Unit 9 Pre-Test Review Flashcards
Human health impacts of ultraviolet radiation
Increased cataracts, sun burns, skin cancer
Environmental impacts of Ultraviolet Radiation
-reduced crop & ocean yields
-increased photochemical smog
-decrease in biodiversity
-increased acid deposition
Ozone importance
-gas w/ 3 oxygens
-protects against damaging UV radiation
-lack of ozone leads to negative impacts on human and environmental health
CFCs
Chlorofluorocarbons
-used in refrigerants, aerosol proponents, solvents
-also act as Green House Gas
Ozone depletion
-depleted by chemicals disassembling the three oxygens
-chlorine atoms in CFCs react w/ O atoms to stop ozone from reforming, thus depleting ozone
Seasonal depletion of Ozone
-thins during seasons with low UV levels
-made more extreme w/ CFCs
-most ozone depletion over Antartica
Montreal Protocol
-1989
-international treaty designed to phase out production of ozone depleting substances
-Successful!!!!
Copenhagen Amendment
-meant to speed up the phase out of the Montreal Protocol
-Montreal wasn’t doing enough because the CFCs are persistent
Chlorine (Cl) is a persistant pollutant because
it continues causing problems in the atmosphere even after we’ve phased out CFCs
Global Climate Change
-changes in average weather globally
-classified as natural or anthropogenic
Greenhouse affect
absorption of radiation by atmosphere gases and re-radiation of the energy back toward Earth
Why is global warming not inherently “BAD”?
-because it’s only harmful when it happens too much
Rank the five most greenhouse of gases:
1st CFCs
2nd Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
3rd Methane CH4
4thCO2
5thWater H2O
Describe the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (climate research group)
-tasked w/ reviewing scientific data and published literature related to global climate change
-composed of 2,500 climate scientists
-published a report every 5 years
Charles Keeling’s work & what it reveals
-1st scientist to overcome technical difficulties of measuring CO2
-collected CO2 measures throughout the year rather than once every few years
-found that CO2 levels varied seasonally & concentrations increased from year to year
-also configured upward trend in CO2 concentrations
Which countries produce majority of CO2 today
-China & India
-developing countries produce 2/3rds of CO2 emissions because they are rapidly industrializing
-China built a bunch of coal fired power plants from 2000-2009
