1. Air Pollution, How it affects Humanity, our Economy, and our Environment

2. Reminder: Yellow do not write it down.

3. How does air pollution cause billions of dollars in damage each year?
It corrodes buildings and machines
Stunts the growth of agricultural crops and weakens livestock
Causes or aggravates disease such as bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, and lung cancer

4. To Exist is to Pollute
What is the difference between pollutants generated by nature and those generated by man?
Natures pollutants occur over such a wide area that we do not notice them, Anthropogenic pollutants generate in very small areas.
When does air pollution become a serious problem?
When it overcomes nature’s ability to dispose of it and disperse it.

6. Primary Air Pollutants, their human source and their natural source
CO2: combustion of wood and fossil fuels, biological decay, oceans, forest fires, respiration.
CO: combustion, forest fires and photochemical reactions.
SO2: combustion of coal and oil, smelting of ores, Volcanoes
More on the next slide!

7. Primary Air Pollutants:
CH4: combustion, biological decay, and termites.
NOx: combustion, lightning, bacteria in the soil.

8. How are secondary air pollutants formed?
Formed in the atmosphere by the chemical reactions of primary pollutants and the natural particles that are in the air. Also formed by the mixing of two or more primary pollutants.
What are particulates?
Solid particles that get into the air. (emissions from smoke stacks and car tail pipes, dust, even pollen).

9. If pollen is Plant sperm, does that mean allergies are STDs?

10. Smog: the Spoiler of our Cities
AQI – Air Quality Index
A number that describes the concentration of pollutants that are the major contributors of smog
How dangerous is smog?
quite dangerous-in 1952, during one of the deadliest fogs in history, the death rate almost doubled in London

11. Why is the combustion of fossil fuels a particular problem when it comes to smog production?
They contain varying amounts of sulfur that convert to sulfur oxides. Which can lead to Acid Rain.

12. Smog:
Many governments have set limits on the quantity/quality of sulfur that may be present in the fuels used which has decreased the amount of smog in many areas.
Begs the question, even though there are limits on quantity and quality do all cities, towns, and people fall these limitations?

13. Temperature Inversion:
Cool air mass is trapped beneath a less dense warm air mass,
Why are they so dangerous?
Pollutants can’t escape and their concentrations may rise and rise and rise and rise and rise and rise (Beijing).

15. What do some of these pollutants do?
Ozone can crack rubber, corrode metals, and damage animal and plant tissue.
NO2 decreases visibility and irritates the eyes and respiratory system.
Particulates can cause respiratory infections, asthma, and emphysema.
BTW: Ozone = O3

16. Vocabulary Define the following terms on a separate sheet of paper.
Acid Deposition
Acid Rain (Wet version of #1)
Air Pollution
Atmospheric Pressure
Buffer
Industrial Smog
Mesosphere
Peroxyacyl Nitrates.
9. pH
10. Photochemical Smog
11. Primary Pollutant
12. Secondary Pollutant
13. Smog
14. Thermal inversion