What happened during the Great London Smog of 1952?
Extreme usage of dirty coal caused an environmental disaster (people didn’t realize it was a disaster until weeks later when deaths reported). This event caused environmental protection agencies/policies to be created to prevent from happening again (nothing has occurred like this since)
Why is the atmosphere a resource?
- blocks UV rays
- redistributes water
- regulates climate/temperature globally
- ecosystem services for atmosphere
What is air pollution?
Any substance that people introduce into the atmosphere with damaging effects on living things and the environment
What are the types of air pollution?
- trace gases
- volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- particulate matter
Describe trace gases
They make up less than 1% of the earth’s atmosphere, but there’s hundreds of them. CO2 makes up 90% of trace gases. Uses ppm/ppb to measure.
Describe volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
They are organic chemicals that can vaporize in the air. Always made up of carbon compounds, usually hydrocarbons (methane, butane, propane). Human activity accounts for 1/2 of VOCs while the remainder are natural. They usually have a distinct smell (paint, flowers, etc.)
Describe particulate matter
They are aerosols, either small solid particles of liquid droplets suspended in the air. The larger the size of the particulate matter, the less time it spends in the atmosphere. The smaller ones stay in the atmosphere longer so they can travel farther and be breathed in and goes to bloodstream.
What are the four types of pollutants in Canada?
- Criteria air contaminants (ex. SO2, NO compounds, VOCs, NH3) - first to come under gov’t regulation
- Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (ex. DDT) - take a long time to break down, so they accumulate
- Heavy metals (ex. Hg & Pb) - released through industrial processes
- Toxic air pollutants (other) - pollutants of concern that don’t fit other categories
What are the sources of pollutants?
- Primary air pollutants - directly released into atmosphere from source (ex. factories, cars, etc.)
- Secondary air pollutants - chemical reactions that create pollutants (ex. sunlight + NOx + VOCs = Ozone), photochemical pollution formed with sunlight facilitation
When is tropospheric ozone good and bad?
Good: high up in the air
Bad: low in the air
Describe how air pollutants travel
- airflow patterns (diffusion, wind patterns, convection) - inversion layer (warm, cold, warm air) traps hot air at low height creating smog
- height of emission (super stacks further disperse pollutants to reduce environmental impacts)
- atmospheric lifetime (different residence times, some travel farther and/or stay longer in atmosphere)
What are the impacts of air pollution?
- reduced sunlight (affects agriculture)
- health impacts (high deaths/year)
- quality of life decreases (diseases/sickness)
- environmental impacts (acid rain)
In the past, what has the government down to combat air pollution?
- Canadian environmental protection act (1999)
- Geneva convention (transboundary air) (1983)
- Canada-USA air quality agreement (1991)
- Abate acidification, eutrophication, and ground-level ozone (1999)
What happened at the Montreal Protocol?
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were causing a hole in atmosphere, so the protocol stopped/recovered the hole and aided with climate change
Why was the protocol successful?
- agreement on scientific evidence
- ozone depletion negatively threatens everyone
- very few CFC companies existed
- substitute chemicals available
- companies actively involved
Why would it be difficult to apply the protocol to climate change?
- less certainty of the causes/consequences of GHGs
- risks not evenly distributed
- GHGs emitted worldwide
- social and economic resistance to alternative energy
Describe what happened to Sudbury’s environment because of mining
It had a strong mining industry that degraded the physical environment, so there were many hectares with no vegetation because of the mining and air pollution. The lakes were acidic and degraded by metal contaminants.
Describe how Sudbury remediated mined landscapes
Some parts shut down and a super stack was built to disperse emissions. They used limestone to neutralize the acidic soil and to enhance bacterial activity to gorw vegetation (grasses and trees). This resulted in many benefits like: better health, species return, etc
How can we maintain good air quality (solutions)?
- energy efficient vehicles reduce fuel & GHGs
- renewable energy for buildings (wind/solar)
- constrain sprawl through land use regulations and public transit
- give individuals more choice (public participation)
- stricter regulations of emissions would help reduce
- measure by fine particulate matter: ground level ozone SO2 & NO2 to determine quality
What is the problem with air pollutants?
1/8 deaths are from air pollution making it the single largest environmental health risk
