PDS AP Environmental Science 5th Period 2010-11

Is SO2 a secondary or primary pollutant? I was confused when reading over my notes.

Four Types Of Problems

1. E = Energy- basic unit is joules (J)- P x T

P = Power- basic unit is watts (w) = J/sec- E/T

T = Time- E/P

Example: How much energy (in J) does a 30 w bulb if on for 30 min?

E = P x T = 30 J/sec x 60 sec/min x 30 min = 54,000 J

2.  Heat Transfer:

Q = mc x change in temp.

Q = heat energy in calories         m = mass          c = specific heat of water = always equals 1

English version of this equation is in BTU’s- British Thermal Unit

BTU = lb x 1 btu/lbxF x change in temp.

3. Cost / Price:

Units used x Price/Units = Price = cost or bill

4. Efficiency of Devices:

Input = output/efficiency

example: 60 w = output/ .05 = 3 w to light

Commonly asked Efficiency

• Incandescent bulb = 5%
• CFL = 20-25%
• Coal Plant = 30%
• Nuclear Plant = 25%
• Car Engine = 20-25%
• Photosynthesis 1%

Energy not used for energy is lost to heat.

I know we talked about NPP per meter squared and total NPP for aquatic life zones in the fall but I cannot remember which one had the highest.

I know we talked about the CERCLA and the Superfund in class but how effective were they?

What’s Really in our Atmosphere?

In order to understand biomes, we have to understand why temperature and precipitation change in different places around the world. To start the understanding of this we talked about the composition and structure of the Earth’s atmosphere.

I: Composition-

• 78% Nitrogen- stable, inert gas because of the triple bond between the two nitrogen, does not help or harm organisms when they breath it in.
• 21% Oxygen- highly reactive
• 1%- Variable gases: water, {carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide} warming gases, ozone

II: Structure- 4 basic layers- highest to lowest

• Thermosphere
• Mesosphere
• Stratosphere- contains the ozone layer which is blocks u.v. rays and is called “global sunscreen”
• Troposphere- called the “weather maker” because all weather occurs in this layer of atmosphere
• As you move higher in the atmosphere the atmospheric pressure goes down

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/atmosphere/atmosphere/layers.gif

One other important thing to know in order to understand biomes is the difference between climate and weather because climate is the reason for different biomes, not weather.

Climate v.s. Weather

Climate- regional, years/decades, occurs in upper troposphere and lower stratosphere: driven by the sun and the composition of the Earth

Weather- local, hour/day/week, occurs in lower troposphere: driven by climate

In class we talked about the values/ justifications for protecting resources.

For ecological, we said “it has a place in the ecosystem.” First of all what is “it” and where does ecological fit in the lineage of environmentalism( ex. romanticism)?

I think our biggest environmental problem is polluting the air we breathe. By polluting our air, we are causing global warming which is heating up our earth. If we change the climate of the earth too significantly certain species could start dying out causing other animals to lose their food source. We need to find cleaner ways to do certain things, for example, finding a cleaner way to fuel cars, then we can hopefully somewhat fix this problem. I’m not saying there is a way to do this but I believe we should try to find a way.