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Smog Unit 9 Test Questions and Answers 2024( A+ GRADED 100% VERIFIED).
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Smog Unit 9 Test👍
Study unit 1-8 study guides
Know about the layers of the atmosphere: Order
Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
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Know about the layers of the atmosphere: Location of ozone layer & effect on temperature
Stratosphere; temperature increases in the stratosphere because the ozone absorbs UV
radiation from the sun.
Know about the layers of the atmosphere: Location of most air
Troposphere
Know about the layers of the atmosphere: Location of most weather
Troposphere
Which two gases exist in the greatest concentrations in the atmosphere? What are there
approximate concentrations?
Nitrogen accounts for 80% of the atmosphere and oxygen 20%.
,Give two natural sources of air pollution
Hills and mountains can reduce the flow of air in valleys below them and allow pollutant levels to
build up at ground level. High temperatures promote the chemical reactions leading to
photochemical smog formation, which means that global warming could increase photochemical
smog in many of the world's cities.
What is the Asian Brown Cloud?
Air pollution is no longer viewed as mostly a localized urban problem. Satellite images, along
with a 2002 study by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), revealed a massive brown
cloud of pollution—called the Asian Brown Cloud—stretching nearly continuously across much
of India, Bangladesh, the industrial heart of China, and the open sea east of this area. The cloud
is about 3 kilometers (2 miles) thick, hangs at an elevation of 2-5 kilometers (1-3 miles), and
covers an area about the size of the continental United States. About a third of it is dust, smoke,
and ash resulting from drought and the clearing and burning of forests for planting crops. The
rest is made up of acidic compounds, soot, toxic metals such as mercury and lead, hundreds of
organic compounds, and fly ash produced by the burning of coal, diesel, and other fossil fuels in
industries, motor vehicles, and homes. Beneath the cloud, photosynthesis has been reduced in
China by about 7-10% and in India by about 7% because less sunlight reaches the ground,
according to a 2008 report by atmospheric scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan, who heads the
UNEP's Atmospheric Brown Cloud Project. Acids in the haze fall to the surface and damage
crops, trees, and aquatic life in lakes. Instead of blue skies, many of the people living under this
cloud see brown or gray polluted skies much of the year. UNEP scientists estimate that the
pollution in the cloud contributes to at least 700,000 premature deaths every year. Originally,
scientists thought that the brown cloud deflected sunlight and tended to cool the atmosphere
above it. But a study of black carbon particles in the cloud, done in 2006 and 2008 by a team of
climate scientists led by Ramanathan, found that these particles helped to warm the
atmosphere above the cloud by about as much as CO2 and other greenhouse gases do. The
Asian Brown Cloud is also bad news for other parts of the world because it doesn't stay put. In
2006, a U.S. satellite tracked the spread of a dense cloud of pollutants from northern China to
Seoul, South Korea, and then across the Pacific Ocean to the United States. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that on certain days, nearly 25% of the
particulate matter, 77% of the black carbon, and 33% of the toxic mercury in the skies above
Los Angeles, California, can be traced to coal fired power plants, smelters, diesel trucks, and
dust storms caused by drought and deforestation in China. Satellite measurements show that it
takes about 2 weeks for long-lived air pollutants to circle the world. Thus, long-lived air
pollutants from China, India, the United States, or anywhere can affect the entire world. Air
pollution connects us all. The history of air pollution control in Europe and the United States
shows that pollution such as that in the Asian cloud can be cleared up fairly quickly by setting
strict pollution control standards for coal-burning industries and utilities and by shifting from coal
to cleaner-burning natural gas in industries and homes. China is beginning to take such steps
but has a long way to go. India's capital city of Delhi, under orders from India's Supreme Court,
has also made progress in reducing air pollution.
, What is an air basin?
An air basin is an area within a ring or partial ring of mountains that in the absence of winds
holds air and smog within the area.
What's the main difference between primary & secondary pollutants?
Scientists classify outdoor air pollutants into two categories. Primary pollutants are harmful
chemicals emitted directly into the air from natural processes and human activities. While in the
atmosphere, some primary pollutants react with one another and with the basic components of
air to form new harmful chemicals, called secondary pollutants.
What are some sources of the following air pollutants? Carbon monoxide
Forms during the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing materials. Major sources are
motor vehicle exhaust, burning of forests and grasslands, tobacco smoke, and open fires and
inefficient stoves used for cooking. Burning fossil fuels.
What are some sources of the following air pollutants? Lead
Does not break down in the environment. Found in leaded gasoline and lead-based paints.
Major sources are particles of peeling lead-based paint found in about 38 million houses built in
the United States before 1960 and lead-contaminated dust in deteriorating buildings. In 2007,
major U.S. toy companies had to recall various toys made in China that contained lead paint.
Also in 2007, tests revealed that almost two-thirds of the red, long-lasting lipsticks manufactured
in the United States contained surprisingly high levels of lead, although none of them listed lead
as an ingredient. Lead can also leach from water pipes and faucets that contain it.
What are some sources of the following air pollutants? Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Forms when nitrogen and oxygen gas in air react at the high-combustion temperatures in
automobile engines and coal-burning plants. Lightning and certain bacteria in soil and water
also produce NO as part of the nitrogen cycle. In the air, NO reacts with oxygen to form nitrogen
dioxide (NO2), a reddish-brown gas. Collectively, NO and NO2 are called nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Some of the NO2 reacts with water vapor in the air to form nitric acid (HNO3) and nitrate salts
(NO3 )—components of harmful acid deposition. Both NO and NO2 play a role in the formation
of photochemical smog—a mix of chemicals formed under the influence of sunlight in cities with
heavy traffic. Nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas, is emitted from fertilizers and animal
wastes and is produced by burning fossil fuels.
What are some sources of the following air pollutants? Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
About one third of the SO2 in the atmosphere comes from natural sources as part of the sulfur
cycle. The other two-thirds (and as much as 90% in some urban areas) come from human
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