PSY320H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Polar Easterlies, Acid Rain, Trade Winds
Lecture 8: Ocean Impact
Impact on Coastal Zones
• Wetlands, estuaries, coral reefs under severe pressure from coastal development and increasing
population
• Pollution
• There are 6 main type of marine pollution;
1. Petroleum
2. Sewage sludge
3. Fertilizer runoff
i. Hypoxic zones
4. DDT and PCBs
5. Mercury
6. Non-point-source pollution and trash
• Coastal waters are more polluted than open ocean because they are closer to land and shallower
and less well circulated than open ocean
Costal Zones & Open Ocean
• 80% of garbage is from land based sources
• Plastics are the vast majority of marine debris
• What we like about plastic is what makes them a problem in the environment
• Nurdles: small pre-production plastic pellets
o Microplastics = small pieces of plastic found in ocean and all beaches
Impact on Coral Reefs
• Many at high risk
• Putting more CO2 causes ocean acidification and CaCO3 structures dissolve in acidic conditions
• Global warming also causes coral bleaching
Air and Air Pollution
• The atmosphere is a gaseous envelope surrounding earth
o Effects climate, life and air pollution
o Protects Earth from UV radiation
o Allows visible light
o Warms the surface of our planet to habitable temperatures
Atmosphere
• About 500k
• the amount of energy in the EM radiation depends on wavelength (e.g. Gamma rays, x-rays have
high energy while microwaves have lower energy)
• UV radiation (dangerous) is mostly absorbed by ozone (O3) in the stratosphere and only a small
fraction reaches the surface
Atmosphere Structure:
• Troposphere; Air in the troposphere constantly flows in response to convection
▪ The heat initiating movement comes primarily from IR radiation rising from
surface
• Stratosphere; absorption of solar radiation by stratospheric ozone is the source of heat
o Does not convict
• Mesosphere: does not absorb much solar energy and thus is cools with increasing distance from
stratosphere
• Thermosphere: it contains very little gas, temp increases because short-wavelength radiation is
absorbed
Earth's Radiation Budget
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Document Summary
Impact on coastal zones: wetlands, estuaries, coral reefs under severe pressure from coastal development and increasing population, pollution, there are 6 main type of marine pollution, petroleum, sewage sludge, fertilizer runoff. Hypoxic zones: ddt and pcbs, mercury, non-point-source pollution and trash, coastal waters are more polluted than open ocean because they are closer to land and shallower and less well circulated than open ocean. Impact on coral reefs: many at high risk, putting more co2 causes ocean acidification and caco3 structures dissolve in acidic conditions, global warming also causes coral bleaching. Air and air pollution: the atmosphere is a gaseous envelope surrounding earth, effects climate, life and air pollution, protects earth from uv radiation, allows visible light, warms the surface of our planet to habitable temperatures. Atmosphere structure: troposphere; air in the troposphere constantly flows in response to convection, the heat initiating movement comes primarily from ir radiation rising from surface.
