Download Clean Air - Lemon Bay High School

Clean Air/Global Climate Change
APES Chapter 13/14
Atmospheric Science /Air Pollution
Climate Changes
Global Warming, Acid Rain
Ozone Depletion,
• Brainstorm:
– What do you know about each?
– If you are not sure, what do you think you know?
– What is all the hype?
– Do you believe it? Give your reason(s) for it.
– Are they preventable? Reversible?
Atmosphere: What’s in it???
• Pollution: includes all particulates: manmade
and naturally occurring
• Convection currents trap and move pollution
– Warm air rises; low pressure systems
– Cold air falls; high pressure systems
• Components of atmosphere include:
– 79% Nitrogen
– 20% Oxygen
– 1% Argon
– Less than 1% Carbon Dioxide
CO2
• CO2 becomes basis for which all other gasses are compared
because: traps large amounts of heat
– ** Water Vapor (60-70%, but not considered a GHG-YET)
• Greenhouse Gasses:
– 1. Carbon Dioxide 50% (1700’s=280ppm, 2007=385ppm)
– 2. Chlorofluorocarbons 20% (Freon 1 molecule = 13,00020,000 CO2’s )
– 3. Methane 16% (1 molecule = 30 CO2’s)
– 4. Ozone 8% (1 molecule = 2,000 CO2’s)
– 5. Nitrous Oxide 6% (1 molecule = 300 CO2)
• Are these bad?
• Not necessarily:
– Our planet would be ~30* C cooler w/out
• 55* F
• So what is all the fuss about?
Greenhouse Effect:
Bottom Line:
• Rays come in as short wavelength radiation
• Hitting Earth changes frequency, not allowing
them to exit as readily
• Continuing refraction causes friction and heat
• Pacific Ocean controls entire worlds climate
and weather
• Hawaii: 312 ppm CO2 in 1957, 324 ppm in 71.
– Globally: 23% increase between 1870-1991
– Should double that by 2030!!!
Implications:
• What were the hottest years on record?
– What was the result of that Hot Spell?
– What is thought to be our future if this continues?
• What is the largest reservoir for CO2?
• How can we stop global warming?
– Is this realistic?
– Discuss how recycling is truly our best, easiest
option
• Read Central Case Study
Global Winds Make a Difference
APES
Ch 12/13
Coriolis Effect
• Warm air rises
• Cold air sinks
• Because our Earth is on an axis, large bodies of
water and air deflect North or South
– Northern Latitude's deflect right
– Southern Latitude's deflect left
• Think of a merry go round
These systems produce climate
• Hadley cells: near the equator, surface air warms, rises,
and expands
- Releases moisture and heavy rainfall near the
equator
• Ferrel cells and polar cells: lift air
- Creates precipitation at 60 degrees latitude north and
south
- Causes air to descend at 30 degrees latitude and in
the polar regions
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
Winds
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
Climate patterns and moisture distribution
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
What is Ozone???
• O3 = Ozone. Protective layer of gas in atmosphere
• Sunscreen about 13 miles up
– Screens out 95-99% of UV light
• In the 70’s we discovered CFC’s were depleting O3
– Refrigerants in cars, AC units, aerosol cans, etc.
• Banned most of them, but
– Many of these remain in atmosphere for 100’s of years.
Upper vs Lower???
• O3 in upper atmosphere is considered GOOD
– At stratosphere/troposphere layers: from 10-30 miles up
• O3 in lower atmosphere is considered BAD
– Created in troposphere from chemical reactions of
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and VOC’s in the presence of
sunlight; key ingredient in smog; up to 10 miles up
Too little
there... Many
popular
consumer
products like
air conditioners
and
refrigerators
involve CFCs
or halons
during either
manufacture or
use. These
chemicals
damage the
earth's
protective
ozone layer.
Too much here... Cars, trucks, power plants
and factories all emit air pollution that forms
ground-level ozone or smog.
How CFC’s Harm O3
• CFC’s break down in upper atmosphere
• They become
– Chlorine ions
– This causes a chain reaction, and
• 1 chlorine ion can kill 100,000 or more ozone
molecules
Activity:
• After reading, “Extent and Effects of Ozone
Depletion”, answer the following:
– What is the biggest culprit of ozone depletion?
– Where was the 1st Hole discovered? Was it a hole?
