AP Environmental Science pollution types, resource depletion, and sustainability concepts.
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- What is ground-level ozone and how does it form?
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A secondary air pollutant created when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react in sunlight; a component of photochemical smog.- Define primary air pollutants.
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Pollutants emitted directly from pollution sources into the atmosphere, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.- Define secondary air pollutants.
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Pollutants formed in the atmosphere through chemical reactions of primary pollutants with other atmospheric chemicals.- What are the main components of acid rain?
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Sulfuric acid (from sulfur dioxide) and nitric acid (from nitrogen oxides); formed when these gases react with water vapor in the atmosphere.- Explain the greenhouse effect.
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Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere by allowing sunlight to pass through but preventing infrared radiation from escaping back to space.- What does NOx refer to in air pollution?
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Nitrogen oxides, a group of pollutants including nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide; produced primarily from fossil fuel combustion.- What is PM2.5?
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Particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller; small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs and cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems.- Define thermal inversion.
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A weather condition where a layer of warm air traps cold air below it, preventing air from rising and allowing pollutants to accumulate near the ground.- What is the main purpose of the Clean Air Act?
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To regulate air pollutants and establish national air quality standards to protect public health and the environment.- What is eutrophication in water ecosystems?
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Excessive nutrient enrichment (usually nitrogen and phosphorus) that leads to algal blooms and subsequent oxygen depletion in water.- Define point source pollution in water.
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Water pollution from a specific, identifiable source such as a pipe, factory, or sewage treatment plant.- Define nonpoint source pollution in water.
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Water pollution from diffuse sources that cannot be traced to a single point, such as agricultural runoff or urban stormwater.- What is bioaccumulation?
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The buildup of a substance, usually a toxin, in an organism's body over time as it absorbs more than it can eliminate.- What is biomagnification?
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The process where the concentration of a substance increases as it moves up the food chain, with top predators accumulating the highest levels.- Define a dead zone in aquatic ecosystems.
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An area of water with extremely low dissolved oxygen, making it unable to support most aquatic life; usually results from eutrophication.
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