ENVIRONMENT the science behind the stories

Lecture Outlines

Chapter 17

The Atmosphere, Air Quality, and

Pollution Control

Withgott | Laposata
Sixth Edition Lecture Outlines by
James Dauray, College of Lake County
© 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
The Atmosphere
§ Atmosphere: the thin layer of gases that surrounds Earth
§ Moderates our climate
§ Provides oxygen
§ Shields us from meteors and hazardous solar radiation
§ Approximately 78% nitrogen gas, 21% oxygen gas, 1%
other gases
§ Involved in transporting and cycling nutrients (water
cycle, nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, hydrogen cycle,
and oxygen cycle)
§ The atmosphere has evolved since life first began on
Earth, particularly with the introduction of oxygen when
the first microbes began utilizing photosynthesis.
§ Humans are increasing the quantities of some
atmospheric gases, such as carbon dioxide and
methane.
The atmosphere is layered
§ The atmosphere consists of four layers that
differ in temperature, density, and composition.
§ Troposphere: bottommost layer extended up
to about 11 km (7 mi) in altitude
§ air we breathe and our weather
§ contains ¾ of the atmosphere’s mass and
has the highest air pressure
§ air gets colder with altitude, stabilizing
around -52°C at the tropopause
§ air pressure decreases with altitude
§ cruising altitude for planes is about 6.5 miles
(10 km) above sea level
§ Stratosphere: layer of atmosphere that is 11-
50 km (7-31 mi) above sea level
§ much drier and less dense than the
troposphere
§ very little vertical mixing takes place, so
when pollutants enter, they will remain there
for a long time
§ ozone layer: O3 (ozone) located about 17-
30 km (10-19 mi) above sea level which
protects us from ultraviolet radiation
§ warms with altitude due to absorption of
sunlight by the ozone layer
§ Mesosphere: atmospheric layer that is
50-80 km (31-56 mi) above sea level
§ extremely low air pressure
§ temperatures decrease with altitude
§ location where incoming meteors burn
up
§ Thermosphere: atmosphere’s top layer
that extends upward to 500 km (300 mi)
§ contains lower air pressure than the
mesosphere
§ temperature increases with altitude
§ Exosphere: outermost region of a
planet’s atmosphere that merges into
space
Pressure, humidity, and temperature vary within the atmosphere
§ Air moves dynamically within the lower
atmosphere as a result of differences in air
pressure, density, relative humidity, and
temperature.
§ Gravity pulls air toward the Earth’s surface,
causing it to be denser at lower altitudes.
§ Atmospheric pressure: measures the force
per unit area produced by a column of air
§ Decreases with altitude
§ Air (wind) moves from an area of high
pressure to an area of low pressure
§ Relative humidity: the ratio of water vapor a given volume of air contains to the
amount it could contain at a given temperature
§ Since humans perspire to cool our bodies, we feel much warmer in higher
relative humidity conditions because sweat is not evaporating as quickly.
§ Temperature: measures the motion of particles
§ The temperature of air also varies with location and time, as the sun’s rays
strike some areas more directly than others.
§ Land surfaces heat up much quicker than bodies of water due to the low heat
capacity of rocks/stone as compared to water.
§ As the sun starts to shine, the ground heats up quickly, which heats the air
above it.
Solar energy heats the atmosphere, helps create seasons, and
causes air to circulate
§ Sunlight is most intense when it
meets the planet’s surface at a
perpendicular angle.
§ This minimizes the amount of
atmosphere the sunlight must pass
through before reaching the
surface.
§ As a result, solar radiation tends to
be the most intense near the
equator, and weakest near the
poles.
§ The Earth is tilted on its axis by about 23.5 degrees, resulting in the Northern
and Southern Hemispheres being tilted toward the sun for half of each year.
§ This leads to seasonal changes in temperature and the amount of daylight
in areas away from the equator.
§ Convective circulation: less dense,
warmer air rises while more dense, colder
air sinks creating vertical currents
§ Increased evaporation causes air near
the Earth’s surface to be warmer and
moister
§ Warm air, being less dense, rises and
creates vertical currents.
§ As air rises, it cools, causing moisture
to condense and fall down as rain.
§ The cooler, denser air sinks, and the
cycle repeats.
