Miss Wall’s Environmental Issues Final Review

1. What do we call the smog that has been carried to the North pole?Arctic Haze

2. What is Superfund?3. What is Phytoremediation?4. What is the name of the city where toxic waste was buried under their homes and

schools?5. What is the main source of toxic waste in the US?6. What is toxic or hazardous waste?

Any discarded material that is known to cause death, cancer, mutations, is corrosive or explosive.

7. Where are 45% of the world’s endangered animals found?8. About 65% of household trash is made up of ______________ ?9. When did Fresh Kills Landfill close?10. What is leachate?11. What is the “black sludge” in China and other third world countries?

The toxic runoff created from the piles of turn-apart electronic waste

12. What is the biggest waste dumped in our oceans, besides plastic? 13. What do we call uncovered areas of waste disposal?14. The majority of solid waste in the US comes from ____________________.

Funds set aside by US government for cleaning up toxic waste

The use of plants and fungus to clean-up toxic waste

Love Canal, New YorkPetroleum industry

WetlandsWrappers/packaging

2001

Toxic liquid produced from decomposition of waste

Nuclear WasteOpen Dump

Agriculture

1. Which country is the best for recycling solid waste?2. Where was Fresh Kills Landfill located?3. What is the percentage that NYC recycles?4. What happens to 80% of America’s e-waste?

Shipped to 3rd world countries to have valuable pieces removed by poor communities

5. Where and when was the biggest oil spill in US history?The Gulf Spill, 2010

6. What country leads the world in carbon monoxide emissions?7. What does VOC’s stand for? What are some examples?

Volatile Organic Compounds- cleaners, paints, candles…

8. What are CFC’s and what are the destroying?9. Describe the TWO types of smog and how they are created.

Sulfurous- black from burning of coal (London and China)Photochemical- car exhaust and sunlight (brownish haze- LA)

10. What is flotsam?11. How is acid mine drainage cleaned up?

Limestone pools that neutralize the pH

Japan

Brazil

30%

Staten Island

Ozone Layer

Floating plastic trash in our oceans

1. What is a major source of CFC’s?2. Which greenhouse gas has increased 400% in the past 200 years?3. Why is the ozone layer important?

Protects from Ultra Violet Radiation

4. About 80% of Americans trash is ____________________________.5. What is the process of restoring land to its natural and productive state?

Reclamation

6. Many hazardous waste can be disposed of in ______________________.7. Which state in the US has the most toxic waste dumps in the country?

New Jersey

8. What is the process of helping natural decomposition of waste?9. What is the name of the landfill that is designed to hold solid waste safely?

Sanitary Landfill

10. What is the best way to reduce waste? 11. How do landfills contaminate our ground water?

Leachate leaking-dangerous sludge created decomposition of waste

12. What major policy was passed to decrease CFC’s production?Montreal Protocol

Aerosol cans and freezing devices

Methane

Recyclable

A sink or drain

Composting

REUSE

1. Why are gas-powered lawn mowers a major contributor to air pollution?No catalytic converter to control emissions

2. Where was the largest storage area in the US for toxic and nuclear waste?Yucca Mountains

3. What biome do we live in?4. What is an organism that can make its own food? 5. About 50% of the US’s electricity comes from:

Coal Burning

6. Which biome receives less than 25cm on rain a year?7. What is the process where carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans?

Carbon Sink

8. What is the biggest reason why killer whales are endangered?Oil Spills

9. Where was the only nuclear melt down in the world?Chernobyl Russia

10.What type of wetland is the meadowlands?Marsh

Deciduous Forest

Desert

Autotroph

1. What is an overgrowth of algae due to increase pesticides and fertilizer runoff?Eutrophication

2. What is the air pollutant given of mainly from the burning of coal? 3. What is the amount of available oxygen in a body of water?4. What is the toxic runoff from the tearing apart of old e-waste in 3rd world countries?

Black Sludge

5. What is a device placed on smokestacks to reduce air pollution?Scrubber

6. What is the term that means “caused by humans”?7. What is the air pollutant given off by the decomposition of waste and organic material?

