Transcript CO 2

Air Pollution
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THE AIR AROUND US
 Air pollution-physical or chemical changes brought
about by natural processes or human activities that
result in the decrease of air quality
 ~147 million metric tons annually in US
– Worldwide ~2 billion metric tons.
 Improved air quality in developed countries, developing
getting worse.
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NATURAL SOURCES OF AIR
POLLUTION
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Natural Fires - Smoke
Volcanoes - Ash and acidic components
Sea Spray - Sulfur
Bacterial Metabolism - Methane
Dust
Pollen
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HUMAN-CAUSED AIR
POLLUTION
 Primary Pollutants – emitted directly into air
from a point source
 Secondary Pollutants – formed in air when
primary pollutants react or interact
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Major Sources of Primary Pollutants
Stationary Sources
 Combustion of fuels for power and heat – Power Plants
 Other burning such as Wood & crop burning or forest
fires
 Industrial/ commercial processes
 Solvents and aerosols
Mobile Sources
 Highway: cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles
 Off-highway: aircraft, boats, locomotives, farm
equipment, RVs, construction machinery, and lawn
mowers
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Major Air Pollutants
• Carbon monoxide (CO)
• Nitrogen dioxides (NO2)
• Ozone (O3)
• Particulate matter (PM-10, PM-2.5)
• Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
• Lead (Pb)
• Greenhouse gases (CO2 and others)
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Carbon Monoxides
 Properties: colorless, odorless, heavier than air,
0.0036% of atmosphere
 Effects: reduces ability of blood to bring oxygen to
body cells and tissues, mental functions and visual
acuity, even at low levels
 Sources: incomplete combustion of fossil fuels 60 95% from auto exhaust
 EPA Standard: 9 ppm
 5.5 billion tons enter atmosphere/year
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Sulfur Dioxides
 Properties: colorless gas with irritating odor
 Effects: produces acid rain (H2SO4), breathing
difficulties, eutrophication due to sulfate formation
 Sources:
– Natural: sea spray, volcanic fumes
– Human sources: burning high sulfur coal or oil,
smelting or metals, paper manufacture
 EPA Standard: 0.3 ppm (annual mean)
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Particulate Matter
Properties: particles suspended in air (<10 um)
Effects: lung damage, mutagenic, carcinogenic,
teratogenic, reduces visibility
Sources:
–Natural: dust, volcanic ash, pollen, spores
–Human sources: Smoke, dust, soot, asbestos, factories,
unpaved roads, plowing, lint, burning fields
EPA Standard: 50 ug/m3 (annual mean)
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Particulate Matter
• Impacts: Visibility at Shenandoah Nat’l Park
Source: Ref. (2)
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Nitrogen Oxides
 Properties: reddish brown gas, formed as fuel burnt
in car, strong oxidizing agent, forms Nitric acid in
air
 Effects: acid rain, lung and heart problems,
decreased visibility (yellow haze), suppresses plant
growth
 Sources:
– Natural: forest fires, volcanoes, lightning, bacteria in
soil
– Human sources: fossil fuels combustion, power plants,
 EPA Standard: 0.053 ppm
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Lead
 Properties: grayish metal
 Effects: accumulates in tissue; affects kidneys,
liver and nervous system (children most
susceptible); mental retardation; possible
carcinogen; 20% of inner city kids have [high]
 Sources: particulates, smelters, batteries
 EPA Standard: 1.5 ug/m3
 2 million tons enter atmosphere/year
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Ozone (Ground Level)
 Properties: colorless, unpleasant odor, major part of
photochemical smog
 Effects: lung irritant, damages plants, rubber, fabric,
eye, reduces visibility
 Sources: Created by sunlight acting on NOx and VOCs
NOx + VOCs + sunlight -> NOx + O3
cars, industry, gas vapors, chemical solvents,
incomplete fuel combustion products
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Ozone (O3)
 10,000 to 15,000 people in US admitted to
hospitals each year due to ozone-related illness
 Children more susceptible
– Airways narrower
– More time spent outdoors
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VOCs
 Properties: organic compounds (hydrocarbons) that
evaporate easily, usually aromatic
 Effects: eye and respiratory irritants; carcinogenic;
