen decline downstream of a pollutant source |
| Oligotrophic | Rivers and lakes that have clear water and low biological productivity |
| Eutrophic | waters are rich in organisms and organic materials |
| Cultural eutrophication | nutrient enrichment sewage, fertilizer runoff, even decomposing leaves in street gutters, can produce a human-caused increase in biological productivity |
| Red tide | a bloom of deadly aquatic microorganism |
| Thermal plume | is often discharged into rivers and lakes, where raised temperatures can disrupt natural ecosystems. |
| Total maximum daily loads | the amount of a particular pollutant that a water body can receive from both point and nonpoint sources |
| Combined sewer overflows | treatment plants overwhelmed by storm runoff then release everything untreated raw sewage and toxic surface runoff—directly into lakes and rivers. |
| Primary treatment | the first step in municipal waste treatment. It physically separates large solids from the waste stream |
| Secondary treatment | consists of biological degradation of the dissolved organic compounds |
| Teritary treatment | removes plant nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates, from the secondary effluent |
| Effluent sewerage | a hybrid between a traditional septic tank and a full sewer system |
| Constructed wetlands | can cut secondary treatment costs to one-third of mechanical treatment costs, or less. |
| best practicable control technology | For specific “point” sources of pollution, such as industrial discharge pipes or sewage outfalls, the act requires discharge permits and this |
| best available, economically achievable technology | National goals for toxic substances and zero discharge for 126 priority toxic pollutants |
| Work | application of force over distance |
| Joules | Measurement of work |
| Energy | capacity to do work |
| Power | rate of energy |
| Watt | One watt= one joule per second |
| Fossil Fuels | (petroleum, natural gas, and coal) still supply about 80 percent of world commercial energy but that percentage is expected to decline in the next few decades. |
| Carbon capture and storage | in which CO2 is captured and pumped into deep geologic formations |
| Peak oil | prediction that oil production in the United States would peak in the 1970s, based on estimates of U.S. reserves at the time. |
| Hydraulic fracturing | can release oil from “tight” formations through which passage of liquid would otherwise be obstructed. |
| Liquefied natural gas | imports were once expected to supply a significant portion of the U.S. supply |
| Methane hydrates | composed of small bubbles or individual molecules of natural gas trapped in a crystalline matrix of frozen water. |
| Fuel assembly | pellets are stacked in hollow metal rods approximately 4 m long. About 100 of these rods are bundled together |
| Nuclear fission | splitting |
| Control rods | operators can slow or stop the chain reaction by inserting these rods or bundled of neutron absorbing material, such as cadmium or born, into spaces between fuel assemblies |
| Breeder reactors | produce fuel rather than consume it. |
| Nuclear fusion | energy is released when two smaller atomic nuclei fuse into one larger nucleus |
| LEDS | light-emitting diodes, have transformed lighting systems |
| Passive house standards | These standards are targets for extremely low energy use, achieved mainly through thoughtful design and construction |
| Passive heat absorption | simplest and oldest use of solar energy, using natural materials or absorptive structures with no moving parts to simply gather and hold heat. |
| Active solar systems | pump a heat-absorbing fluid (air, water, or an antifreeze solution) through a collector, such as a flat, glass covered black surface, or glass vacuum tubes |
| Concentrating solar power | long trough-shaped parabolic mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight on a central tube containing a heat-absorbing fluid |
| Photovoltaic cells | capture solar energy and convert it directly to electrical current by separating electrons from their parent atoms and accelerating them across a one-way electrostatic barrier formed by the junction between two different types of semiconductor material |
| Feed in tariffs | which require utilities to buy surplus power from small producers at a slightly raised price. |
| Wind turbines | are far different from those employed a generation ago. |