Methane

8. What is the increased acidity in a freshwater system that also has an orange precipitate?Acid Mine Drainage

9. What is an area of water so depleted of oxygen that nothing can survive?10. What is an ecosystem that has sitting water for most or all of the year?

Wetlands

11. What is an increase in toxins higher up the food chain?Biomagnification

SO2

BOD

Anthropogenic

Dead Zone

1. What is the difference between and keystone and pioneer species?Pioneer is the first species in an ecosystem after succession - algaeKeystone is a species that places an important role in population in an ecosystem- wolf

2. What are the two types of succession?Primary- succession of a new land areaSecondary- succession of a land area after a natural disaster like a volcano

3. What is the difference between a deciduous and coniferous forest?Deciduous is broadleaf trees such as oaks and maplesWhile Coniferous/Boreal/ Taiga is the colder forest with pine trees

4. What actually cause Acid Mine Drainage?Oxidation of pyrite in coal mines

5. How do we neutralize an acid like acid mine drainage?neutralize a base with an acid- such as limestone

6. What are some of the impacts of dams on an ecosystem?water and air pollution, destruction of habits, increased runoff and removal of precious

topsoil• What is the percentage of the US population that contributes to Urban Sprawl?

75%1. What is the difference between the TWO types of ozone?

Ground level ozone is toxic and is given off from car exhaustAtmospheric is in the stratosphere and protects us from UV Radiation

2. What was the new and most production invention to cleaning up the Gulf Spill?Sorbent that absorbs the oil(a dehydrated moss)

1. What is the blackish smog created from burning of coal?2. What is a group of the same species in a given area?3. What is an organism’s natural role in an ecosystem?4. What is a group of different species in a given area?5. What are direct and observable release of pollutants?6. What is the air pollutant mainly released by car exhaust?7. What is the brownish haze created from the pollutants released by cars and

sunlight?8. What is the main gas linked to global warming released from burning fossil fuels?

9. What are the non observable and indirect release of pollutants?10. What is the soapy waste water released from cruise ships?11. What is the absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans?12. What are the large rotating currents in each of our major oceans?13. What is the death caused to coral by increased ocean temperatures?

Coral Bleaching

14. What is the deadly pesticide that caused for biomagnifications in birds of prey?DDT

Sulfurous smog

Population

Niche

Community

Point Source PollutantsNO

Photochemical smog

Carbon DioxideNon Point Source

Grey Water

Carbon SinkGyres

1. What is the use of freshwater when it is removed from its source?2. What is the layer of the ocean where temperature drops quickly?3. What is the percentage of plastic trash in our oceans?4. What is transferred in a food chain?5. What is the lowest trophic level?6. Based on lab results, which sample had the lowest pH?7. What device is used to absorb oil of the shores after a spill?8. What is a species that moves into an area after succession to begin animal life in an

ecosystem?9. Which type of succession occurs after a fire?10. Which biome is made up of coniferous (pine) trees?11. What are four reasons why wetlands are import?

storm buffer, nutrient rich soil, filters sediment, prevents flood, unique plants/animals

12. How is acid mine drainage created?13. A Basic substance has a pH between _______ and ________.14. Over 200,000 gallons of sewage are released weekly by:15. Excessive sediment erosion and ecosystem alterations downstream are caused by:16. ___________ _____________ is an ancient community that demonstrated overexploitation

of natural, nonrenewable resources.

Off Stream UsageThermocline

80%

Energyproducers

Poland springs water

Sorbent

Keystone speciesSecondary Succession

Coniferous Forest

Oxidation of pyrite in coal mines

Easter Island

14

Cruise shipsdams

7

1. Smoke, soot and small pieces of heavy metals are examples of ____________ in the air.

2. If you live in a ___________ you increase your chance of mortality by 15-25%.3. Nearly the entire eastern United States suffers from ________ ____________.4. What is the secondarily air pollutant with the sweet odor?5. What is a biotic factor?6. What is a most important step of the preliminary stage of water treatment?

BAR SCREEN- in the preliminary phase of water treatment

7. Which has a lower pH, Poland Springs or NJ rain water?8. What does BOD stand for?9. What caused the deaths of 4000 people in London in 1952?

