Air Pollution: Concepts that may be confusing

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Air Pollution Concepts that may be confusing
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The concepts well deal with today

• The difference between stratospheric and
  tropospheric ozone
• Photochemical smog
• Inversion layers
• Acid rain
• Global change
• Especially predicted effects on Oklahoma

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Where is ozone the good guy?
stratosphere
trophosphere
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In the stratosphere.

• Ozone blocks incoming Ultra-violet radiation ---
  Thats Good!
• Ultraviolet radiation
• Skin cancer
• Cataracts
• Plant Damage

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But, whats happening to ozone in the
Stratosphere?
1979-1985
1986-1992
Deeper purple color means Less ozone above
Antartica
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Why?

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are very stable
  compounds that we produce at earths surface
• They migrate to the stratosphere
• Their chlorine gets excited by ultraviolet light
• After excitation, chlorine attacks ozone layer,
  depleting it.

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So, weve reduced use of CFCs

• Their long life span means that they will be in
  the stratosphere for a long time, still
  destroying ozone.
• However, the rate of increase of ozone depletion
  has slow, showing we are on the right track
• By the way, ozone holes are opening up in
  places other than Antarctica

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Where is ozone the bad guy?
stratosphere
trophosphere
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Photochemical Smog
VOCs break Cycle, allowing PAN to form from NO
VOC
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Chemical Equation for Photochemical Smog
light
NOx VOC Ozone Pan
reactants
products
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Where reactants come from

• NOx primarily from transportation
• VOC from a variety of sources, including
  refining, other industries, etc.

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Inversion layers trap cold air, allowing
pollutants to build up in concentrations,
including the compounds needed for photochemical
smog
Cold air
Warm air
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Ozones bad features

• Extremely reactive will burn leaves, lungs,
  synthetic compounds (e.g. rubbers, plastics)
• Because of reactivity, is toxic in very long
  concentrations (parts per billion)

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Were not the only ones concerned about
photochemical smog
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Acid Rain Where it comes from
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Acid Rain Where it goes
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Some Effects of Acid Rain
Human Health Effects include Emphysema And Other
Respiratory Diseases
Structures Buildings Also Affected
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A Mini-QuizHow will Acid Rain affect Soil
Cation Exchange?
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What can we do about Air Pollution?
This type of filter along with Other forms known
as scrubbers Are one way to reduce Smoke stack
emissions. What Else can be done?
Venturi Filter
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Global Change

• Global Change includes all of the large scale
  effects humans are having on the global system
• Greenhouse Gases Global Warming
• Reduced Ozone Layer
• Habitat Changes
• Loss of Biodiversity
• These changes are strongly interactive

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What are predictions for effects of Global Change
on Oklahoma?
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What are predictions for effects of Global Change
on Oklahoma?
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What are predictions for effects of Global Change
on Oklahoma?
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What are some other predicted effects?
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And some more predicted effects

• Human health effects are also expected as disease
  vectors find a warmer world a more hospitable
  place to be
• Includes diseases like malaria and cholera

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The latest report

• Out this fall the United Nations Science
  Councils latest model on global warming has
  found by looking at climate data over the past
  decade that they underestimated the amount of
  warming expected
• Now expect to see 10o F increase in air
  temperature within the new century!