liver, CNS, or kidney damage; damages plants; lowered
visibility due to brown haze; global warming
 Sources: vehicles (largest source), evaporation of
solvents or fossil fuels, aerosols, paint thinners, dry
cleaning
 Concentrations indoors up to 1000x outdoors
 600 million tons of CFCs
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Other Air Pollutants
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Carbon dioxide
ChloroFluoroCarbons
Formaldehyde
Benzene
Asbestos
Manganese
Dioxins
Cadmium
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Formation & Intensity
Factors
 Local climate (inversions, air pressure, temperature,
humidity)
 Topography (hills and mountains)
 Population density
 Amount of industry
 Fuels used by population and industry for heating,
manufacturing, transportation, power
 Weather: rain, snow,wind
 Buildings (slow wind speed)
 Mass transit used
 Economics
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Smog Forms
...when polluted air is stagnant
(weather conditions, geographic location)
Los Angeles, CA
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Primary Pollutants
CO CO2
SO2 NO NO2
Most hydrocarbons
Most suspended
particles
Natural
Sources
Secondary Pollutants
SO3
HNO3
H 2 O2
H2SO4
O3
PANs
–
Most NO3 and SO24 – salts
Stationary
Mobile
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Photochemical Smog
UV radiation
Primary Pollutants
Secondary Pollutants
NO2 + Hydrocarbons
HNO3
O3
nitric acid ozone
H2O + O2
Auto Emissions
Photochemical Smog
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Temperature Inversions
 Occurs when a stable layer of warm air overlay
cooler air near the ground
– Usually happens at night since ground loses heat
quickly
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Heat Islands
 Heat islands-Urban development creates warm,
stable air masses over large cities.
– Sparse vegetation and dark surfaces
– Concentrates pollutants in a “dust dome”.
 Rural areas downwind have decreased visibility and
increased rainfall.
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Acid Rain
• Occurs when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are
emitted into the atmosphere
– Coal burning plants
– Automobiles
• Absorbed by water droplets in clouds
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Secondary Pollutants
Primary Pollutants
SO2
NO2
H2SO4
HNO2
sulfuric acid nitric acid
acidic precipitation
vegetation
direct toxicity
indirect health effects
water
Fossil fuels
Power plants
Industrial emissions
soils
sediments
Auto emissions leaching of mineralsleaching aluminum
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2 Forms of Acid Rain
 Wet deposition-acidic rain, fog, snow and cloud
vapor
– Falls in downward winds areas within 4-14 days
 Dry deposition-acidic particles and gases
– Falls near the emission sources within 2-3 days
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Acidic
Precipitation
Wind
Transformation to
sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
and nitric acid (HNO3)
Windborne ammonia gas
and particles of cultivated soil
partially neutralize acids and
form dry sulfate and nitrate salts
Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Nitric oxide (NO)
and NO
Acid fog
Ocean
Dry acid
deposition
(sulfur dioxide
gas and particles
of sulfate and
nitrate salts)
Wet acid deposition
(droplets of H2SO4 and
HNO3 dissolved in rain
and snow)
Farm
Lakes in
deep soil
high in limestone
are buffered
Lakes in shallow
soil low in
limestone
become
acidic
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Effects of Acid Rain
• Damages forests and soils, fish and other
organisms, materials, and human health.
• most clearly seen in the aquatic environments
• young of most species are more sensitive
• At pH 5, most fish eggs cannot hatch.
• At lower pH levels, some adult fish die.
• Reduces visibility
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Nutrients
• Acidic water
– dissolves the nutrients and helpful minerals in
the soil
– washes them away before trees and other
plants can use them to grow
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Mongolia
Germany
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Great Smoky
Mountains, NC
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Buffering Capacity
• Acid rain primarily affects sensitive
bodies of water, which are located in
watersheds whose soils have a limited
“buffering capacity”
• Lakes and streams become acidic when
the water itself and its surrounding soil
cannot buffer the acid rain enough to
neutralize it.
