bio 111 atmosphere and air pollution week8

8/2/2019 Bio 111 Atmosphere and Air Pollution Week8

1/17

Atmosphere is composed of layers

weather patterns

are formed in thetroposphere

useful ozonelayer (the ozone

shield) in thestratosphere

note: 1 km = about .6 miles. to change km to miles, just multiply by .6and round off (I learned this easy method living in Europe - changing thespeed limit signs to match my speedometer!)


2/17

Global air circulation patterns causeweather changes


3/17

Effects of the Great Ocean Conveyor(remember this from last week's topics?)

smallvariationsin theconveyor

circulationcanproducedramatic

changes inweatherpatternsaround the

world


4/17

Thermal inversionstrap pollutants near ground level

a layer of warm air traps pollutants so can't rise and

disperse

pollutants released by the morning rush hour stay atground level - can cause quite serious health effects


5/17

Air pollution affects local weather

in addition to weather

affecting air pollution, airpollution can affectweather

cities release large

amounts of heat (thermalpollution) from burning offossil fuels

urban areas tend to

experience more rain andsnow than surroundingareas because of thepollution they produce

also, concrete and metalretain the sun's energy,turning cities into "heatislands"

have you ever noticedthat, in summer, it'smuch hotter in DC, forexample, than PG

County? why?


6/17

Primary and secondary air pollutants

primaryreleased

directly intoatmospherefromburning

fuels orwastes

secondaryproduced by

interactionsamongprimarypollutants in

atmosphere


7/17

Emissions of air pollutants from humanactivities - what are the two biggest sources?


8/17

Photochemical smog produced by

reactionsamongsunlight,primarypollutants, andcomponents inthe atmosphere

smog forms

brownish haze worst in hot,

sunny weatherwith little wind


9/17


10/17

Photochemical smog exhaust from morning

traffic releases largeamounts of NO and VOCs

sunlight promotesconversion into ozone and

other components of smog urban levels usually highest

in mid-afternoon (recall:recent Olympic games in

China) irritates eyes, noses,

throats, makes asthmasymptoms worse, etc.

Los Angeles


11/17

Acid precipitation

nitric oxides andsulfur dioxidereleased byburning fossil

fuels combinewith water in theatmosphere toform acids

returns to earthas acid rain, acidsnow, acid fog


12/17

global air circulation disperses the pollutants

effects can be felt hundreds of miles from the source


13/17

acid kills soildecomposers

acid soil prevents plantsfrom absorbing minerals

lack of nutrientsdamages forests and

crops


14/17

aciddissolveslimestone

and marble damages

buildings,monuments,

and otherstructures


15/17

damages aquaticlife

decreased survivalof fish larvae -many arecommercially

important species decreased survival

of amphibians(frogs, toads,

salamanders)important forecosystem health

salmon larvae


16/17

Some legislation to reduce air pollution

U.S. Clean Air Act addresses air pollution

from ____

standards set by ____

enforced by ___

Montreal Protocol addresses air pollution

from ____

standards set by ___

enforced by ___


17/17

Strategies to reduce air pollution

most air pollutants

found in vehicleemissions (source:burning of fossilfuels)

hybrid vehicles getmuch bettermileage and so,release less airpollution

more on this in theenergy unit!

Toyota Prius

bio 111 atmosphere and air pollution week8

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