The atmosphere drives weather and climate
§ Weather: specifies atmospheric conditions over short time periods and
within a small geographic area
§ Climate: describes patterns of atmospheric conditions across large
geographic regions over long periods of time
Air masses interact, producing weather
§ Front: the boundary between air masses that
differ in temperature, moisture, and density
§ Warm Front: the boundary where warm moist
air replaces colder, drier air
§ Some of the warm air rises and releases
lighter precipitation as it cools and
condenses.
§ Cold Front: the boundary where colder, drier
air displaces warmer, moist air
§ Cold air, being denser, tends to wedge
underneath the warm air, which then rises
and forms clouds and heavy precipitation
and thunderstorms.
§ Adjacent air masses may also differ in pressure.
§ High-pressure systems: contain cool air that descends and spreads outward;
cause sunny clear skies
§ Low-pressure systems: contain warm air that rises and draws air inward
toward the center; cause rain and precipitation
Inversions affect air quality
§ Air generally becomes colder as altitude rises.
§ Since warm air rises, vertical mixing results, and air pollution is carried
away from its source.
§ Thermal (Temperature) inversion: a layer of cool air becomes trapped beneath
warm air, preventing any vertical mixing from occurring
§ Inversion layer: the band of air where temperature rises with altitude
§ Temperature inversions often occur in valleys, as nearby mountains block
morning sunlight, creating cooler air in their shadow.
§ Environmental problem because pollutants get trapped near the ground closer to
humans.
Large-scale circulation systems produce global climate patterns
§ Convective air currents contribute to broad climate patterns.
§ Cell: large-scale atmospheric circulation
§ Hadley cells: near the equator,
surface air warms, rises (low air
pressure), and expands
§ Releases moisture and heavy
rainfall near the equator
§ The rapid rising and expansion
of air due to intense sunlight
gives rise to tropical rainforests.
§ The air moves north and south,
before cooling and descending
(high pressure) at around 30
degrees latitude, producing
subtropical deserts.
§ 30 degrees latitude generally
has little precipitation
§ Ferrel cells: lift air (low pressure) and
create precipitation around 60
degrees latitude north and south,
causing air to descend (high pressure)
at 30 degrees latitude
§ This creates another band of moist
ecosystems around 60 degrees
latitude.
§ Polar cells: lift air (low pressure) and
create precipitation around 60
degrees latitude north and south,
causing air to descend (high pressure)
at 90 degrees latitude (poles)
§ The North and South poles (90o N
and S) have very little precipitation
§ The Hadley, Ferrel, and polar
cells interact with Earth’s rotation
to produce bands of wind
patterns that alternate directions.
§ Coriolis effect: Earth’s rotation
(spin) deflects anything that flies
or flows over long distances
above the ground
§ objects deflect to the right in
the northern hemisphere and
to the left in the southern
hemisphere resulting in
curving wind patterns
§ Doldrums: winds at the equator
§ Few winds
§ Trade winds: winds between the
equator and 30 degrees latitude
§ Blow from east to west
§ Westerlies: winds found between 30 to
60 degrees latitude
§ Originate from the west and blow east
§ Easterlies: winds found between 60 to
90 degrees latitude
§ Originate from the east and blow west
Storms pose hazards
§ Hurricanes: form when winds rush into
low pressure systems containing warm,
moist air from tropical oceans
§ Due to the Coriolis effect, hurricanes
move counterclockwise in the northern
hemisphere and tropical cyclones
move in the opposite direction in the
southern hemisphere.
§ The rapid intake of warm, moist air
leads to heavy amounts of
precipitation.
§ Tornado: forms when a mass of warm air meets a mass of cold air, and the
warm air rises rapidly, setting a powerful convective current in motion
§ When high and low altitude winds are blowing in different directions, the
air can rotate
Outdoor Air Quality
§ Air pollutants: gases and particulate material added to the atmosphere
§ Can affect climate or harm people
§ Air pollution: the release of pollutants into the atmosphere
§ Outdoor (ambient) air pollution: pollution outside
§ Has recently decreased due to government policy and improved
technologies in developed countries
§ Developing countries and urban areas still have significant problems
Some pollution is from natural sources
§ Natural processes, some worsened by
human activity, can also pollute the air.
§ Fires occur naturally, but they are
worsened by human encroachment into
fire-prone ecosystems and the
suppression of fires in areas where it is
part of the natural ecology.
§ Volcanic eruptions release particulate matter
and sulfur dioxide into the troposphere.