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• In areas where buffering capacity is low,
acid rain also releases aluminum from soils
into lakes and streams
• Aluminum is highly toxic to many species
of aquatic organisms.
http://home.earthlink.net/~photofish/fish_photos/sw10_thumb.jpg
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Effects of Acid Rain
• The strength of the effects depend on many
factors
– How acidic the water is
– The chemistry and buffering capacity of
the soils involved
– The types of fish, trees, and other living
things that rely on the water
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Ozone – Two Faces
• Stratosphere – Good Ozone
–Blocks UV radiation
–Hole caused by depletion due to
CFC’s
• Troposphere – Bad Ozone
–Pollution
• Photochemical smog
• Eye irritant
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Ozone Formation
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Destroying Good Ozone
• Chloroflourocarbons were first created in 1928 as
non-toxic, non-flamable refrigerants, and were first
produced commercially in the 1930's by DuPont
• In 1974, a laboratory study demonstrated the ability
of CFC's to breakdown Ozone in the presence of high
frequency UV light
• Cl + O3 -> ClO + O2 ClO + O3 ---> 2 O2 + Cl
• In a 1985, a study summarized data that had been
collected by the British Antartic Survey showing that
ozone levels had dropped to 10% below normal
January levels for Antarctica.
•
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http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/Ozone/history.html
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Destruction of Stratospheric Ozone
•CFCs persist up in the atmosphere for decades
•Models indicate that 75-85% of the observed ozone
losses in the stratosphere since 1976 are the result of
ozone depleting chemicals released in the early 1950s
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http://www.mmscrusaders.com/newscirocks/ozone/cfc.jpg
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Stratospheric Ozone
 Winds isolate Antarctic air and allows
stratospheric temperatures to drop and create ice
crystals at high altitudes.
– ozone and chlorine molecules are absorbed on the
surfaces of these ice particles.
 When sun returns in the spring and provides energy
chlorine molecules are released
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Harmful effects of UV radiation
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Skin cancer
Cataracts and sun burning
Adverse impact on crops and animals
Alters photochemical reaction rates
Increases smog and surface layer ozone
Degradation of paints and plastic material
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Montreal Protocol
 An international treaty designed to protect the
ozone layer
 Phasing out production of number of substances
believed to be responsible for ozone depletion
 Effective January 1, 1989
– Five revisions
•
•
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•
•
1990 (London)
1992 (Copenhagen)
1995 (Vienna)
1997 (Montreal)
1999 (Beijing)
 As a result CFC production fell 85%
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Global Warming…What is it?
 Global Warming refers to an average increase in
the Earth's temperature,
– Which in turn causes changes in climate
– Caused by the GREENHOUSE EFFECT
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Greenhouse Gases
 The greenhouse gases contribute to holding heat inside
our atmosphere.
 They include:
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–
–
–
–
–
carbon dioxide (CO2)
methane (CH4)
nitrous oxide (N2O)
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
ozone (O3)
water vapor
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Global Warming
• Current Causes
– Deforestation
– Greenhouse Gases
• Burning of Fossil Fuels
• Main villain is currently Carbon Dioxide
(CO2)
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Deforestation - US
• About one half of
the forests that
covered the Earth
are gone
• Since 1600, 90%
of the U.S. forests
have been cleared
away
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Results of Deforestation
• Loss of trees’ ability to remove CO2
• Decaying trees release CO2 and methane
• Fallen trees are often burnt which releases
CO2
• Deforestation the largest source of emissions in
developing countries
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Current Evidence
 CO2 and temperature
– Measured by analyzing radioisotopes in rocks,
fossils, ocean sediments, ice cores
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Since
1980,
the
Earth
has had
19 of its
20
hottest
years on
record
1. 1998
2. 2005
3. 2003
4. 2002
5. 2004
6. 2006
7. 2007
8. 2001
9. 1997
10. 1995
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http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2011/finalwebsite/graphics/climate/tempmap1.png
Evidence
 CO2 and Temperature
 Glaciers
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Glaciers
• Have been shrinking throughout the
20th Century
• Loss of glaciers in South America
and Asia glaciers is particularly
rapid and will threaten the water
supplies of millions of people
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Evidence
 CO2 and Temperature
 Glaciers
 Polar Ice
– Arctic, Antarctic, Greenland
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Arctic Ice
• Perennial ice may be 10 or more feet thick
• New ice is only one to seven feet thick
• Since 1970 a 10% loss of ice cover per decade
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Sept. 21, 1979 and Sept. 14, 2007
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Energy and the Greenhouse
Effect
 Surfaces that reflect energy have a high
albedo (Reflectivity).
