Env. Science
Terms
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- any chemical that releases hydrogen when dissolved in water
- acid
- acidic solutions
- 0-7
- basic solutions
- 7-14
- Natural rainfall
- 5.6 (atmosphere)
- carbonic acid
- H2O + CO2 -> H2CO3
- layer of warm air overlies a layer of cooler air near the ground
- temperature inversions
- normal pattern
- sun warms air near surface of earth, warm air rises carrying pollutants, pollutants are dispersed by upper level winds. Common in areas in calleys with periodic cold weather, mountains/oceans
- (sulfur dioxide)carried as much as 600 miles by prevailing winds
- primary pollutants
- (sulfuric acid and nitric acid) formed with water vapor
- secondary pollutants
- amount of damage from acid deposition is a function of...
- acidity of water, buffering capacity of soil, and varieties of plants and animals
- resistance to changes in pH
- buffering capacity; lowest capacity-thin acidic soils (granite origin), soils that buffers have been depleted by exposure
- human health impacts of acid dep.
- resp. disease, leach toxic metals inwater
- aquatic ecosystem impacts of acid dep.
- decrease prod. in fish, forest, and farms...Below 4.5 pH, no fish.
- high in SO2 and soot
- industrial smog
- sudden runoff into lake/stream
- Acid shock
- symptoms assoc. with indoor pollutant: dizziness, headaches, coughing, sneezing, nausea, etc.
- Sick building syndrome...Cities worse than rural
- 3 most dangerous according to EPA
- smoking, formaldehyde, radioactive radon-222 (U-238)
- fibrous silcate material
- asbestos
- diseases caused from asbestos
- asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma
- NAAQS
- National Ambient air quality standards. primary- human health, secondary- preven env. damage.
- 6 classes of pollutants
- carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, ozone, lead
- Contibutors to pollution
- power plants (stationary) and cars (mobile)
- apresence of 1 or more chemicals in the atmosphere in sufficient quantities and duration to cause harm to humans
- air pollution
- emitted directly into troposphere in harmful form (sulfur dioxide)
- primary pollutant
- formed by reaction in the atmosphere (sulfuric acid)
- secondary pollutant
- any chemical, biological, or physical change in water quality that has a harmful effect on living orgainisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses
- water pollutions
-
number of colonies present in 100 mL sample of water
(drinking-0. swimming-200) - coliform bacteria
- Dissolved oxygen
- higher the better (8-9 is best)
- amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic deomposers to break down the organic material in a certain volme of water over a 5 day incubation perios at 20 degrees C.
- BOD (biological oxygen demand)
- discharge pollutants at specigic locations through pipes, ditches, or sewers into bodies of surface waters
- point sources
- sources that cannot be traced back to any single site of discharge
- nonpoint sources
- major categoris of water pollutant states
- infectious agents, oxygen demanding wastes, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, plant nutrients, sediment, radioactive materials, heat
- Common diseases through contaminated water
- typhoid fever, cholera, bacterial dysentery, enteritios, hepatits, giardiasis, schistosomiasis
- organisms causing diseases in contam. water
- bacteria, viruses, parasitic protozoa, parasitic worms
- examples of pollutants
- sediment, inorganic fertilizers, manure, salts dissolved in irrigation water, and pesticides
- water with dissolved salt concentrations
- freshwater life zone
- zones
- littoral, limneic, profundal, benthic
- shallow sunlit waters near shore
- littoral zone
- open sunlit water surface layer away from shore
- limnetic zone
- deep open water; too deark for photosynth
- profundal zone
- bottom of the lake; cool temp. and low oxygen
- benthic zone
- condition in an aquatic ecosystem where high nutrient concentrations stimulate booms of algae
- eutrophication
- newly formed; small supply of plant nutrients; often deep; clear water, minimum bio. activity
-
oligotrophic lake
(Lake Travis) - some bottom sediments; increases nutriends; more bio productivity
- mesotrophic lake
- bottom sediments; high nutrients; shallow; high prod. some species may be choked out
-
eutrophic lake
(Lake Grapeving) - murky, highly prod, close to wetland status, clear water species at risk
- hypereutrophic lake
- acceleration due to human input of nutrients
-
cutural eutropication
(nitrates and phosphates) -
use of national forest system
(us forest service) - logging, mining, livestock grazing, oil/gas, recreation, hunting
-
use of NAtional Resource Lands
(Bureau of land management) - energy mineral extraction, strategic mineral extraction, rangelands
- trees are maintained at about the same age and size...big industries, higher econ return, short rotations
- even aged management
- trees maintained at many ages and sizes to foster natural regeneration (small firm, long rotation)
- uneven aged management system
- negative impacts of harvesting trees
- increased erosion, habitat fragmentation, invasion by alien species
- intermediate/mature trees are cut singly or in small groups
- selective cutting...reduces overcrowding, promotes growth of younger trees, uneven aged
- removes mature trees in 2-3 cuttings over 10 years
- shelterwood cutting...allows natural seeding, keeps seedlings from being crowded out
- leaves behind only uniformly distributed seed producing trees
- seed-tree cutting...ausethtically pleasing forest, useful for recreation, hunting, erosion control
- removal of all trees from an area in a single cutting
- clear cutting....large forest openings, no recreational calue, reduced biodiversity