AP Environmental Science



AP Environmental Science

Dr. Mankiewicz

Exam #3 Review Sheet: Atmosphere and Global Climate Change

Chapter 17: Atmospheric Science and Air Pollution pages 496-527.

Composition of the earth’s atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen, and other trace gases (percentages), 4 principal layers (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere)

Role of sun in driving climate, weather, and seasons. Weather (fronts and air systems) vs. long term climate. Review global convection cells (Hadley, Ferrel and polar cells and their role in creating climate zones. Warm fronts, cold fronts and thermal inversions.

Outdoor Air Pollution: Natural sources. Human emitted sources (primary vs. secondary, point vs. non-point). Clean Air Act and the US EPA criteria air pollutants (carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, tropospheric ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter). Industrial vs photochemical smog.

Stratospheric ozone depletion: role and mechanism of action of CFCs, why is stratospheric ozone so important? Ozone hole over Antarctica, why is it a seasonal phenomenon? Why was the Montreal Protocol so successful?

Acid Deposition: Where do the acids come from? (Role of sulfur dioxide from coal burning and NOxs from oil). What is global forest decline, and why was it hard to connect to acid deposition at first? Mechanisms of damage of acid deposition to vegetation, soils, and aquatic life. Why does damage from acid deposition often occur far from the source of the pollutants? International complications.

Indoor air pollution: role of fuelwood, tobacco smoke and radon. Sick building syndrome: role of volatile organic compounds from offgassing of paint, carpeting, furniture, computers etc. How can one minimize indoor air pollution?

Discuss the “Killer Smog of London in 1952” What was the interaction of natural and human caused factors that precipitated it? Industrial smog, temperature inversion.

Chapter Eighteen: Global Climate Change (pages 527-555)

Important natural factors in climate regulation (and change): Sun (review fig. 18.1 and what happens to 100% of the sunlight as it strikes the planet), atmosphere (natural greenhouse gases are important, without them, the earth would be 33 deg C, 59 deg F colder!), ocean as heat sink, carries warm water to the poles ( fig. 18.5 the NADW). Milankovitch cycles. El Nino and La Nina.

What are greenhouse gases and how do they work? Absorb infrared and re-radiate it randomly, effectively keeping it in the atmosphere longer. Global warming potentials of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide is not the most effective, only the most numerous (methane is 23x more effective, CFCs 12,000x more effective, fig 18.1). Burning fossil fuels, deforestation, methane release from natural gas and livestock (flatulence!), landfills and rice growing. Nitrous oxides from fossil fuels and breakdown of chemical fertilizers. Water vapor can have positive (greenhouse gas) effects, but also negative due to cloud formation and albedo.

Methods of studying climate change: Ice cores from the Arctic and Antarctic. Pollen in sediments as indicators of vegetation changes over time. Tree rings. Coupled general circulation models (CGCMs): testing them on historical data gives an indicator of their accuracy in predicting future climate change. Compare Canadian vs. Hadley models in figures 18.12, 18.13 and 18.14.

Climate Change Estimates and Predictions: IPCC report from 2001 (Table 18.3) and An Inconvenient Truth: examples include sea level rise of 4-8 inches so far, .6 deg C. Melting of glaciers and polar ice. Migration patterns changing, food sources earlier, thawing permafrost, etc. Coral bleaching. What could happen: Greenland and Antarctic ice shelves and 20 foot sea level rise, stopping of Atlantic conveyer currents (NADW) precipitating an ice age, coastal flooding, saltwater intrusion, environmental refugees. Low lying coral reef islands such as Maldives and Tuvali as an example of the first environmental refugees. IPCC predictions for US on Table 18.3 and rest of world in text: Carbon dioxide increase may increase crop yields, but drought may limit it. Heat waves increase in frequency, forest fires, expansion of tropical diseases northward and in altitude in tropical countries, inundation of low lying sanitation facilities such as sewage treatment plants.

How should we respond? Electrical generation and transportation largest source of US greenhouse gases. Role of China (from Inconvenient Truth and article). To prevent the worst of global warming effects, we need to: stabilize carbon dioxide at 450 ppm by 2015, then decrease it to below 2000 levels by 2050. Gore: Need 7 of 15 possible “wedges” of existing technology.

Methods to Reduce Emissions: Conservation and efficiency, renewable sources of energy, automotive technology.

Major findings of the IPCC.

Possible essay questions:

Compare the relative effectiveness of the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols. Why was ozone depletion relatively easy to solve, and global warming so difficult?

Do we have the existing technology to solve global warming? What is holding us back? Discuss this question in light of the ending of Al Gore’s movie “We have the technology, we just need the will” and the “update” of “A Really Inconvenient Truth”.

Discuss the natural and human caused factors contributing to air pollution in major cities like the “Killer smog of London” and similar events in Beijing, Mexico City and elsewhere.

Exam #4: Marine Resources Chapter 16: pages 465- 492. 25 multiple choice questions.

Oceanography: All oceans connected (figure 16.2) and cover over 70% of the earth’s surface. Cold and warm water currents also connect the world’s oceans (figure 16.5). Upwelling and downwelling connect the ocean layers vertically, and transport nutrients upward, and oxygen downward. Bathymetric profiles (fig. 16.8) include continental shelf, continental slopes, oceanic ridges and trenches.

Marine ecosystems: Open ocean, continental shelves (ex. kelp forests and coral reefs), intertidal zones (rocky, salt marshes, mangrove forests) and estuaries.

Human Use and Impacts:

Use includes transportation, energy and mineral extraction and fisheries.

Major impacts:

Pollution (dumping, oil spills, floatables such as nets and plastic debris impacting wildlife, excess nutrients causing algal blooms such as red tides).

Overfishing: Many fisheries are collapsing today (ex. ground fish in North Atlantic including cod). The severity has been masked in part because industrialized fishing techniques keep improving, going further and catching more. We are also “fishing down the food chain”, catching and selling smaller fish and fish that used to be undesireable as other fish species collapse. Fishing practices that contribute to fisheries destruction: bycatch, driftnetting, longlining, bottom-trawling.

What can be done? Pros and cons of establishing marine reserves.

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