1. Pollution

2. Air Pollution

3. What is air pollution?
…air that contains harmful substances at unhealthy levels.

4. Where does air pollution come from?
Burning fossil fuels
* cars, factories
2) Thermal Inversion
* occurs due to heating
3) Natural events

6. Other ways to reduce pollution from cars…
Drive less
Car pool
More fuel efficient cars
More alternative fuel cars (ethanol, hydrogen, electric)

8. Smog (“smoke & fog”) …air pollution in cities that reduces visibility
Caused by a chem. rxn with: sunlight & pollutants (from cars & industries mostly)
Cities in warmer regions are more likely to have smog

9. Acid Rain

10. What is acid rain?
…precipitation with a pH below 5.6

11. What causes acid rain?
Gases in the air chemically reacts with the water vapor or precipitation forming an acid.
***the gases come from burning fossil fuels
-gases like nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc…

12. How does acid rain affect ecosystems?
Makes bodies of water more acidic.
* affects the organisms in the water.
2) Changes the pH of soil, causes problems for the plants.

14. Other problems caused by acid rain
Property damage:
*damages paint finishes (cars)
*erodes structures
*corrodes metals

16. Controlling acid rain
Eliminate / reduce pollution, mostly emissions from cars, factories, power plants.
International cooperation is needed

17. The Greenhouse Effect

18. What is the Greenhouse Effect?
…a process where heat from the sun is trapped at the surface of Earth by gases in the atmosphere

19. What causes the Greenhouse Effect?
…the large amount of “greenhouse gases” put into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels and other activities.

20. What are the common “greenhouse gases”?
Water vapor
CFC’s
Methane
Nitrous oxide

21. How has the temperature of Earth changed over time?
As CO2 levels have increased greatly over the last 100+ years, so has the average temperature on Earth.
Over thousands of years the pattern has been the same, increasing CO2 has caused in increase in temperature.

22. What changes may result from the Greenhouse Effect?
Hurricanes – more & stronger hurricanes due to increasing ocean temperatures.

23. 2) Drought & flooding – more rain in areas that used to get very little & less rain in other areas.
3) Agriculture – areas that used for farming may change making those areas less useful.

25. 4) Coastal flooding – polar ice melting, causes ocean levels to rise, flooding lower lying areas on the coast.

26. How can the Greenhouse Effect be reduced?
Reduce the amount of “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere!
- less fossil fuel use
- reduce CFC’s
- stop deforestation
- plant more trees

27. Before & After Pictures of Glaciers

29. The Ozone Problem

30. What is ozone? …O3 …found in the stratosphere
…protects Earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation

31. Damage to the Ozone CFC’s – (chlorofluorocarbons)
* found in refrigerants, aerosol propellants, making styrofoam
* new laws regulating them, so CFC’s are not really used anymore.
* CFC’s break up Ozone in the stratosphere

32. 2) Ozone hole / thinning …thinning at the poles, by as much as 98%.
*due to the damage from CFC’s

34. The Effects of the Damage to the Ozone.
Increase in skin cancers

35. What happens when you ignore skin cancer…

36. 2) Increase in cataracts (eye problems)

37. Sight without & with a cataract

38. 3) Kill plankton at the surface of water & disrupt food webs

39. 4) Damages animals & plants – sensitive to changes in radiation (amphibians especially)

41. Preventing Ozone damage
1) CFC’s reduced / eliminated – The Montreal Protocol was signed by most industrialized countries, eliminated the production of CFC’s.

42. Problems with CFC’s We have slowed the depletion of Ozone.
CFC’s stay in the stratosphere for a long time (20+ years), so ozone released long ago is still destroying ozone.