Stationary front blocked smog from leaving town

10. What is WASTE TO ENERGY?Using methane from a landfill for energy- example- Brooklyn

11. Who were the men in charge of the Chernobyl clean-up?Liquidators

particulates

city

Poland Spring

Acid rain

Ozone

Living factors: grass, animals, fungus

Biochemical Oxygen Demand

1. Describe the causes and impacts of the Chernobyl disaster.There was human error during a drill causing the reactor to become overheated and explode.

The radioactive particles were then carried by the winds and settled in the soil of the water, crops and farm animals. Thousands died of pancreatic and thyroid cancer and children became mutated because the mothers at contaminated food/cow milk.

2. What occurred in Love Canal NY? A metal company buried toxic waste underground and then sold the land for $1 to build a school. The town developed around the school and the town had toxic waste seep into their homes and playgrounds. Their cases went back and forth for over 30 years. Now, the area is just ruined land that no one is allowed to enter.

3. Why were the Yucca Mountains once very important the US government?Yucca was a very highly developed area to bury our nuclear waste in Nevada. However, concern grew about safety, transportation as well as continuation to the groundwater so Obama closed it down.

4. How and WHY are our rainforest being destroyed?Why- cattle industry and paper products (mostly TP and paper towels)How- most commonly Slash and burn practices (poorer nations for cattle)

5. How does mining impact our planet?Loss of forest (CO2), loss of soil, runoff, AMD, increased erosion

1. What is the percentage of NJ residents that actually recycle?30%

2. Which state has the most toxic waste dumps and why?New Jersey- Petroleum Refineries

3. What is the difference between black sludge and leachate?Black sludge is toxic runoff from exposure of E-waste is poor nationsLeachate is the toxic fluid created in landfills from decomposition of unnatural

materials

4. What is the difference between Superfund and SARA?Superfund is money allotted after a toxic spillSARA is a communities right to know about the industrial toxics in their community

5. Why is recycling not always the BEST option when it comes to reducing waste and energy?

Only part of the material is actually recyclable, it consumes energy to recycle and redistribute the goods, some is not recycled (India and ocean9- JUST REUSE!!!!

1. What is the Arctic Haze and where does it come from?Is several hundred miles of smog that lies over the North Pole/Arctic CircleIt is pollution given-off by the manufacturing powers of the N. Hemisphere and is then carried by the global winds.

2. What are the two main gases the cause global warming and how are they released?Carbon dioxide- burning of fossil fuelsMethane- cattle digestion, rice patties and landfills

3. What is the difference between Global Warming and Global Climate Change?Global Warming is the unnatural heating of the earth from pollutants (CO2 and CH4)Global Climate Change is the observable IMPACTS of global warming, the next phase

4. What are some of the observable impacts of Global Climate Change?Increased size hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes…rising sea level, weakened Jetstream, loss of Arctic and Antarctic Ice, Polar Vortex, endangerment of species, changing or decrease of biomes

5. What are the TWO main reasons that humans could end Global Climate Change if every human stopped eating red meat?

Less Cattle = less methane (holds in 23 times more heat than CO2)Less Cattle = More Rainforests to take in more CO2

What are some reasons why agriculture is the most destructive industry on the planet?

• Approximately ½ of the world’s land has been converted for agriculture.• Methane holds in more heat than CO2. methane is released at large rates by cattle (beef)

and cows (dairy).– Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of the total release of greenhouse gases

world-wide– The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7

billion people, while there is only 7.2 billion. (over 5 billion cattle on earth)• Desertification is the process to which croplands are so heavily farmed that nutrients are

leached from the soil leaving the soil like a desert and unable to produce food.• The cattle industry is the leading cause of destruction of the world’s rainforests.• Pesticides that are sprayed on non organic crops have been linked to many diseases with

humans as well as impacts on wildlife and freshwater.• 67% of the world’s freshwaters is used for agriculture for growing crops for our

consumption, food for livestock consumption and the livestock directly.– Nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food– The Colorado River has not made it to the ocean for years due to the fact that is

diverted to Tucson AZ, Las Vegas, LA and 800,000 acres of cropland.

What else did you learn this year?