– Fresh clean snow
– Dark soil
– Net average of earth
90%
3%
30%
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Albedo Effect
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Permafrost
• About 10% of Earth’s surface has permafrost
• In the last 11,000 years, the permafrost has not
thawed
– None of the vegetation has decayed
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Permafrost
• Alaska permafrost
temperature has increased
0.5° to 1.5° C since
1980,
• Serious effects include
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–
–
–
forest damage
sinking roads and buildings
eroding tundra riverbanks
changes in tundra
vegetation
– increased carbon dioxide
and methane emissions
from thawed peat.
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http://benmuse.typepad.com/ben_muse/images/2007/10/10/sinkhole_5.png
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http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/images/PermafrostDrunkenForest.jpg
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• A University of Alaska at
Fairbanks team found that the
permafrost gave off five times
as much methane as previously
estimated
• Defrosting could release nearly
1,000 gigatons of carbon stored
and hasten global warming.
Permafrost
– 10 to 25% increase in
global warming
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Evidence
 CO2 and Temperature
 Glaciers
 Polar Ice
– Arctic
– Antarctic
– Greenland
 Weather Severity
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Droughts
The 1999-2002 national drought was one of the
three most extensive droughts in the last 40 years
In 2002, the Western United States experienced its
second worst wildfire season in the last 50 years;
more than 7 million acres burned
The period from April through June of 1998 was
the driest three-month period in 104 years in
Florida, Texas, and Louisiana
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Evidence
• CO2 and Temperature
• Glaciers
• Polar Ice
– Arctic
– Antarctic
– Greenland
• Weather Severity
• Biome Changes
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Oceans absorb CO2
• CO2 in water makes
Carbonic Acid
• Increased CO2 especially in
cold water
• Greater acidity of oceans is
bleaching coral
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Consequence
• Cold Europe
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Greenland
Cold water melting from
Antarctica's ice cap and
icebergs falls to the ocean floor
and surges northward, affecting
worldwide circulation.
Antarctica
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Consequence
• Cold Europe
• Increased Smog
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Consequence
• Cold Europe
• Increased Smog
• Spread of Tropical Diseases
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Consequence
• Cold Europe
• Increased Smog
• Spread of Tropical Diseases
• Changes in Biodiversity
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Changes in Biodiversity
"It is not the strongest of the
species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the most
responsive to change."
Charles Darwin, 1835
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Changes in Biodiversity
Biomes
Shift of Alpine biomes up mountains and
further North/South
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Changes in Biodiversity
Biomes
Shift of Alpine biomes up mountains and
further North/South
Die-offs
Coral bleaching die-offs of up to 50% in the Indian Ocean
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Dire prediction for
world's coral reefs
POSTED: 1404 GMT (2204 HKT), October 25, 2006
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP)
Researchers fear more than half the world's coral
reefs could die in less than 25 years and say global
warming may at least be partly to blame.
Sea temperatures are rising, weakening the reefs' resistance to increased pollutants, such as
runoff from construction sites and toxins from boat paints. The fragile reefs are hosts to
countless marine plants and animals.
"Think of it as a high school chemistry class," said Billy Causey, the Caribbean and Gulf Mexico director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
"You mix some chemicals together and nothing happens. You crank up the Bunsen burner and all of a sudden things start bubbling around. That's what's
happening. That global Bunsen burner is cranking up."
Causey was one of some 200 private and government researchers from the Caribbean, Florida and U.S. Pacific islands who gathered in St. Thomas for a meeting of
the NOAA's U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.
Last year's coral loss in the Caribbean waters supports predictions that 60 percent of the world's coral could die within a quarter century, said Tyler Smith of the
University of the Virgin Islands.
"Given current rates of degradation of reef habitats, this is a plausible prediction," Smith said.
More than 47 percent of the coral in underwater study sites covering 31 acres around the U.S. Virgin Islands died after sea temperatures exceeded the norm for
three months in 2005, said Jeff Miller, a scientist with the Virgin Islands National Park.
The unusual warm water can stress coral, causing it to lose its pigment and making it more vulnerable to disease.
This year, Caribbean coral narrowly avoided another widespread episode of bleaching when sea temperatures briefly surpassed levels considered healthy for reefs.