| Geology | Study of dynamic processes taking place on the earth’s surface and in its interior |
| Three major concentric zones of the earth | Core, Mantle, Crust |
| Continental crust | Thick (25-75 km), less dense, old |
| Oceanic crust | 71% of crust,Thin (8-15 km thick), dense, young |
| Inner core is ______; Outer core is __________ | Solid; liquid |
| Mantle is | 67% of Earth’s mass and 80% of Earth’s volume |
| Core is | predominantly nickel and iron |
| Mineral | Naturally occurring chemical element or inorganic compound that exists as a crystalline solid |
| Rock | A compound of one or more minerals |
| Sedimentary | Formed when sediments are compacted Ex: Sedimentary |
| Metamorphic | Forms when other rocks are transformed Ex: Marble |
| Igneous | Formed when lava or magma solidifies Ex: Basalt |
| Alfred Wegner | proposed the idea of Continental Drift |
| Tectonic plates | Divergent boundary, Convergent boundary , Transform plate boundary |
| Volcanoes | May be active, dormant, or extinct, Have different shapes depending on how fast the lava flows and how violent the eruption is,Volcanoes in the ocean bring island chains |
| Earthquakes | Breakage and shifting of rocks Occurs at a fault |
| Seismic waves | Vibrations in the crust |
| Richter scale | Logarithmic scale Minor: 4.0–4.9 Damaging: 5.0–5.9 Destructive: 6.0–6.9 Major: 7.0–7.9 Great: 8.0-8.9 Extreme: 9.0 or greater |
| Tsunami | series of huge waves generated when ocean floor suddenly rises or drops |
| Glaciers | Most occur on land but can extend out to sea |
| Ores | Contains profitable concentration of a mineral High-grade or low-grade |
| Fossil fuels | oil, coal and natural gas, Exist in finite amounts |
| Extraction | Surface & strip mining Open-pit mining Mountaintop removal Subsurface mining Deep sea mining |
| Surface and Strip Mining | Removes shallow deposits Extracting deposits in horizontal beds close to the earth’s surface |
| Subsurface mining | Cutting small shafts into the earth and excavating from within |
| Processing | Ores are not useful in the raw form they are taken from the ground Often several steps are needed to obtain the final product |
| Environmental effects of mining | Ore extracted by mining Tailings Heat & chemicals Air pollution Water pollution |
| Human health effects of mining | Respiratory issues like black lung ( 16% of US coal miners develop black lung) Cancer from radioactivity exposure |
| Solutions to effects of mining | Recycling,Reduce waste, Use less, Find a substitute Avoid consumption Biomining |
| Biomining | Using microorganisms to extract ores |
| Composition of atmosphere | 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen |
| Greenhouse gases | CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor |
| Jet Streams | Differences in atmospheric pressure and warming cause streams of strong high-altitude (5-10 miles) winds |
| Air moves from | High to low pressure |
| Factors effecting radiation absorption | Clouds – can reflect incoming radiation and trap outgoing, Albedo – reflectiveness of surface (consider ice versus asphalt), Landcover type Urban heat island effect |
| Carbon | An abundant element that comprises all living things Most of the earth’s carbon is in the crust Carbon dioxide is the most common, gaseous form of carbon; it is naturally occurring and increasing |
| Photosynthesis | Conversion of carbon dioxide into organic compounds by plants; process that pulls CO2 out of the atmosphere Great Oxidation Event of 2.4 billion years ago: rise of cyanobacteria that started using CO2 to put oxygen in atmosphere |
| Svante Arrhenius | 1896-describes CO2’s role in greenhouse effect and its natural presence on earth |
| Roger Revelle and Hans Suess | 1957-describe the climatological experiments humans are embarking on in a paper on oceanic CO2 uptake |
| Mauna Loa Observatory | a premier atmospheric research facility collecting direct measures of CO2 concentration since 1950’s |
| Keeling curve | Overall increase in CO2 emissions Annual fluctuations related to northern hemisphere seasons Spring: CO2 absorbed Fall: CO2 released |
| Human impacts | Agricultural losses Islands and coastal areas lost to sea level rise Species extinction and ecosystem collapse Increase in disease incidence Public health (health complications from heat waves |
| Mitigation | Reducing the amount of greenhouse gases, by reducing emissions and/or increasing absorption capacity |
