So…did you laugh at my memory-trick email about the six compounds the EPA must track under the Clean Air Act? If you missed, it here is is again: Q: How do you remember the 6 air pollutants covered under NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards)? A: NOSCLP NOx Ozone SO2 CO Lead PM So, get [...]
So, last year the APES text (published 2008) had a section on carbon offsets-first time I’ve seen it in a school textbook. There are many companies out there now marketing carbon offsets to reduce your “carbon footprint.” Terrapass is a popular one. You can offset one year’s worth of air travel (an estimated 8,000 pounds [...]
Today during the second half of class, we discussed ozone, or O3. The first thing to recognize when discussing ozone is that there is good ozone, and there is bad ozone. You MUST be able to distinguish between the two of these! Good ozone (O3) is responsible for absorbing and blocking about 95% of harmful [...]
Today we discussed potential solutions to the problem of the enhanced greennhouse effect, also known as global warming. The only way to truly solve this problem is to attack the problem at its source: Greenhouse Gases. We need to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases, especially Carbon Dioxide, in the atmosphere by either reducing the [...]
At the end of class on Friday Mr Willard left us with 5 questions regarding global climate change. These questions were as follows: 1. Is the Earth warming? 2. If so, is this warming unnatural? 3. If it is unnatural, is it anthropogenic (human-caused)? 4. What might happen as a result of this climate change? [...]
Last Friday, we discussed the origins of global warming. However, climate change is a more accurate term since some regions are cooling, not warming. First off, it must be established that not all greenhouse gases, like water vapor, CO2, CH4 and N2O are “bad.” In fact, without the natural greenhouse effect earth would be very [...]
To commemorate Earth Day PDS 5th grade teachers and students made signs to carry around the Ferry Boat reminding parents to turn cars off while in line picking up their children. They also modified the “stop and go” signs to reflect the No Idling initiative for all teachers on traffic duty to carry. LS plans [...]
Today in class, we continued talking about the secondary effects of car exhaust and coal burning. Today we spent the day talking about the formation/affects of acid rain in particular. Acid rain in a problem in the troposphere, and is therefore a regional problem. Even though acid rain has always been referred to as “rain,” [...]
*Note: This is a guest post from Alice G. in 8th period since I forgot ask for a scribe! Your car breathes in from the air and the fuel tank and it breathes primary pollutants out, which then are converted into secondary pollutants. The central reaction in your car starts with the reactants in the [...]
In class, we dicussed what made up “good air” and how it was defined. First things first, we talked about how in Environmental Science, we mostly focus on the troposohere and the stratosphere. There are several differences between the two, but they both hold very important roles in providing “good air” Trophosphere vs. Statosphere Trophosphere [...]