Up to 30 percent of the world's coral reefs have died in the last 50 years, and another 30 percent are severely damaged, said Smith, who studies coral health in the
U.S. Virgin Islands and collaborates with researchers globally.
"U.S. Virgin Islands coral today is likely at its lowest levels in recorded history," Smith said.
The researchers said global warming was a potential cause of the abnormally high sea temperatures but was not the only suspect in the reefs' demise.
What causes disease in coral can be hard to pinpoint and could be a combination of things. Other threats include silt runoff from construction sites, which prevents
the coral from getting enough sunlight, and a record increase in fleshy, green algae, which competes with coral for sunlight.
"Climate change is an important factor that is influencing coral reefs worldwide," said Mark Eakin, director of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch. "It adds to the other
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problems that we are having."
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Ocean acidification due to
increasing atmospheric carbon
dioxide
30 Jun 2005
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted to the atmosphere by human
activities is being absorbed by the oceans, making them more
acidic (lowering the pH the measure of acidity).
Evidence indicates that emissions of carbon dioxide from
human activities over the past 200 years have already led to a
reduction in the average pH of surface seawater of 0.1 units
and could fall by 0.5 units by the year 2100. This pH is
probably lower than has been experienced for hundreds of
millennia and, critically, at a rate of change probably 100
times greater than at any time over this period.
The report outlines our best understanding of the impacts of these chemical changes on the oceans. The impacts will be greater
for some regions and ecosystems, and will be most severe for coral reefs and the Southern Ocean. The impacts of ocean
acidification on other marine organisms and ecosystems are much less certain. We recommend a major international research
effort be launched into this relatively new area of research.
We recommend that action needs to be taken now to reduce global emissions of CO2 from human activities to the atmosphere to
avoid the risk of irreversible damage from ocean acidification.
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Probe into rising ocean
acidity Tuesday, 17 August, 2004
Acidification may also directly affect the growth and
reproduction rates of fish, as well as affecting the
plankton populations which they rely on for food,
with potentially disastrous consequences for marine food
webs.
In addition, nutrient concentrations in surface waters of
high-latitude regions are likely to fall, subsurface waters
become less oxygenated, and phytoplankton will experience
increased exposure to sunlight.
This could affect multiple marine species and change the
composition of biological communities in ways that are not
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yet understood.
Changes in Biodiversity
Biomes
Shift of Alpine biomes up mountains and
further North/South
Die-offs
Coral bleaching die-offs of up to 50% in the
Indian Ocean
Extinctions
Golden Toads, Harlequin Frogs, ...
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Global Warming Already Causing
Extinctions, Scientists Say
Hannah Hoag for National Geographic News November 28, 2006
• In Costa Rica about 2/3 of the 110 known
Harlequin frog species are extinct
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Global Warming Already Causing
Extinctions, Scientists Say
Hannah Hoag for National Geographic News November 28, 2006
• In Antarctica, the Adélie penguin on Litchfield
Island has disappeared.
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Changes in Biodiversity
Biomes
Shift of Alpine biomes up mountains and
further North/South
Die-offs
Coral bleaching die-offs of up to 50% in the
Indian Ocean
Extinctions
Golden Toads, Harlequin Frogs, ...
Life Cycles
Gothic marmots emerge from hibernation
about a month earlier than 30 years ago
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Changes in Biodiversity
Biomes
Shift of Alpine biomes up mountains and
further North/South
Die-offs
Coral bleaching die-offs of up to 50% in the
Indian Ocean
Extinctions
Golden Toads, Harlequin Frogs, ...
Life Cycles
Gothic marmots emerge from hibernation
about a month earlier than 30 years ago
Physiology
The average weight of adult female polar
bears has decreased by more than 20% over
the last 25 years
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Global Warming Already Causing
Extinctions, Scientists Say
Hannah Hoag for National Geographic News November 28, 2006
• Polar bears depend on ice
• Without the ice, the polar
bear will die
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Changes in Biodiversity
Biomes
Shift of Alpine biomes up mountains and
further North/South
Die-offs
Coral bleaching die-offs of up to 50% in the
Indian Ocean
Extinctions
Golden Toads, Harlequin Frogs, ...
Life Cycles
Gothic marmots emerge from hibernation
about a month earlier than 30 years ago
Physiology
The average weight of adult female polar
bears has decreased by more than 20% over
the last 25 years
Migration
Multiple areas affected
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Routes farther North
European Bee-Eaters (Merops apiaster) once very
rare in Germany are now breeding regularly across
the country.