– Why should we care about ozone depletion?
• Give examples
– What was the Montreal Protocol?
– London?
Air Pollutants
APES Ch 13/14
Normal Air Pollutants
• Air is a mixture of gasses
• When manmade gasses are made however, they
Move About the planet, never really go away
• 1980 US created 5 million metric tons:
–
–
–
–
Carbon Monoxide
Sulfur Dioxide
Nitrogen Dioxides
Hydrocarbons
• Transportation
• Fuel Combustion (power-plants, factories)
• Industrial processes
Combustion Hurts
• Add O2 and heat to fossil fuels, result:
• Water and CO2
– What are the 2 most abundant gasses in
atmosphere?
• H2O and CO2
• All fuel is rarely used, CO results
• Most fuels have additives, these also wind up
in atmosphere when burned
– Sulfur and nitrogen become acids
Primary Pollutants & Sources
• Directly harmful. Can react to form harmful
substances (soot and carbon dioxide)
– Carbon Monoxide- incomplete combustion
– Carbon Dioxide- combustion of fossil fuels
– Nitrogen oxides- cars, power plants
– Sulfer Oxides- burning of coal
– Particulates- many sources
Secondary Pollutants
• Form when primary pollutants interact or
react with constituents of the atmosphere
– SMOG: used to be Smoke and Fog
• Mixing of O3 and Nitrogen Oxide
– London and LA
• Erosion of paint, metals, rubber, etc.
• PAN: peroxyacylinate- combustion of
particulates, hydrocarbons and ozone. Orange
colored haze in many cities
Thermal (temperature) inversion
• Usually, tropospheric air temperature
decreases as altitude increases.
- Warm air rises, causing vertical
mixing.
• Thermal inversion: a layer of cool air
occurs beneath a layer of warmer air
- Inversion layer: the band of air in
which temperature rises with altitude
- Denser, cooler air at the bottom of the
layer resists mixing.
- Pollutants are trapped at ground level.
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
How does this effect us:
• In 1991, EPA found more than ½ Americans were
breathing bad air
• 100 cities failed air quality standards
• Crops have failed (over $10 billion)
• Inversions have killed people
• Acid rain affects lakes, monuments, invertebrates, etc.
• Air pollution costs average American ~$200.00 per yr
- Asthma, colds, respiratory infections, car emission
tests, etc.
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
Legislation addresses pollution
• The Clean Air Act of 1970
- Provides $$: pollution-control research
- Sets standards: air quality, limits emissions
- Allows citizens to sue parties violating the standards
• Starting in 1995, businesses and utilities could buy, sell,
or trade permits for pollutants.
- Each year, the amount of allowable pollution
decreases.
• Many states created their own laws of higher standards
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
The Results of Legislation
• Clean Air Act of 1977 allowed offset of emissions
• Republicans want to remove the clause, essentially doing
away with the fines
• 1970-1991: Emissions went down by 61%!!
• 1990 Clean Air Act- Set deadlines for establishing
standards of some 190 toxic chemicals. Tightened
emissions for cars, raised MPG, phasing out CFC’s
Copyright © 2009 Benjamin Cummings is an imprint of Pearson
Activity:
• From your handout and the text, answer:
• How does CO kill you? Why was lead banned from
gasoline?
• Which 2 particulates cause acid rain? How? Why is acid
rain not always a problem where it forms? List some
effects of acid rain.
• What are VOC’s? Why are they problematic?
• List at least 5 reasons the US has cleaner air today
• What nation has the worst air quality and why?
• What is indoor air pollution? Where is it most
common? Why?
• Read Acid Rain…. Pg 296/Summarize
Clean Air/Global Climate Change
APES Ch 13/14
Part 2
We already know what it is…..
• Is the atmosphere the only thing warming it up?
– Milankovitch Cycles: periodic changes in Earths
rotation & orbit alters the way suns radiation is
distributed
– Solar Output: suns radiation output varies over time
– Ocean Absorption: oceans cant keep up with the
amounts we are putting into atmosphere
– Ocean Circulation: tons of heat is held and moved
here. Warmer, less dense water moves on the surface
(from eq-poles), colder, more dense water moves
below (from poles-eq)
How do we know this isn't just a cycle?
