Deck 10: Air Pollution

Question 1

The phenomenon where cool, dense air sits under a layer of lighter warmer air is known as a ____________________.

A) heat sink
B) heat island
C) temperature inversion
D) Milankovitch cycle
E) thermocline

Answer 1

temperature inversion

Question 2

Given what we know about the probability of the greenhouse effect, the best thing to do is

A) consider the implication of immediately ceasing all industrial activity.
B) wait and see how much temperatures change before we change our habits.
C) severely cut back on production of greenhouse gases.
D) not worry about greenhouse gas production.
E) focus on the development of technological advances to help decrease the effects of climate change.

Answer 2

severely cut back on production of greenhouse gases.

Question 3

The air pollutant least successfully removed from the air by technologies in developed nations is

A) carbon dioxide.
B) sulfur oxides.
C) nitrogen oxides.
D) particulate matter.
E) VOCs.

Answer 3

nitrogen oxides.

Question 4

The "ozone hole" is a depletion currently most serious

A) at the most populated latitudes.
B) over North America.
C) in tropical latitudes.
D) near the Hadley cells.
E) near the poles.

Question 5

A major source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is

A) incomplete burning of hydrocarbons.
B) combustion of sulfur-containing fuel.
C) photochemical oxidation.
D) CO in the atmosphere.
E) CO₂ in the atmosphere.

Question 6

The use of scrubbers, precipitators, and filters on power plants and other "smokestack" industries probably accounts for a(n)

A) increase in nitrogen oxides.
B) decrease in sulfur oxides and solid particulate matter.
C) decrease in volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, solid particulate matter, and lead.
D) decrease in solid particulate matter and lead.
E) decrease in nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, solid particulate matter, and lead.

Question 7

Worldwide, air pollution control efforts are least advanced or least successful in major cities of developing countries.

Question 8

One of the principal ways lakes suffer from acid deposition is that

A) rocks on the bottom begin to dissolve.
B) fish eggs die and fish populations fall.
C) aquatic vegetation turns yellow.
D) plants grow excessively and choke other life.

Question 9

The structure on an automobile that removes nitrogen oxides is a(n)

A) catalytic converter.
B) scrubber.
C) air filter.
D) electrostatic precipitator.

Question 10

What type of buildings and monuments are most susceptible to acid damage?

A) granite and basalt
B) wood
C) limestone and marble
D) concrete and brick
E) brick and bronze

Question 11

Wind currents

A) send air pollution from one continent to the next.
B) keep CFCs from reaching the ozone hole.
C) eliminate the movement of dust particles from watershed to watershed.
D) circulate global carbon dioxide to regions with more vegetation for photosynthesis.

Question 12

________ is/are examples of secondary pollutants.

A) Aerosols
B) Volatile organic compounds
C) Photochemical oxidants
D) Combustion gases
E) Dust from soil erosion

Question 13

___________ ozone is harmful, damaging plants and human health while ozone at the _________ level screens out mutagenic ultraviolet radiation.

A) Stratospheric; troposphere
B) Thermospheric; mesosphere
C) Tropospheric; stratosphere
D) Mesospheric; thermosphere
E) Stratospheric; mesosphere

Question 14

Primary pollutants are those that are

A) released directly in dangerous forms.
B) produced in the greatest quantities.
C) the most dangerous.
D) the most threatening to people.
E) classified by the EPA as the most dangerous and abundant.

Question 15

The __________________ is an international treaty designed to eliminate CFCs.

A) Montreal Accord
B) Kyoto Protocol
C) International Agreement on CFC Reduction
D) Montreal Protocol
E) Clean Air Act

Question 16

The amount of CO₂ released by human activities per year is approximately ___________.

A) 30 million tons
B) 300 million tons
C) 3 billion tons
D) 30 billion tons
E) 300 billion tons

Question 17

Cap and trade policies have been successful in lowering the levels of carbon dioxide and CFCs.

Question 18

Most of the excessive carbon dioxide that is expected to cause global warming is generated by

A) green plants.
B) burning of fossil fuels.
C) production of cement and clearing of forests.
D) burning of fossil fuels and production of cement and clearing of forests only.

Question 19

The most common human health response to air pollution is

A) inflammatory responses in sensitive tissues.
B) lung cancer.
C) blindness caused by deteriorating eye tissues.
D) skin cancer.
E) heart disease.

Question 20

There are serious signs that ozone depletion may lead to

A) UV-caused skin cancers.
B) UV-caused blindness.
C) IR-caused sunburn.
D) UV-caused skin cancers and UV-caused blindness only.