MAN’S IMPACT ON

ENVIRONMENT
MODULE 10
Learning Objectives:

 At the end of this module, you should able to:

 1. Introduce acid rain and identify the problem it causes;
 2. Identify the human activities that caused acid rain;
 3. Discuss how ground-level ozone affects one’s health;
 4. Discuss what causes global warming; and
 5. Discuss the Chernobyl disaster to the students.
Acid rain

 Acidic deposition/acid rain occurs when emissions of sulfur dioxide and oxides of
nitrogen react in atmosphere
 the formed compounds fall to the Earth in either wet form (rain, snow and fog) or dry
form (gas particles)
 when it rains, the particles are washed from these surfaces and make the runoff water
more acidic due to the combination of water coming from the acid rain.
Acid rain

 according to Danish chemist Johannes

Nicolaus Bronsted and English chemist
Martin Lowry, acid is generally ‘sour in
taste’ which often produce stinging
feeling on mucous membranes.
 strong acids are corrosive and cause
severe burns even after short contact
 the mixture forms a mild solution of
sulfuric acid and nitric acid
Problems caused by acid rain:

 acidifies bodies of water that can eradicate marine species

 ruins plant nutrients and the plant’s ability to survive
 accelerates the decay of architecture and artworks (sandstone figure
destroyed by acid rain over a portal of a castle in Germany. The
castle was built in 1702.)
 causes serious illness to people
 Sandstone figure destroyed by acid rain
over a portal of a castle in Germany. Acid
rain produced by air pollution generated
in the heavily industrialized Ruhr region
of Germany probably accounts for the
severe damage. The castle was built in
1702.
 Human activities that cause acid rain:

 Burning of fossil fuels

 Combustion of fuels

 What can be done?

 reduce emissions
 find alternative sources of energy
 conserve resources
 restore the damage done by acid rain
OZONE

 a gas that occurs naturally in the earth’s upper atmosphere that

protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays produced from
the reaction of ultraviolet rays with oxygen
 Ozone in the lower atmosphere, such as near ground level, is
formed from the pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, boilers,
chemical plants, and other sources that react chemically in the
presence of sunlight.
How can ground level ozone affect one’s health?

 It irritates the respiratory system

 It can reduce lung function by making it more difficult to breathe as deeply as you
normally would
 It can aggravate asthma and lung diseases

 Who are at risk from ground level ozone?

 Active people
 People with asthma or other respiratory diseases
How can people defect the actual level of ozone and other air
pollutants?

 Air Quality Index (AQI) is a scale used to report the actual levels of ozone and other
common air pollutants.
  The higher the AQI level, the greater is the health concern.
  USA and Canada, the level of air quality is being monitored by the AIR Now website
  In the Philippines, the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of
 Environment and Natural Resources has built air quality built monitoring stations to
 monitor pollution levels.
Four Air Quality Monitoring Stations that can be found in the country

  Baguio City
  Cebu City
  Iloilo City
  Cagayan de Oro City
Each stations gives the actual level of the following:

  Carbon dioxide (CO2)

  Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
  Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
  Ozone (O3)
  Benzene (C6H6)
  Toluene (C7H6)
 Climate change/ Global
Climate change or crisis / Global warming

 According to the National Academy of Sciences which consists of scholars engaged in

scientific and engineering research in the USA, the term ‘climate change’ is more
preferred to be used than ‘global warming’ to address the concern that there are other
changes in the environment aside from rising temperature.
  Climate change - any considerable change in measures in temperature, precipitation, or
wind lasting for an extended period (decades or longer)
  Global warming – is the increase in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and
oceans due to human influences
Climate may result from:

 naturalfactors such as changes in the sun’s intensity or

slow changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
 natural processes within the climate system
 human activities alter the atmosphere’s composition
and the land surface
The most abundant greenhouse gases are:

  water vapor
  carbon dioxide
  methane
  nitrous oxide
  ozone
  CFC’s (chloroflourocarbons)
Some of the sunlight that enters the earth is:

 absorbed and converted to infrared radiation (heat)

  sends heat back to the atmosphere
  reabsorbed by greenhouse gases
  re-emitted toward the surface; some of the heat is not heat is not trapped by greenhouse
gases
  escapes into spaces
  the amount of heat absorbed by the surface increases due to human activities that emit
additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere before escaping to space
Oil spill

 An oil spill is a form of pollution that occurs when liquid petroleum hydrocarbon is
released into the environment such as the ocean and coastal waters due to human
activities.
Environmental effects

 an indirect cause of decreased fish production

 disturbs the natural ecosystems of mangroves
 makes birds and and marines mammals vulnerable to
temperature fluctuations and less buoyant in the water
How is oil cleansed up after a spills?

 A boom can be placed somewhere in the ocean or around a habitat oil into many animals
alive.
  Suction skimmers are attached to a boat and suck up the spilled oil into storage tanks.
How is oil cleansed up after a spills?

  Airplane can be used to drop chemicals on the oil spill.

  Vacuum trucks can be driven on the beaches to vacuum up the oil.
  Use of indigenous absorbent materials such as human hair, bird/ chicken feathers, and
rice straw.
Oil spill disasters in the world:

 Philippines: Solar I, oil tanker chartered by Petron Corp. Sank on the coast of the
Guimaras Island, Iloilo on August 11, 2006. About 200,000 liters of bunker oil has
initially spilled and an additional 1.8 million of oil still on board.
 Australia: Hongkong flagged-ship Pacific Adventurer was toppled by Cyclone Hamish
causing 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to spill on the ocean floors of
Brisbane, Queensland on March 12, 2009
 Alaska: The Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil into the marine environment
of the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989. It is one of the
largest oil spills in the world.
Chernobyl Disaster

 The Chernobyl Power Plant lies in northern Ukraine near the border of Belarus.
  The Uranium (U-235) nuclei split in a nuclear reactor on the night of April 25-26,
1986.
  The explosion released 100 times more radiation than the atomic bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  Radiation also spread over large parts of Scandinavia, Poland, Baltic States, as well as
 Southern Germany, Switzerland, Northern France and England
Effects of Chernobyl Disaster

 the accident is one of the most costly nuclear disaster in history

costing about $200 billion
  the fire from the disaster was extinguished by dropping over
5,000 tons materials like sand, lead, clay and boron onto the
burning reactor and injection of liquid nitrogen
  most of the fire fighters who helped control the fire on the plant
described their experience of radiation as “tasting like metal”
Environmental effects of the disaster:

  radioactive elements such as caesium, strontium, and plutonium contaminate the soil
and entered the food chain through crops and livestock.
  severely contaminated aquatic species.
  almost 2,640 km of agricultural land can no longer be formed. Forested area were
severely contaminated especially the coniferous plants, berries, mushrooms, lichens, and
ferns.
  grazers such as cattle and goats became susceptible to radioactivity.
  people who feed on what they have produced or collected were at high risk.
How does radiation affect the human body?

  radiation produces free radicals that may impair cellular function and will thus damage
the DNA of a person.
  such damage to the genetic blueprint can thereby cancer and other genetic
abnormalities
The following organs can also be affected by
radiation:

  cells of the embryo in the uterus

  lymph glands
  bone marrow
  intestinal tract
  thyroid glands
  female breast and egg cells
  (if above organs where affected these may result to thyroid cancer and leukemia, and
may
 affect the physical and mental development of adolescents and children
INSIGHTS??