• Direct Sampling: take real time
samples- Hawaii
• Proxy Indicators: core samples into ice
and sediments give us 800,000 years of
data; tree rings, coral reefs, etc.
• Modeling: computer programs that
contain ocean patterns, wind patterns,
feedback mechanisms, etc. to give idea
of how future trends will look
Activity:
• Read pages 310-320, Current and Future Trends
and Impacts
• Who is the IPCC, what year established, what is
their goal, is their data reliable? Explain
• There are 4 major findings (blue headings) from
the report. List them, and summarize
• How does/will climate change affect
org/ecosystems? Give examples.
• The text gives 4 ways climate change affects
humans. List them and discuss implications
• Are we responsible? Using the information from
your text, is the warming trend human induced?
Back-up your comments
Global Warming:
Fact or Fiction
You Decide
Here in the US
Current and future trends and
impacts
• Scientific evidence that climate has changed
since industrialization is now overwhelming
and indisputable.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)
– An international panel of scientists and
government officials established in 1988
– The most thoroughly reviewed and widely
accepted synthesis of scientific information on
climate change
– Has issued a series of reports on climate change
The fourth assessment report
• Fourth Assessment Report (2007)
– Consensus of scientific climate research from around
the world
– Summarizes thousands of studies
– It documents observed trends in surface temperature,
precipitation patterns, snow and ice cover, sea levels,
storm intensity, etc.
– Predicts future changes, addressing impacts of climate
change on wildlife, ecosystems, and human societies
– Discusses possible strategies to pursue in response to
climate change
IPCC report: Continued temperature
increases
• The IPCC report concludes that average surface temperatures on
earth have been rising since 1906, mostly in the last few
decades.
• At the end of the 21st century, temperatures will be 1.8-4.0° C
(3.2-7.2 ° F) higher than today.
Global temp. change will vary
• Sea surface temperatures will also increase as oceans absorb more
heat.
– May not have more storms, but storms will be stronger and
longer
What can we expect?
• Precipitation is changing
– Droughts (mid-low latitudes)
– Melting ice caps
– Heavy rains in other places (high latitudes)
– Rising sea levels
• Organisms
– Timing events
– Spatial migrations (polar shift)
– Coral reefs (Coral Bleaching, loss of div, H2O chem
change)
– Pollution in aquatic systems, others dry up
• Forestry
On a closer note…….
– More pests, invasive species
– More fires
• Agriculture
– Decreased, increased famine and hunger
• Economy
– Collapse?
• Health
– heat waves and stress = death, respiratory
ailments, expansion of tropical diseases, disease
and sanitation problems, drowning, hungerrelated ailments, etc…..
Economy
• Widen the gap between rich and poor
– Those who have the water………
• Could cost 5-20% of GDP by 2200
– Poor nations will lose more than rich ones.
– Investing 1% of GDP now could help us avoid
these costs.
• How much is 1%?????
– GDP for 2012 was ~$15 trillion
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1988 IPCC is formed by the UNEP and the WMO; recommends a set of political targets to
reduce anthropogenic emissions of CO2 . Recommended by 2005, industrialized countries
reduce their CO2 emissions by 20 %, compared to 1988 levels.
1990 IPCC issues a report declaring its certainty that human activity is resulting in pollutants that
will intensify the greenhouse effect.
1992 The UN Conference on the Environment and Development is held in Rio de Janeiro.
Results:Framework Convention on Climate Change ("FCCC" or "UNFCCC") among other
agreements.
1995 Parties to the FCCC meet in Berlin (the 1st Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC) to
outline specific targets on emissions.
1997 Parties agree to the broad outlines of emissions targets in Kyoto, Japan.
2000 Efforts to accommodate US and Australian objections to the Kyoto draft agreement fail at a
meeting of signatories in the Hague.
2001 George W. Bush withdraws US endorsement of the Kyoto Protocol. In November, the COP
meeting in Marrakesh finalizes the provisions of Kyoto Protocol without U.S support.
2002 Russia and Canada ratify the Kyoto Protocol to the FCCC bringing the treaty into effect
officially on February 16,2005
So lets DO it!!!
• Become a country
– Industrialized or not
• Outline basic numbers
– Populations of people, basis of economy, etc.
• Lets talk climate control
– Industrial revolution is revolting
– Long-term repercussions
– Solutions???