§ Short-term effects of these include
grounding planes, damaging car engines,
and causing respiratory illnesses.
§ Long-term effects such as global cooling
can occur if sulfur dioxide reacts with
water and oxygen to form
aerosols.
§ Aerosols: reflect sunlight back into space
and cool the atmosphere and surface
§ Dust storms: hundreds of millions
of tons of dust are blown westward
across the Atlantic ocean by trade
winds every year
§ From Africa to the Americas
§ Caused by unsustainable farming
and grazing, erosion and
desertification
We create outdoor air pollution
§ Primary pollutants: pollutants released
directly from a source
§ examples include ash or soot from a
volcano, sulfur dioxide from a coal
burning power plant, carbon monoxide
from a car, or carbon dioxide released
from combustion
§ directly harmful and can react to form
harmful substances
§ Secondary pollutants: form when primary
pollutants react with each other or react with
components of the atmosphere
§ examples include tropospheric ozone
(formed from pollutants in urban smog)
and sulfuric acid rain (formed from sulfur
dioxide reacting with water)
§ Residence time: the amount of time a pollutant spends in the atmosphere before
settling to the ground
§ Short residence times result in more localized impacts over short periods.
§ Long residence times cause long-term regional or global effects.
Global Distillation Effect
§ Grasshopper effect: (aka global distillation)
occurs when certain pesticides, industrial
chemicals and heavy metals evaporate out of
the soil in warmer locations (lower latitudes)
where they are still used, and travel in the
atmosphere toward cooler areas (higher
latitudes), condensing out again when the
temperature drops
§ The process, repeated in "hops", can carry
them thousands of kilometers in a matter
of days.
§ Pollutants condense (goes from gas to
liquid phase) when they reach colder
climates towards the poles and fall to the
earth as precipitation.
The Clean Air Act addresses pollution
§ Clean Air Act: a U.S. law
passed in 1963, then amended
in 1970 and 1990 that funds
pollution control research, sets
standards for air quality, and
encourages emissions
standards for automobiles and
other point sources
§ States are required to monitor
emissions for air quality and
develop, implement, and
enforce their own regulations to
comply with the law.
Agencies monitor emissions
§ State and local agencies monitor and report to
the EPA emissions of six major pollutants.
§ Carbon monoxide (CO): a colorless,
odorless gas produced by the incomplete
combustion of fuel
§ Vehicles and engines are the biggest
sources in the United States.
§ Other sources include industrial processes,
waste combustion, and residential wood
burning
§ Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in
red blood cells, preventing it from binding
to and transporting oxygen.
§ Nitrogen oxides (NOx): a family of
compounds that include nitric oxide (NO)
and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
§ NO2 is a highly reactive and foul-
smelling, reddish-brown gas.
§ Most are produced when atmospheric
nitrogen and oxygen combine during
combustion in engines.
§ Other sources include fossil fuel
combustion in industry and electrical
utilities.
§ Mainly impact respiratory conditions
§ NOx emissions contribute to smog,
acid precipitation, and ozone
destruction.
§ Volatile organic compounds (VOCs):
carbon-containing chemicals emitted by
vehicle engines, industrial processes,
consumer items, and solvents
§ In our homes these compounds are
released or “off gas” into the indoor air
that we breathe.
§ Examples include benzene, acetone,
formaldehyde, methane, propane,
octane, and scents/perfumes
§ Humans account for half of the VOC
emissions in the U.S.
§ VOCs react to produce secondary
pollutants, such as smog.
§ Particulate matter: solid or liquid
particles small enough to be
suspended in the air
§ Can be primary pollutants such as
dust and soot or secondary
pollutants such as sulfates and
nitrates
§ Damages respiratory tissue when
inhaled
§ Most is wind-blown dust
§ Particulate matter is classified by
size: PM10 particles are less than
10 microns in diameter; PM2.5
particles are less than 2.5 microns
in diameter.
§ Lead (Pb): a heavy metal that can enter the atmosphere as a particulate pollutant
as a result of vehicles burning leaded gasoline or industrial metal smelting
§ Lead is a toxin that can bioaccumulate in the body and cause nervous system
(brain, spinal cord, and nerve) malfunction.
We have reduced pollutant emissions
§ Since the passage of the 1970 Clean
Air Act amendments, emissions of the
six monitored pollutants have reduced
dramatically.
