Atmospheric Issues

1.     Readings

 

         Read Ch. 8–11 in Visualizing Environmental Science.

 

2.     CheckPoint: Atmospheric Issues

 

         Review Ch. 8 & 9 of the text.

         Complete the Air Pollution Chart in Appendix D and respond to the questions provided at the bottom of Appendix D.

         Post as an attachment.

Axia College Material

Appendix D

Air Pollution Chart

After reviewing Ch. 8 and 9 of your text, complete the following table, then respond to the questions that follow:

Issue	Sources	Health/Environmental Effects
Carbon dioxide (CO2)	Combustion of fossil fuels, mineral or metal production, using petroleum-based products, and oxygen using species exhale	Health effects - Asphyxiation, Frostbite, Kidney damage, and coma. Environmental effects - rising temperatures and contributes to global warming.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)	CFC-containing aerosols, refrigeration equipment, and some foams.	Environmental effects – contributes to global warming and depletes the ozone. Health effects – the brain, eye, heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, reproductive system and skin.
Ground-level ozone (O3)	Motor vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents.	Health effects – Airway irritation, coughing, or pain, wheezing, inflammation, and difficulty breathing. Environmental effects – interfering with plants ability to produce and store food, damaging leaves on trees or other plants, reducing forest growth and crop yields.
Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)	Sulfur dioxide touches water droplets in the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide comes from burning of fossil fuels.	Health effects – Irritation of the eye, nose, throat bronchi and skin, cumulative lung damage and dental erosion. Environmental effects – Water PH changes which harms aquatic animals.

Note: Some pollutants may not have direct health effects.

Choose one of the following atmospheric issues: air pollution, global warming, ozone depletion, and acid deposition. Then, respond to the following:

• What air pollutants combine and contribute to this issue?
• Briefly describe the health and environmental problems caused by the selected atmospheric issue.
• Provide one key solution to help either reduce the effects or recover from the effects of the selected issue.

The air pollutants that combine and contribute to the global warming issue are mainly the additions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide which is released when burning fossil fuels.

The health and environmental problems caused by global warming are rising temperatures which cause ice caps to melt which causes oceans to rise which causes beach erosion. Rising temperatures will also cause an increase in infectious diseases, and prolong disease transmission seasons. The temperature can also affect the survival rate of Lyme disease carrying ticks.

The key solution as I see it would be to cut out using fossil fuels. There are other options than using fossil fuels. I am sure even more to discover.