HSC 156 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Habitat Destruction, Wise Use Movement, Endangered Species Act Of 1973
HSC 156 – Study Guide for Exam #4
1. What is acid deposition?
• Any form of precipitation that includes Nitric and Sulfuric acids which can be carried by wind
2. Explain the effects of acid rain
• Leach nutrients in the ground
• Kill nitrogen-fixing microorganisms that nourish plants
• Kill fish
• Release toxic metals
3. What are acid rain controls?
• Fuel Switching
• Coal Washing
• Scrubbers
• Fluidized bed combustion
• Reduced consumption of electric
4. What have researchers concluded in the case study Weird Weather?
• Problems in southwest with long-term droughts
• Rising temps is correlation with high levels of CO2
• Concluded: Smart planting of communities and transportation systems
5. Describe the "Greenhouse Effect"
• Sun’s rays striking the earth, and some are converted to infrared radiation that is transmitted back to
space
i. Absorbed by greenhouse gases
1. More absorbed, more released
6. What are the greenhouse gases?
• Carbon Dioxide (#1: 80%)
• Water Vapor (~2%)
• Methane (10%
i. Human and natural sources
• Nitrous Oxide (~5%)
• CFC (~3%)
7. Describe the major impacts of global warming
• Diminishing Crop Yields
• Loss of Biodiversity
• Rising Sea Levels
• Human Illnesses
8. What was the Kyoto Protocol?
• Treaty that required developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions >5%
9. Are there feasible alternatives to address global warming concerns? What are they?
• Walk/Recycle
• Ride Bike/Public Transportation
10. What is the ozone layer? Where is it? Is this good ozone or bad ozone?
• Generated in the stratosphere by the action of UV on O2
• Amounts of ozone vary depending on location and season of the year
• Most UV is absorbed by ozone layer
• Existence of the ozone layer is of GREAT biological significance
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i. Without out ozone layer it can cause skin cancer, cataracts, and damage to plants and aquatic
organisms
11. Explain the effects of destruction of ozone
• CFCs are released into the sky, chlorine and bromine atoms convert ozone to oxygen, which will reduce
the amount of ozone in the atmosphere
• Allows for more UV to penetrate Earth
• Cause health effects, damage crops and cause more smog
12. What are UV health effects?
• Cataracts
• Lung problems
• Premature skin aging
• Blindness
• Damage to immune system
• Skin cancers
13. Discuss the problem with the “hole in the sky”
• Evidence has proven a direct link between ozone layer destruction and CFC emissions
• Ozone loss has stabilized because of Montreal Protocol
i. Some improvements
14. What was the Policy Response-Montreal Protocol?
• Ozone depletion presents a major threat to life on earth
• Aimed at controlling the chemicals most responsible for ozone layer depletion
• Mostly dealt with CFC reduction, halt CFC’s entirely since by 1999
15. Describe what happened during the great London smog of 1952.
• Soot was released because of coal burning
• Killed over 12,000 people, hundreds of cattle
16. What is the difference between primary and secondary pollutants?
• Primary:
i. Stationary, NO2, CO2, CO, SO2
• Secondary:
i. Created in the air
ii. Most NO3- and SO42-
17. Which source of air pollution is easiest to control?
• Primary Pollutants (Stationary)
18. What is an inversion? (be able to describe it)
• When warm weather is trapped between 2 layers of cold air
i. Prevents warm air from rising and results in accumulation of pollutants near the ground
19. What are Ambient Air Standards?
• Maximum amount of pollutants that can be in the air
20. What are two kinds of smog?
• Industrial Smog:
i. Irritating, grayish mixture of soot, sulfurous compounds and water vapor from burning coal
• Photochemical Smog:
i. Brownish Haze. Comes from cars and trucks and sunlight strikes the chemicals being released
ii. Secondary Pollutant
21. List some of the major air pollutants
• Acid Rain
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