§ Scrubbers: technologies that
chemically convert or physically remove
pollutants (sulfur oxides) before they
leave the smokestacks
§ Technologies such as baghouse filters,
electrostatic precipitators, and
scrubbers physically remove airborne
pollutants from smokestacks.
§ Catalytic converters: contain metals that react with hydrocarbons, CO, and NOx in
vehicle exhaust and convert them to carbon dioxide, water vapor, and nitrogen (N2)
gas
§ Leaded gasoline was also phased out, dramatically reducing its level in the
atmosphere.
Air quality has improved
§ Criteria pollutants: pollutants judged to pose especially great threats to human
health
§ Each pollutant has an ambient air quality standard, which sets the maximum
allowable concentration for each pollutant in the air.
§ The six criteria pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate
matter, lead, nitrogen dioxide, and tropospheric ozone.
§ Overall, concentrations of criteria pollutants in ambient air across the United
States has steadily fallen since 1980.
§ Tropospheric ozone (O3): (aka
ground-level ozone) a secondary
pollutant created by the reaction of NOx
and VOCs in sunlight
§ Ozone is an unstable molecule that
can injure living tissues and cause
respiratory problems.
§ colorless gas with a strong odor
§ a major component of smog
§ More than 4,000 monitoring stations
take hourly or daily air samples.
§ This data is used to calculate the air
quality index, a 0–500 scale
measuring how healthy the air is that
day for an area.
Toxic pollutants pose health risks
§ Toxic air pollutants: substances
known to cause cancer; reproductive
defects; or neurological,
developmental, immune system, or
respiratory problems in people and
other organisms
§ These include substances such as
mercury (from coal-burning power
plants), VOCs (from gasoline), and
methylene chloride (found in paint
stripper).
Rural areas also confront pollution challenges
§ In rural areas, people may be exposed from pollution from sources such as:
§ Airborne pesticides from farms
§ Industrial pollutants that drift from distant cities
§ Methane, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia from animal waste in large
feedlots
§ Fumes from natural gas extraction sites
Smog poses health risks
§ Smog: a general term for a mixture of air pollutants that can accumulate as a result of
fossil fuel combustion, especially over areas with heavy automobile traffic
§ Industrial smog: “gray-air” smog caused by the incomplete combustion of coal or oil
when burned
§ Occurs in cooler, hilly areas
§ Government regulations in developed countries reduced smog
§ Coal-burning industrializing countries face significant health risks
§ Industrial smog contains carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, mercury, particulate matter
and sulfur dioxide from burning fossil fuels.
§ The sulfur can react with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid in the atmosphere.
§ America’s worst industrial smog event occurred in Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948.
§ Donora is located in a small valley, and it experienced a temperature inversion
that trapped smog from a steel and wire factory for days.
§ London had a similar “killer smog” event in 1952, that killed between 4,000–12,000
people.
§ Photochemical (brown air) smog: forms when sunlight drives chemical reactions between
primary pollutants (nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds) and atmospheric
compounds producing a mixture of over 100 different chemicals
§ Ozone is the most abundant chemical found in photochemical smog
§ NO2 gives the smog a brownish haze color.
§ Occurs in hot, sunny cities surrounded by mountains when windless days provide ideal
conditions
§ Most is due to automobile exhausts
§ Irritates eyes, noses, and throats
Ozone Depletion and Recovery
§ Ozone (O3) is a highly beneficial gas in the stratosphere, mainly shielding the
Earth’s surface from harmful UV-B radiation from the sun.
§ Ultraviolet Radiation: UV-A (least energy; can cause retinal disease or
cataracts) , UV-B (can cause tanning and skin cancer), and UV-C (most energy
and most dangerous)
§ Ozone-depleting substances: human-made airborne chemicals that degrade the
ozone layer
Synthetic chemicals deplete stratospheric ozone
§ Halocarbons: primary ozone depleting substances that
are synthetic compounds derived from hydrocarbons in
which hydrogen atoms are replaced by halogen atoms
such as chlorine, fluorine, or bromine
§ Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): ozone depleting
halocarbon molecules
§ CFCs were produced in the 1970s as air
refrigerants; as propellants in fire extinguishers
and aerosol spray cans; and for making
polystyrene foam.
§ CFCs are very nonreactive and were assumed to
be safe.
§ In the stratosphere, CFCs are broken down by
UV radiation into chlorine and carbon atoms.
Chlorine atoms will then split and destroy many
ozone molecules.
