Topic 1.

IB ESS
Study guide
Pollution is the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment through human activity,
at a rate greater than at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has
an appreciable effect on the organisms in the environment
Pairs activity
Pollutants are released by human activities:
1. Matter (gases, liquids, solids) which is organic
(contains carbon atoms) or inorganic
2. Energy (sound, light, heat)
3. Living organisms (invasive species or biological
agents

Arrange the information above into a mind map in

your workbook
Pollutants may be in the form of organic or inorganic substances, light, sound or thermal energy,
biological agents or invasive species, and may derive from a wide range if human activities
including the combustion of fossil fuels

Group Activity – major sources of pollution

Can you sort out the
cards to show the
pollutants and effects
derived from the four
major sources of
pollution?

Once you have

checked your
answers – copy them
into your workbook
Pollutants may be primary (active on emission) or secondary (arising form primary pollutants
undergoing physical or chemical change)

In this diagram – what are the primary pollutants reacting with to form the secondary
pollutants?
Pollution may be point source or non-point source, persistent or biodegradable, acute or chronic

Point source pollution

Discrete sources of pollution that can be
represented as single points on a map. Source
of the pollution can be tracked, e.g. waste
disposal pipe into a river.
Non-point source pollution
More dispersed – numerous sources from
which pollutants originate and enter the
environment, e.g. gases from vehicles.
 Pairs Discussion

Point source… or Non-

point source…
WHICH IS EASIER TO MANAGE?
 Persistant Organic Pollutants (POPs)
vs. Biodegradable pollutants
POPs were often manufactured as
pesticides in the past. They are
resistant to breaking down and
remain active in the environment for a
long time. Because of this, they can
bioaccumulate in living tissue and
biomagnify in food chains which can
cause significant harm.
Biodegradable pollutants do not persist
in the environment and break down
quickly. They may be broken down by
decomposer organisms or broken down
quickly by physical processes e.g. light
and heat. Examples are soap, domestic
sewage and plastic bags made of starch.
Acute pollution
• Large amounts of pollutants
released released causing a
lot of harm
• E.g. Bhopal disaster
Chronic pollution
• Long term release of
pollutant in small
quantities.
• Often goes undetected for a
long time
• Spreads widely
• E.g. Air pollution in Beijing
 Individual Activity
• Complete the table in your workbook to give
definitions and examples of all of the key
terms associated with pollution that have just
been described in the previous slides
Construct systems diagrams to show the impact of pollutants

Group Activity

1. Construct a ‘Cradle to Grave’ pollution diagram for a common, everyday object e.g.
iPhone
2. Draw your diagram on one of the whiteboards
3. Take a photo and upload to your Google drive!
 In pairs…
• Discuss ways you think we can detect
pollution in:

– Air
– Soil
– Water
 Measuring pollution
• We can measure pollution using both direct
and indirect methods.

• Direct – record the amount of a pollutant in

water, air or soil.

• Indirect – Record changes in an abiotic or

biotic factor.
 Heavy metal Acidity of rain
Amount of concentrations water
organic matter
or bacteria
Concentration
soil
of gas in
air atmosphere e.g.
Direct CO2

Testing for water Number of

nitrates and particles
phosphates Concentration emitted by
METHOD OF of lead in the a diesel
DETECTING atmosphere engine
POLLUTION

Indirect Recording the presence or

Measuring abiotic factors that absence of indicator species -
change as a result of the species that are only found if
pollutant e.g. oxygen the conditions are polluted or
concentration of water unpolluted
 The three-level model of pollution
management.
This is a model that shows different ways for
reducing the impact of pollutants:

It can be called the “replace, regulate and restore” model.

