Pollutants and Climate Change

1. Pollutants and Climate Change By: George Moore Greta Baresich Tommy Nicholls

2. Pollutants: Natural Resources • Volcanoes-when erupted it releases sulfur dioxide. • Forest Fires • Dust mites- Biotical pollutants that cause health allergies (ex. asthma, influenza, measles) • Radon gas- natural radioactive gas produced by decay in earth materials in rock and concrete. (results in lung cancer).

3. Soufriere Hills Volcano

4. Pollutants: Man-Made • Chemical Fertilizers-effect food growth and severely damage rivers and oceans. • Smog-Combination of smoke and fog can cause serious health conditions for people(ex. Lung Cancer, colds and pneumonia) • Industries- the use of using fossil fuels to an extend caused chemicals to occur and enter enviorenment

5. Nitrogen DioxideNO2 • Has a sharp, biting odor • Forms quickly from motor vehicle exhaust, power plants, and off-road equipment • Contributes to ground level ozone and fine particle pollution • Also contributes to the formation of photochemical smog

6. Sulfur DioxideSO2 • Sulfur is prevalent in all raw materials, including crude oil, coal, and ore • Forms when fuel, oil is burned • It dissolves in water vapor to form acid, which interacts with other gases and particles in the air to form sulfates and other products that can be harmful to people and the environment

7. LeadPb • Is a metal found naturally in the environment as well as in manufactured products. • The major sources of lead being in the atmosphere are motor vehicles and industrial sources • Other stationary sources are waste incinerators, utilities, and lead-acid battery manufacturers.

8. OzoneO3 • Is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms • At ground level it is created by a chemical reaction of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight • Can be “good” or “bad” depending on where it is in the atmosphere • The lower the ozone is in the atmosphere, the worse it is, the higher up it is the better it is

9. Particulate Matter • A complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets • Particle pollution is made up of acids, organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles

10. Carbon MonoxideCO • Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is formed when carbon in fuel is not burned completely • Main source of carbon monoxide is car exhaust • About 85 to 95 percent of all CO emissions are from motor vehicle exhaust

11. Calculate Your Carbon Footprint • http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

12. The Greenhouse and Climate Change Effect • The greenhouse effect can be visualized as follows: Imagine that Earth has been encircled by a giant glass sphere. The heat of the sun penetrates through the glass. Some of the heat is absorbed by the Earth, and some of it is radiated back towards space. The radiated heat reaches the glass sphere and is prevented from dispersing any further.

13. The difference between Climate Change and Greenhouse effect. • These terms actually relate to cause and effect, or problem and consequence. The greenhouse effect is the cause and global warming and climate change are the consequences. • The greenhouse effect causes an accumulation of heat (or energy) in the Earth's atmosphere. The global climate must then adjust to deal with that extra accumulation of energy, and these adjustments result in global warming and climate changes. • Global warming results from an increase in the temperature of the Earth's lower atmosphere.

14. Climate Change effects • The consequences of global warming and climate change could well include: • the destruction of entire ecosystems. • increased frequency and intensity of storms, hurricanes, ect… • melting glaciers and polar ice. • rising sea levels resulting in the permanent flooding of vast areas of heavily . • increased frequency of forest fires . • spread of tropical diseases by migrating insects.

15. Case Study: How pollutants can be so harmful; The Great Smog of 1952… • Early in December 1952, a cold fog descended upon London. Because of the cold, Londoners began to burn more coal than usual. The resulting air pollution was trapped by a layer formed by the dense cold air. Concentrations of pollutants, coal smoke in particular, built up.

16. Case Study Continued… • The problem was made worse by use of low-quality coal. The "fog", or smog, was so thick that driving became difficult or impossible. The extreme reduction in visibility created transportation delays and a virtual shut down of the city. During the 4 day period of fog, at least 4,000 people died as a direct result of the weather.

18. Suggested sites • http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp • http://www.globalissues.org/issue/178/climate-change-and-global-warming • http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6741 • http://www.epa.gov/iaq/biologic.html • http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/air_quality/Older/Natural_Air_Pollution.html • http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/smog_-_effects.html • http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/oceans101104.cfm • http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/smog_-_effects.html • http://www.iol.ie/~cea/industry_and_the_environment.htm

19. Works Cited • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution#The_Great_Smog_of_1952 • http://www.moorlandschool.co.uk/earth/greenhou.htm • http://www.epa.gov/air/particlepollution/ • http://kienforcefidele.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/hole-in-ozone-layer.jpg • http://www.sonomatech.com/images/cairo.jpg • http://www.treehugger.com/car-exhaust.jpg • http://www.tropical-rainforest-animals.com/image-files/airpollutants.jpg • http://www.argentinc.com/wp-content/uploads/industryair.jpg • http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/images/Lead.jpg