Government agencies share in dealing with air pollution

1. Federal • Managed through Environment Canada (primarily) • 1999: Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) • Enters into international agreements (e.g. Montreal Protocol, Kyoto Protocol) • Canada was first developed country to withdraw from Kyoto in 2011 • Enters into transboundary agreements with the U.S. (e.g. Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement) Government agencies share in dealing with air pollution

2. Provincial/territorial • Managed through each environment ministry • Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) • Harmonization Accord, Canada-Wide Standards Sub-Agreement, National Ambient Air Quality Objectives Government agencies share in dealing with air pollution (cont’d)

3. Municipal • Only Montreal and Greater Vancouver regulate sources of air pollution • Most municipalities raise public awareness • Top concerns differ from one region to another • Mississauga, Ontario = air quality • Halifax, Nova Scotia = wastewater management Government agencies share in dealing with air pollution (cont’d)

4. Cleaner-burning vehicles and catalytic converters decrease carbon monoxide • Permit-trading programs and clean coal technologies reduce SO2 emissions • Scrubbers = technologies that chemically convert or physically remove pollutants before they leave the smokestacks • Phaseout of leaded gasoline • Improved technologies and federal policies Monitoring shows that many forms of air pollution have decreased 14-4

5. Smog = unhealthy mixtures of air pollutants over urban areas • Industrial (gray air) smog = industries burn coal or oil • Occurs in cooler, hilly areas • Government regulations in developed countries reduced smog • Coal-burning industrializing countries face significant health risks Smog is the most common, widespread air quality problem

6. Industrial smog 14-6

7. Light-driven reactions of primary pollutants and normal atmospheric compounds • Morning traffic exhaust releases pollutants • Irritates eyes, noses, and throats • Vehicle inspection programs have decreased smog Photochemical smog is produced by a complex series of reactions

8. Airborne pesticides from farms • Industrial pollutants drifting from cities, factories and powerplants • Feedlots, where cattle, hogs, or chickens are raised in dense concentrations • Voluminous amounts of methane, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia • People living or working nearby have high rates of respiratory problems Air quality is a rural issue, too

9. Outdoor pollution is increasing • China has the world’s worst air pollution • Four out of five Chinese cities had emissions above the threshold set by WHO • Southern Asian brown cloud = a 3 km-thick layer of pollution that reduces sunlight by 10-15%, affects climate, decreases productivity, and kills thousands each year Industrializing nations are suffering increasing air pollution

10. China smog emergency shuts city of 11 million people BEIJING | Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:57am EDT (Reuters) - Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China's largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspended classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country's first major air Pollution crisis of the winter. An index measuring PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), reached a reading of 1,000 in some parts of Harbin, the gritty capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province and home to some 11 million people. A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organisation recommends a daily level of no more than 20. The smog not only forced all primary and middle schools to suspend classes, but shut the airport and some public bus routes, the official Xinhua news agency reported, blaming the emergency on the first day of the heating being turned on in the city for winter. Visibility was reportedly reduced to 10 meters. The smog is expected to continue for the next 24 hrs.

11. Ozone layer = ozone in the lower stratosphere • 12 ppm concentrations effectively block incoming damaging ultraviolet radiation • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) = chemicals that attack ozone • 1 million metric tons/year were produced in early 1970s • Releases chlorine atoms that split ozone Synthetic chemicals deplete stratospheric ozone

12. Ozone hole = ozone levels over Antarctica had declined by 40-60% • Global ozone depletion causes skin cancer, harms crops and decreases ocean productivity Synthetic chemicals deplete stratospheric ozone (cont’d)

13. Will ozone depletion spread from the polar regions to encompass mid-latitude regions? • What is the actual relationship between ozone depletion and human health impacts? • What are the other potential impacts of ozone depletion (e.g. on ecosystems)? • Are the substitute chemicals that are being proposed in international agreements definitely less damaging to the stratospheric ozone layer? There are still many questions to be resolved about ozone depletion

14. 1987: Montreal Protocol = 197 nations agreed to cut CFC production in half • Follow-up agreements deepened cuts, advanced timetables and addresses other ozone-depleting chemicals • Today, production and use of ozone-depleting chemicals has decreased 95% • The ozone layer is beginning to recover • Challenges still face us • CFCs will remain in the stratosphere for a long time • Nations can ask for exemptions to the ban • United States to use methyl bromide to control pests on strawberries The Montreal Protocol addressed ozone depletion

15. Considered the biggest environmental success story • Policymakers included industry in helping solve the problem • Adaptive management strategy allowed changes in response to new scientific data, technological advances, and economic figures • The Montreal Protocol can serve as a model for international environmental cooperation The Montreal Protocol addressed ozone depletion (cont’d)

16. Acidic deposition = the deposition of acid, or acid-forming pollutants, from the atmosphere onto Earth’s surface • Acid rain = precipitation of acid • Atmospheric deposition = the wet or dry deposition on land of pollutants • Originates from burning fossil fuels • release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides • react with water to form sulfuric and nitric acids Acid deposition is another transboundary pollution problem