The ozone hole appears each year
§ Ozone hole: an area of thinned ozone concentration that forms
every spring over Antarctica
§ During the dark and frigid Antarctic winter (June – August),
temperatures in the stratosphere dip below -80oC, enabling
unusual high altitude polar stratospheric clouds containing
nitric acid to form
§ Nitric acid breaks chlorine atoms off of CFCs
§ In the Antarctic spring (September), sunshine dissipates the
clouds spreading ozone destroying chlorine atoms. Solar
radiation also catalyzes chemical reactions that deplete
ozone.
§ The ozone hole disappears every December (summer in
southern hemisphere) and reforms in the spring
§ Scientists were concerned that elevated UV levels could
promote skin cancer and damage plant life.
We addressed ozone depletion with the Montreal Protocol
§ Montreal Protocol: in 1987 an international treaty was signed by 180 nations to
cut CFC production in half
§ Additional agreements were passed, adding more halocarbons to the restricted
list.
§ Phasing out and replacing these chemicals has stabilized the ozone hole.
§ The ozone layer is expected to recover fully sometime after the year 2060.
§ The Montreal Protocol is now considered to be a model for solving global
environmental problems.
Addressing Acid Deposition
§ Acid deposition (precipitation): the deposition of acid or acid-forming pollutants
from the atmosphere on the Earth’s surface
§ Acid deposition occurs as a result of burning fossil fuels and releasing sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX), which react with water and oxygen in
the atmosphere to form strong (low pH) acids such as nitric acid (HNO3) or
sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
§ Examples include acid rain, snow, fog, gases, or dry particles
Effects of acid deposition
§ These effects often occur in areas far from the primary pollutants’
original source.
§ Nutrients are leached from topsoil
§ Soil chemistry is changed
§ Metal ions (aluminum, zinc, etc.) are converted into soluble forms that
pollute water and lead to acid shock of the body of water
§ Widespread tree mortality
§ Affects surface water and kills fish
§ Damages agricultural crops
§ Erodes stone buildings, corrodes cars, erases writing on tombstones
We are addressing acid precipitation
§ The Clean Air Act of 1990 established the Acid Rain Program to fight acid
deposition.
§ This program set up an emissions trading program for sulfur dioxide, allocating
permits for SO2 pollution and allowing emitters to buy, sell, or trade these
allowances.
§ This created a strong economic incentive to reduce emissions.
§ The cap-and-trade program successfully reduced SO2 emissions in the United
States by 67%.
§ Restrictions on power plants reduced NOx emissions, which significantly reduced
nitrogen deposition.
§ Overall, the pH of precipitation improved significantly since the passage of the law.
Indoor Air Quality
§ Indoor air pollution: air inside of a building or
home generally containing a greater
concentration of pollutants than what is found
outdoors
§ Many early steps taken to reduce energy
consumption, such as limiting ventilation and
installing windows that do not open, worsened
indoor air pollution.
§ In the developing world, wood, charcoal, animal
dung, or crop waste may be burned inside
homes for cooking or heating.
§ Concentrations of particulate matter pollution
in these homes is often 20 times above U.S.
EPA standards.
Tobacco smoke and radon are the primary indoor pollutants in
industrialized nations
§ Smoking cigarettes irritates the eyes, nose, and throat, while worsening asthma
and increasing the risk of cancer and lung disease.
§ Radon is a radioactive gas (colorless and odorless) that results from the natural
decay of uranium in soil, rock, and water.
§ Radon rises through the ground and infiltrates buildings and homes. Most
homes are now radon resistant.
§ Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer.
Many VOCs pollute indoor air
§ We are exposed to many
indoor pollutants, but the most
diverse are VOCs that are
released by: plastics, oils,
perfumes, paints, adhesives,
cleaning fluids, new furnishing,
new carpeting, laser printers,
and fax machines.
§ The health effects of chronic
VOC exposure are mostly
unknown, because they exist in
low concentrations and
individuals are exposed to
mixtures of many different
types.
Living organisms can pollute
§ The most widespread source of indoor air pollution may be living organisms.
§ Tiny dust mites can worsen asthma and cause allergies.
§ Fungi, mold, and mildew spores can cause allergies, asthma, and other
respiratory ailments.
§ Airborne bacteria can cause diseases.
§ Sick building syndrome: any building-related illness produced by indoor pollution
in which the specific cause is not identifiable