The Rosy-Breasted Trumpeter Finch (Rhodopechys
githaginea) is one of many birds once normally confined to
arid North Africa and the Middle East now found in
increasingly large numbers in southern Spain.
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Habitat Changes
Permafrost is thawing and Arctic tundra is being replaced by forest
Desertification is occurring in Africa
Sea levels are rising
Hurricanes are more frequent in the Caribbean
Antarctic waters are getting warmer and the ice is melting
affecting sea salinity
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Habitat Changes
There is likely to be a general shift of species
towards the poles, reducing the range of species
most adapted to colder waters.
The Common Dolphin, a warm water species is
increasing its range
The White-beaked Dolphin’s range is reducing.
Predators are following their prey as prey species
(eg fish) change their mean latitude and/or depth.
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Consequence
•
•
•
•
Cold Europe
Increased Smog
Spread of Tropical Diseases
Changes in Biodiversity
• Droughts and fires
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Consequence
•
•
•
•
•
Cold Europe
Increased Smog
Spread of Tropical Diseases
Changes in Biodiversity
Droughts and fires
• Sea levels rise
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U.S. East Coast during Ice Age - 20,000 years ago (400 feet below today)
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U.S. East Coast – if West sheet or Greenland melted (17-foot)
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U.S. East Coast – if East sheet melted (170-foot)
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Florida during Ice Age - 20,000 years ago (400 feet below today)
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Florida – if West sheet or Greenland melted (17-foot rise)
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Florida – if East sheet melted (170-foot/50m rise)
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Positive Feedback
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Positive Feedback
• Oceans currents and CO2 levels
– Cold deep resurface and emit CO2
• Permafrost melting
– CO2 and methane released by decomposition
• Arctic ice melting
– Less reflection of sunlight – water and land
heat up
• Desertification
– Soil dries out and releases CO2
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Why do WE need to Reduce?
• Global Warming is a fact
• China and India will soon surpass
U.S.A. in Greenhouse gas emission
• If we do nothing, they will continue
to do nothing
(The Economist 9/9/06)
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What can we do?
• Build Green
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Build Green
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What can we do?
• Build Green
• Use Electricity not from Fossil
Fuels
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Green Electricity
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Deep Heat Mining
http://www.dhm.ch/dhm.html and http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2007/01/29/the_power_of_rocks/?p1=email_to_a_friend
• Geothermal energy is the
only renewable source of
energy which can be
tapped year round and
no need of
storage facilities
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What can we do?
• Build Green
• Use Electricity not from Fossil Fuels
• Hydrogen or Solar-Powered
Vehicles
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Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
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What can we do?
• Build Green
• Use Electricity not from Fossil Fuels
• Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
• Invest in Green Companies
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Invest Green
Financial Analyst Journal
• Annual Return 1995 to 2003
• Portfolio of Companies
–Non Green Companies – 8.9%
–Green Companies – 12.2%
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What can we do?
•
•
•
•
Build Green
Use Electricity not from Fossil Fuels
Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
Invest in Green
• Remove the CO2 from the
Atmosphere
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Carbon Sequestration
http://sequestration.mit.edu/technology_overview/index.html
• Three primary types of carbon
sequestration.
–Enhancing natural processes (Plant
a tree)
–Carbon dioxide capture and storage
–Baking Soda
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Carbon Sequestration
http://sequestration.mit.edu/technology_overview/index.html
The Sleipner project in Norway's North Sea is the world's first
commercial carbon dioxide capture and storage project
Started in 1996, it sequesters about one million metric tons of
carbon dioxide each year
http://www.statoil.com/STATOILCOM/SVG00990.NSF/web/sleipneren?opendocument
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Can Baking Soda curb Global
Warming?
Staff Writer, CNET News.com November 27, 2007, 4:00 AM PST
“Jones, the founder and CEO of Skyonic, has come up
with an industrial process called SkyMine that captures
90 percent of the carbon dioxide coming out of smoke
stacks and mixes it with sodium hydroxide to make
sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda. The energy required
for the reaction to turn the chemicals into baking soda
comes from the waste heat from the factory.