17. Sources of acid deposition

18. Rain and other forms of precipitation with pH of less than 5.1 are considered acidified • Acidic deposition can have wide-ranging, cumulative detrimental effects on ecosystems and on our built environment • Acids leach nutrients from the topsoil • Alters soil chemistry harming plants • Mobilizes toxic metal ions • Run-off into surface waters • Erodes and corrodes built structures (Parthenon) Acid deposition is another transboundary pollution problem (cont’d)

19. New technologies such as scrubbers have helped • SO2 emissions are lower • NOx emissions are higher • Acid deposition’s effects are worse than predicted Acid deposition has not been reduced as much as scientists had hoped

21. Indoor Air Pollution 14-21

22. Indoor airpollution Indoor air contains higher concentrations of pollutants than outdoor air 6,000 people in North America die per day from indoor air pollution The average person in North America is indoors at least 90% of the time Exposed to synthetic materials (insecticides, cleaning fluids, plastics, and chemically treated wood) 1973-74: ventilation systems were sealed off and windows put in that did not open, trapping pollutants inside

23. Indoor air pollution in the developing world arises from fuelwood burning Burning wood, charcoal, dung, crop wastes for cooking and eating Kills 1.6 million people each year Causes pneumonia, bronchitis, allergies, cataracts, asthma, heart disease, cancer and premature death

24. Tobacco smoke and radon are the most dangerous indoor pollutants in the developed world • Secondhand smoke from cigarettes is especially dangerous • Containing over 4000 dangerous chemicals • Causes eye, nose, and throat irritation • Smoking has declined in developed nations • After cigarette smoke, radon gas is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the developed world • Colourless, odourless gas that can seep into buildings

25. Many VOCs pollute indoor air VOCs = volatile organic compounds Released by everything from plastics and oils to perfumes and paints Most VOCs are released in very small amounts Unclear health implications due to low concentrations Also include pesticides, which are found indoors more often than outdoors due to seepage Formaldehyde, which leaks from pressed wood and insulation, irritates mucous membranes and induces skin allergies

27. Living organisms can pollute indoors • Tiny living organisms can also pollute • Includes dust mites and animal dander worsen asthma • Fungi, mold, mildew, airborne bacteria cause severe allergies, asthma, and other respiratory ailments • Sick building syndrome = a sickness produced by indoor pollution with general and nonspecific symptoms • Solved by using low-toxicity building materials and good ventilation

28. weighingtheissues Think about the amount of time you spend indoors. Name the potential indoor air quality hazards in your home, work, or school environment. • What could you do to make the indoor spaces you use safer? How Safe Is Your Indoor Environment?

29. Living organisms can pollute indoor spaces • Dust mites and animal dander • Fungi, mould, and mildew • Airborne bacteria (Legionnaire’s disease) • Microbes that induce allergic responses are thought to be a major cause of sickness produced by indoor pollution • Sick-building syndrome

30. We can reduce indoor air pollution • In developed countries: • Use low-toxicity material • Monitor air quality • Keep rooms clean • Limit exposure to chemicals • In developing countries: • Dry wood before burning • Cook outside (including with solar cookers) • Use less-polluting fuels (natural gas)

31. Indoor air pollution is a potentially serious health threat • Outdoor air pollution has been addressed by government legislation and regulation in developed countries, but is still a problem • Improvement is required in reducing acidic deposition, photochemical smog • Avoiding unhealthy pollutants in developing world will pose a challenge as less-wealthy nations industrialize; indeed air pollution is getting worse Conclusion

32. The major component of Earth’s atmosphere is … • Nitrogen gas • Oxygen gas • Argon gas • Water vapor QUESTION: Review

33. Ozone in the _________ is a pollutant, but in the ______ is vital for life • Stratosphere, troposphere • Troposphere, stratosphere • Troposphere, tropopause • Stratosphere, thermosphere QUESTION: Review

34. _____ is defined as the ratio of water vapor in the atmosphere compared to the amount the atmosphere could contain • Atmospheric pressure • Ozonification • Temperature • Relative humidity QUESTION: Review

35. If you were on a sailing ship going from Europe to Canada, you would want to be in the ________ • Doldrums • Trade winds • Westerlies • Polar cell QUESTION: Review

36. Which criteria pollutant is colorless, odorless, and poses a risk to humans, even in small amounts? • Sulfur dioxide • Nitrogen dioxide • Tropospheric ozone • Carbon monoxide QUESTION: Review

37. The Montreal Protocol addressed _______ • Global warming, and was not successful • Criteria pollutants, and was successful • Ozone depletion, and was successful • Acid deposition, and was successful QUESTION: Review

38. What does this graph show about the mesosphere? • It contains the most ozone • It is a very thin layer • Temperature decreases with increasing altitude • Temperature increases with increasing altitude QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data

39. Should the government be able to prevent restaurants from allowing smoking, to protect people from secondhand smoke? • Yes; I don’t want to be exposed to this form of pollution • Yes, only if the restaurant agrees • No, let the restaurant owner decide • No; I want to be able to smoke in a restaurant QUESTION: Viewpoints