| Adaptation | Learn to live with future global climatic change Recognize that climate change is inevitable because we have waited too long to act |
| Mitigation examples | Reduce energy consumption,Use alternative energy sources, Minimize conversion of forest to agriculture,Planting trees, Carbon capture and storage, extract CO2 |
| Challenges to adaptation | Projected effects of climate change are uncertain Difficult to plan for avoiding or managing risk |
| Mitigation challenges | Difficult to gain support and enact policies May be seen as a threat to economic growth or personal choice |
| Challenges to Mitigation and Adaptation | Global problem = Requires unprecedented and prolonged international cooperation Harmful impacts of climate change not spread evenly worldwide |
| Air quality | Determined by both natural sources (such as forest fires) and human sources (such as automobile exhaust) |
| Air quality levels | Green (Good, 0 to 50), Yellow (Moderate, 51 to 100), Orange (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, 101 to 150), Red (Unhealthy, 151 to 200), Purple (Very Unhealthy, 201 to 300), Maroon (Hazardous, 301 and higher) |
| Industrial Revolution | Industrial Revolution Rapid expansion of coal-burning factories led to decreased air quality , In the 1800s (particularly in the US), air pollution was settled through litigation, not legislation |
| Clean Air Act 1970 | Established National Ambient Air Quality Standards for 6 major pollutants |
| Effects | Emissions of lead, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides from automobiles has decreased even as miles driven increased, Ground levels of ozone cut by ¼, Allowable emissions of pollutants of concern has decreased over time |
| Primary Pollutants | released directly from the source into the air in a harmful form |
| Secondary Pollutants | converted to a hazardous form after they enter the air or are are formed by chemical reactions as components of the air mix and interact |
| Nitrous Oxides<1 | stem from burning fossil fuel, Have the basic formula NO |
| Pollutants from fire | Carbon monoxide Particulate matter |
| Temperature inversion | Warmer air traps cooler air close to the ground |
| Indoor Pollution | Billions of people around the world rely on indoor stoves that burn biomass in an open fire,Other types of smoke-generating products like cigarettes and marijuana |
| Additional Air Pollutants | Ozone( We want ozone in the stratosphere, but not the troposphere)Lead, Mercury Coal plant emissions are one major source |
| Effects of Air Pollution | Asthma Chronic bronchitis Emphysema Cardiovascular disease Stroke Harming brain development in children Possibly dementia & Alzheimer’s disease |
| Freshwater availability | <1% of water supply, Groundwater Lakes Rivers Streams |
| Hydrologic cycle | Evaporation, Precipitation, Transpiration |
| Discharge | Measures the size of a river |
| Groundwater storage | Zone of Aeration and Zone of Saturation |
| Aquifers | Porous layers of sand, gravel, or rock below the water table Reservoirs for groundwater |
| Wetlands | They slow surface runoff and allow the water to sink into aquifers |
| Overuse of aquifers | Many aquifers are a “non-renewable resource” in that they won’t recharge within our lifetime at the rate we use them |
| Embedded Water | Also called virtual water or embodied water The water it took along the steps of productNatuion to make a product Many industrial processes use water at some point, even if the finished product isn’t a crop |
| Water Conservation Consumer | Installing low-flow toilets and shower heads Plant-based diets Reducing purchases of clothing |
| Government | Water regulations (either industrial or domestic) Upgrading wastewater treatment plants Desalination |
| Desalination | Can occur through distillation or reverse osmosis |
| Water pollution | Any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses Point source Nonpoint source |
| Dead Zones | Agricultural pollutants cause algal blooms that then remove dissolved oxygen from the water Eutrophication is common in river basins with intense agriculture |
| Nitrates in Groundwater | Nitrates from fertilizers, manure, septic discharge Of particular concern in rural areas due to unregulated wells Health effects such as birth defects, thyroid problems, cancers |