Throughout this topic we will look at various different types

of pollution and for each one we will need to use this model
to help us suggest methods for reducing that pollution.
 Processes of pollution and management strategy – “Replace, regulate, restore” model

Group
discussion
Earlier Altering human activity through education,
incentives and penalties to promote:
• Development of alternative technologies
What are the
• Adoption of alternative lifestyles strengths
• Reducing, reusing, recycling and
weaknesses
of each
Regulating and reducing the pollutant at the strategy?
point of emission by:
• Setting and imposing standards Add these to
• Introducing measure for extracting the the notes in
pollutant from waste emissions your
workbook
Cleaning up the pollutant and restoring
ecosystems by:
• Extracting and removing the pollutant
from the ecosystem
• Replanting and restocking with animal
Later
populations

Evaluate the effectiveness of each of the three different levels of intervention

Factors influencing choice of policies
Cultural values
– Subsistence farmers may pollute less because they have a closer
relationship to the environment
Political systems
– Weak regulation and lack of enforcement in LEDCs
– Strong corporate involvement and lobbying in policy decisions in
MEDCs
Economic systems
– If you have economic security you have the “luxury” of worrying
about a good environment because your basic needs have been met.
– If it’s cheaper to continue polluting businesses will continue to
pollute.
– If penalties are less than clean-up costs, pollution will continue.
– People living in poverty recycle more out of necessity.

Case study: China

 China http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/
2013/01/chinas-toxic-sky/100449/
WHO guidelines say average concentrations of the
tiniest pollution particles - called PM2.5 - should be
no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre. Air
is unhealthy above 100 microgrammes and at 300, all
children and elderly people should remain indoors.
An
unofficial reading from a monitor at the US embassy
recorded levels of 526 at 06:00 on Tuesday 8/01/13
(22:00 GMT on Wednesday). Two weeks ago, levels of
over 800 were recorded.
These readings were called “foreign interference”.
“Beijing's air pollution has soared to
hazardous levels, but cleaning up the
problem is not straightforward, and is
dependent on prioritising quality of life
over economic growth.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21198265
For years, the government has played
down air pollution calling it fog.
In January last year air pollution went
beyond levels considered hazardous by
the WHO.
The problems are caused by China
developing at a speed and scale
unprecedented in history.
Coal-burning energy plants power the
country's factories, they provide the heat
for hundreds of millions of homes, but
they also spew out toxins into the air. In
Beijing alone, five million cars choke the
streets - an illustration of the country's
growing prosperity.
 China China's lakes, rivers and underground water supplies have all
been badly polluted by lightly regulated industry.
On Tuesday (29/01/13), 103 factories were ordered to shut
down, and a third of government cars ordered off the roads to
combat what was already being described as the worst January
smog since 1954.

The city has already proposed scrapping older vehicles, banning

new polluting factories and fining street sellers who barbecue
food outside on smoggy days, reports the BBC's Damian
Grammaticas in Beijing.

BUT
Economic growth remains the government's top priority. Without it, the authorities worry
about instability, if large numbers of people are left unemployed. There are still hundreds of
millions of Chinese who want the keys to their first car, their first air-conditioner, even a fridge.
Who is going to be the one to deny them their dream?

"Setting off fireworks contributed greatly to air pollution in Beijing for half a month after Spring
Festival in 2011," according to Du Shaozhong, former deputy director of Beijing Municipal
Environmental Protection Bureau. But the office in charge of Beijing's firework industry has said
that residents can set off fireworks during the Spring Festival holiday according to the regulations.
 Case studies group activity
Each one of you reads one of the case studies (available on Classroom)
and answers the following questions individually:
1. At what level (if at all) are pollution management strategies being
implemented?
2. What factors are influencing their choice of strategy?

When you have finished describe your case study to the other people in
your group.

Tell them:
• What the pollutant is/was
• Where it comes/came from
• What level of pollution management strategy was introduced
• What factors influenced their choice of strategy
• Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) exemplifies a conflict between the utility of a
‘pollutant’ and its effect on the environment
• Evaluate the uses of DDT

Individual Activity
Complete the reading exercise in your work
book about DDT

Answer the questions based on the reading and

your own research

Discuss the last question with your group

before answering