The system also removes 97 percent of the heavy
metals, as well as most of the sulfur and nitrogen
compounds, Jones said.”
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What can we do?
•
•
•
•
•
Build Green
Use Electricity not from Fossil Fuels
Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
Invest in Green Companies
Remove the CO2 from the Atmosphere
• Encourage Ratification of
Kyoto Protocol
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134
Goals of Kyoto Protocol
Reduction of greenhouse gases to below 1990
levels:
5.2% world wide reduction on average by
2008-2012
6% for Canada by 2008-2012
When sufficient countries ratify the Protocol (at
least 55 countries comprising at least 55% of
emissions), Protocol comes into effect
USA - 25% of emissions
135
135
What can we do?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Build Green
Use electricity not from fossil fuels
Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
Invest in Green Companies
Remove the CO2 from the Atmosphere
Encourage Ratification of Kyoto Protocol
• Cut back on the eating of Red
Meat
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136
Cattle and Methane
• Cattle and other ruminant animals
– Methane is by-product of digestion
• Organisms in their stomachs break down fiber in
grasses and grains they eat
• Methane is 20 to 60 times as strong of a
greenhouse gas as CO2
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137
Environmental Protection Agency
Methane Source
2003
Fossil Fuel Production
37.6%
Landfills and Wastewater
Treatment
30.8%
Cattle
28.3%
Other
3.3%
Total for U.S.
100%
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Reducing the Threat of Outdoor Air
Pollution
 Cut fossil fuel usage (especially coal)
 Transfer energy efficiency and renewable energy
sources to developing countries
 Reduce deforestation
 Use sustainable agriculture
 Slow population growth
 Remove CO2 from smokestacks and vehicle emissions
139
Indoor Air Pollution
 EPA found indoor concentrations of toxic air
pollutants are often higher than outdoor.
– People generally spend more time indoors.
140
Important Indoor Air pollutants











Nitrogen dioxide
Carbon monoxide
Formaldehyde (carpeting and plywood)
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) (paints and solvents)
House dust mites (and other allergens, e.g. from pets)
Fungi, bacteria
Tobacco smoke
Fine particles
Chlorinated organic compounds (e.g. pesticides)
Asbestos and man-made mineral fibers
Radon
141
Asbestos
 Several different fibrous forms of silicate
minerals widely used since the 1940s
– Used for fireproofing, insulation of heaters and
pipes, soundproofing
 Negative effects:
– Remain in lungs for years
– Can cause asbestosis
– Can cause mesothelioma
142
Radon
 Radon 222a colorless, odorless,
tasteless, naturally
occurring radioactive
gas produced by the
radioactive decay of
uranium-238
 Can cause lung cancer
 Lifetime exposure in
a home responsible
for 13,600 deaths a yr.
Fig. 1718 143
Indoor Air Pollution
Fig. 17-17
p. 434
144
Sick Building Syndrome
 Flu-like symptoms from indoor pollution
 a building is “sick” when at least 20% of its
occupants suffer persistent symptoms that stop
when they go outside
– no specific illness or cause can be identified
– Causes:
 Inadequate ventilation
 Chemical contaminants
 Biological contaminants
145
Reducing indoor air pollution







Ban smoking or limit to well ventilated areas
Set stricter formaldehyde emission standards
Prevent radon infiltration
Increase intake of outside air
Use machines in well ventilated areas
Circulate buildings air through rooftop greenhouses
Use less polluting harmful cleaning agents, paints and
other products
146
Air Pollution Prevention:
Specific Air Pollution Treatment
Technology
 Traditional
– Move factory to remote location
– Build taller smokestack so wind blows pollution elsewhere
 New
– Electrostatic precipitators: Electrostatically charged surfaces
attracts particles
– Biofiltration : vapors pumped through soil where microbes
degrade
– High-energy destruction: high-voltage electricity
– Membrane separation: diffusion of organic vapors through
membrane
– Oxidation: High temperature combustor
147
Clean Air Legislation
 Clean Air Act 1963
– Amended
 in 1970: 6 criteria pollutants
– Primary standard-set to protect human health
– Secondary standard-set to prevent environmental and property
damage
 In 1990: cap and trade system
– companies buy and sell "emission allowances" for a particular
pollutant
– Government sets standards
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