BIOLOGY 157: LIFE SCIENCE: AN ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH (Air Pollution)

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BIOLOGY 157 LIFE SCIENCE AN ENVIRONMENTAL
APPROACH (Air Pollution)
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AIR POLLUTION

• Non-Anthropogenic ---- caused by non-human
  processes (volcanoes, decomposition, etc.)
• Anthropogenic ----- produced by human activities
• Some things which can be air pollutants
• SO2 (sulfur dioxide)
• CO2, CO (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide)
• H2S (hydrogen sulfide)
• CH4 (methane)
• NO2, NO, N2O (various nitrogen oxides)
• O3 (ozone)
• HCN (hydrogen cyanide)
• Lead, Selenium, Fluorine
• Particulates (soot, dust)
• Numerous Organic Compounds

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PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AIR POLLUTANTS (I)

• Primary Air Pollutants
• those that are directly released from various
  activities
• SO2, CO2, CO, H2S, NO, particulates
• Secondary Air Pollutants
• those that result from the reaction of primary
  with other primary or primary with various
  normal constituents of the atmosphere the sun
  usually catalyzes the reactions
• Ozone (O3), Peroxyacyl Nitrates (PANs), H2SO4,
  HCL, HNO3 , NO2, N2O

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PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AIR POLLUTANTS (II)
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EMISSIONS OF MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS IN THE U.S. (I)
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EMISSIONS OF MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS IN THE U.S. (II)
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SIZE OF SUSPENDED PARTICULATE MATTER
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TYPES OF SMOG

• Grey Air ( Industrial Smog, Sulfurous Smog,
  London Smog)
• colder more moist climates
• mainly results from smoke (particulates) SO2
• London (UK) Lewiston (ID) / Clarkston (WA)
• Brown Air ( Photochemical Smog, Los Angeles
  Smog)
• warmer (and sometimes drier) climates
• primary pollutants (COx, NO, Hydrocarbons) SUN
  yields secondary pollutants (ozone, PANs)
• Los Angeles Donora (PA) near Pittsburgh, 1948

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FORMATION OF PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG
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INDOOR AND OUTDOOR AIR POLLUTION

• Which is the more serious problem?
• Generally the indoor
• what is outside tends to get inside
• many different things tend to be produced /
  released indoors from materials / processes
• things that are produced inside often are trapped
  there
• we tend to spend much more time indoors than out

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INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS
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FACTORS AFFECTING AIR POLLUTION SEVERITY

• Type of pollutant (light / heavy)
• Degree of Urbanization (Urban Heat Dome)
• Wind (speed and direction)
• Altitude
• Latitude
• Humidity
• Terrain (Mountains / Valleys / Temp. Inversions)

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URBAN HEAT DOME
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TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS
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EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION (I)

• Health
• lethargy (lead and others)
• headaches (CO, arsenic)
• temporary breathing difficulties (SO2, H2S)
• emphysema (ozone, particulates)
• chronic bronchitis (particulates)
• bone / teeth malformation (fluorine)
• mental impairment (lead, mercury)

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EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION (II)

• Deterioration of stone and metals in buildings
  (SO2, H2SO4, NO2, HNO3)
• Breakdown of rubber products (ozone and acids)
• Reduction in plant growth and plant health
  (ozone, acids)
• Climate
• - warming from greenhouse gases such as
  CO2, N2O, CH3, chlorofluorocarbons
  (CFCs)
• - cooling from particulates
• Habitat Destruction (acidification of lakes and
  high mountain ecosystems)
• Ozone Depletion in the Stratosphere increases UV
  light increases mutations and cancers (CFCs)

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ACID DEPOSITION

• Dry / Wet
• pH of 5.6 or less
• unimpacted precipitation has a pH of 5.7
• with water in the atmosphere
• CO2 goes to carbonic acid
• SO2 goes to sulfuric acid
• NO2 goes to nitric acid
• Acid deposition is more likely to have an effect
  in high mountains and in areas low in bases
  (little or no neutralizing capability)

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ACID DEPOSITION
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ACID DEPOSITION AND SOIL pH
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AREAS IN WHICH U.S. LAKES AND STREAMS ARE
ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO ACID DEPOSITION
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HARMFUL EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTANTS ON TREES
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GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND GLOBAL WARMING

• Is the Earth warming?
• Yes.
• Is this due to the greenhouse effect or to some
  cycle that can affect climate?
• ??????????
• What are the major greenhouse gases?
• CO2, N2O, CH4, CFCs, (H2O ?)
• Could the Earth also cool from human activities
  and enter an ice age?
• Yes - and there have been recent short duration
  cooling events!
• Global warming could be a positive feedback
  system!!!!!

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GREENHOUSE EFFECT
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AUTUMN EFFECT (NUCLEAR WINTER)
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SOME POINTS CONCERNING THE EARTHS TEMPERATURE

• current average surface temp. is 150C ( 59OF)
• without an atmosphere it would be -180C ( 0OF)
• estimated average temp. during coldest part of
  last ice age was only 5OC (9OF) less than today
• last major ice age ended 12,000 years ago
• sea levels are 300 feet higher that at the peak
  of the ice age (and are still rising!)
• greenhouse gases have increased dramatically
  since 1850 (actually since 1950!)
• CO2 has gone from 280 ppm to 380 ppm since
  1850(a 36 increase)

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THE MAJOR GREENHOUSE GASES

• Gas
  impact compared contribution
  to CO2 per to
  global warming molecule
• CO2 64
  ---------
• CFCs 11
  10,000 to 20,000
• CH4 19
  25
• N2O 6
  230

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PROJECTED GROWTH OF GREENHOUSE GASES
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PATTERN OF GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS (1950 1980)
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PATTERN OF GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS (2000)
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RISE IN ATMOSPHERIC CO2
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INCREASE IN GLOBAL TEMPERATURE
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HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING