15. Pollution management
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Created by:
fernandabarhumi on November 3, 2011
Subjects:
IB Environmental Systems and Societies
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38 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Pollution | An addition to an environment of a substance or an agent (such as heat) by human activity, at a rate greater than that at which it can be rendered harmless by environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the organisms |
| Point source | (Pollution) The release of pollutants from a single, clearly identifiable site; for example, a factor chimney or the waste disposal pipe of a factory into a river. *Is generally more easily managed because its impact is more localized, making it easier to control emission attribute responsibility and take legal action. |
| Non-point source | The release of pollutants from numerous, widely dispersed origins; for example. Gases from the exhaust systems of vehicles. * |
| Pollutant | a substance 'in the wrong place, in the wrong amount in the wrong time.' Major sources pollutants: o combustion of fossil fuels o Domestic waste o Industrial waste: Manufacturing systems, agricultural systems |
| B O D | Biochemical oxygen demand: A measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic biological activity. The more organic material there is in the water the more bacteria there will be to decompose it. The bacteria breath oxygen. |
| Indicator species | Plants and animals that show something about the environment by their presence, absencem abundance or scarcity. Early warning signs that something may have changed in an ecosystem and that are the most sensitive to this. |
| Biotic Index | A (1-10) scale that gives a measure of the quality of an ecosystem by the presence and abundance of species living in it. Involves levels of tolerance, diversity and abundance of organisms |
| Replace, Regulate, Restore | (The three R's): strategies to minimize waste, model: Replace (with alternatives), reuse (before throwing away) and restore (the environment) Also seen as: Reduce, reuse, recycle |
| Solid domestic waste | (SDW) or municipal solid waste (MSW), is our trash, garbage, rubbish. A mixture of paper, packing, organic materials (waste food), glass, dust, metals, plastic, textiles, paint, old batteries, collected from homes and shops, and although it makes up only 5% of total waste, including agricultural and industrial waste, it is waste that can be controlled and regulated. |
| Reduce | Part of the strategy to minimize waste, is to to reuse our waste before throwing it away and make it become part of the world pollution. |
| Recycle | A process involving the collection and separation of waste materials and processing them for their reuse. |
| Landfill | A method of waste disposal, and the main one nowadays: The waste is taken to a suitable site and buried there. |
| Incinerator | A method of waste disposal: Incinerators burn the waste at temperatures up to 2000°C. All the waste is burned but this practice can cause air pollution, particularly release of dioxins from burning plastics, heavy metals, batteries and nitrogen oxides. Ash can be used to build roads and the space taken up by the residues is significantly smaller. |
| Compost | A method of waste disposal: Only organic waste can be composted or put into anaerobic digesters. The methane produced can be used as fuel and the waste later as fertilizer or soil conditioner. |
| Eutrophication | The addition of excess nutrients to a freshwater ecosystem. Nutrients are usually nitrates and phosphates and they come from detergents, fertilizers, sewage, and so on. |
| Phosphate | A salt of phosphoric acid |
| Nitrate | Any compound containing the nitrate group (such as a salt or ester of nitric acid) |
| Ozone | A reactive gas containing three atoms found mainly in the the lower stratosphere as a layer that protects living organisms on Earth from the UV radiation as it absobs it |
| Ozone-depleting substances | (ODS) As a result of air pollution from substances (gasses) produced and released through human activity, the amount of ozone decreases leaving the world weak and vulnerable to the sun's radiation. |
| CFC's | Chlorofluorocarbons or freons: (ODS) Propellants in spray cans, plastic foam expanders and refrigerants that release chlorine atoms. |
| Halons | Fire extinguishers: (ODS) Release bromine atoms. |
| Stratospheric | "ozone layer", contains about 90% of all atmospheric ozone, protects us from harmful ultraviolet UV radiation |
| Tropospheric | From the troposphere. (Atmospheric layer closer to the Earth's crust where life occurs) |
| Montreal Protocol | (1987) An international agreement on the reduction of emissions of ozone-depleteating substances (ODS'). The signatories agreed to on freezing consumption and production of many CFC's and halons to 1986 levels by 1990 and on strongly reducing the consumption and production levels by 2000. |
| Photochemical smog | Formed when ozone, nitrogen oxides and gaseous hydrocarbons from vehicle exhausts interact with strong sunlight and can be seen as a brown haze above a city. |
| Acid deposition | Is the general term for acid coming down to the Earth's surface from the air. |
| Wet deposition | When the acid comes down to the Earth's surface in the form of rain or snow. |
| Dry deposition | When the acid comes down to the Earth's surface in the form of gas or dry particles without water. |
| Primary air pollutant | Pollutants that are emitted directly: E.g. Pollutants leaving the chimney of a factory or exhaust pipe of a car. |
| Secondary air pollutant | Pollutants that react with other substances on the atmosphere. They are made after primary air pollutants are produced and because of them. |
| Fossil Fuel | Fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content. It is a nonrenewable energy resource and examples include oil, coal and natural gas |
| Sulfur dioxide | A primary air pollutant that when reacting with the atmospherical gases, can form sulfuric acid. |
| Nitrogen oxides | Gases that form when nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere are burned with fossil fuels at high temperatures. |
| Regional (Pollution management context) | Effects of acid deposition are regional, because before pollutants can spread over long distances, they return to the surface as dry or wet precipitations. Therefore, mainly the down wind areas of major industrial regions that are strongly affected. |
| Liming | the process of adding calcium carbonate to help neutralize acids in lakes and rivers |
| EIA | Environmental impact assesments: A report prepared before a development project to change the use of land. |
| Baseline study | measrument of audience attitudes and opinons before during and/or after an EIA. |
| Sulfuric Acid | (H2SO4) A highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide. |
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