| Clean Water Act | Goal to make waters fishable, swimmable, and drinkable by 1985 National pollution discharge elimination system Upgrade municipal sewage treatment plants States establish total maximum daily loads Led to significant improvements in surface water quality |
| Plastic and Water Pollution | 75-199 million tons of plastic in the ocean, and we add more each year Regular plastic litter and old nets from industrial fishing boats Takes 500-1000 years to degrade Great Pacific Garbage Patch could be cleaned up for $7.5 billion |
| Coal | Originates from the “carboniferous period” 286-360 mya Key to fueling the industrial revolution Different grades, anthracite coal contains most concentrated carbon + fewest volatile compounds like sulfur Coal distributed evenly across the earth |
| Coal mining in the US | Coal mining and coal use has declined in the US Automation of the coal mining industry means further employment declines Decreasing price of both other fossil fuels and renewables makes coal less economical |
| Oil | Our top fossil fuel; our reliance on it is difficult to shake Transportation |
| Increasing the Oil Supply | Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) Tar sands Deep ocean wells Unconventional versus conventional wells |
| Natural Gas | Mostly methane (CH4) Unlike coal, not evenly distributed More than half of known reserves in the Middle East and Russia Often found with coal, which slowly breaks down into methane |
| Natural Gas Supplies | Expanded by fracking 3-8% of gas escapes to the atmosphere during mining Especially problematic since methane is more potent than carbon dioxide Sometimes it is burned off oil fields if it is not worth the money to capture and sell it |
| Methane Hydrates | Methane trapped in ice, found in permafrost and ocean 10 thousand gigaton of carbon, more than twice all other fossil fuel reserves |
| Nuclear | Provides 11% of world’s energy In comparison to gold or silver, is common in Earth’s crust |
| Thorium Reactors | Thorium 3X more common in Earth’s crustEnough in US for 1,000 years of energy Creates less waste that needs less storage time |
| Thorium Reactor Drawbacks | Creates gamma rays when initially irradiated No approved designs, startup costs high US knew thorium technology in WWII era, uranium reactors chosen In 1980s, Germany had thorium reactor ran for 432 days and was shuttered for cost and mechanical reasons |
| Biomass | For people in many countries, burning material derived from plants remains a dominant fuel source Can contribute to deforestation and habitat degradation |
| Biofuels | Biofuels refers to cases where biomass is used for transportation fuel |
| Ethanol | Ethanol is most common; around ½ of US corn is grown to produce ethanol |
| Biofuels | refers to cases where biomass is used for transportation fuel |
| Ethanol Efficiency Pros | Renewable it is easy to grow more corn Lowers GHG emissions Supports rural economies Increases energy security No such thing as a toxic corn spill |
| Ethanol Efficiency Cons | Diverts resources from producing food Requires significant land and water Energy-intensive to produce and often the energy comes from fossil fuels Corrodes pipelines meant for gasoline so special infrastructure needed |
| Solar energy | Sunlight excites electrons in thin silicon layer with trace elements of phosphorous |
| Wind Power | Drastic increase it the power of wind turbines over the past 20 years 1 single large turbine can generate enough electricity for 3000 homes |
| One Big Beautiful Act | phases out 30% credit for solar and wind projects |
| Hydroelectricity | The largest source of renewable energy in the world |
| Has fallen out of favor for multiple reasons | Displacement of people from dam construction Destruction of habitat, blocking fish migration Rotting vegetation producing methane in tropical areas Built for political reasons, not because it was the best option for electricity |
| Future Developments | Fish ladders, low head hydropower, harnessing the tides and waves |
| Geothermal | Incredible heat located below the Earth’s surface California and Nevada alone produce 93% of the US geothermal energy |
| Energy Storage Options | Lithium ion batteries (come with environmental costs of mining) Pumped hydro storage from another energy source Hydrogen fuel cells (hydrogen vehicles in operation such as trains) Molten sodium Compressed air storage |
| More Efficient buildings | Heat pumps Triple-pane glass Better insulation |
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