Term
| Sources and Impacts of Asbestos in the home |
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Definition
| Insulator on hot water pipes and in shingles in siding, can cause respiratory diseases including asbestosis and cancer. Asbestos is not dangererous until decayed of tampered with. |
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Term
| Sources and Impacts of Carbon Monoxide in the home |
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Definition
| Comes from malfunctioning exhaust systems on heaters(usually gas). CO binds with hemoglobin more efficietly than oxygen, thus interfering with oxygen transport. can cause osygen starvation. |
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Term
| Sources and impacts of Radon indoors |
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Definition
| Radon seeps up trough foundation floor and walls as gas, also through drinking water. Can attach to dust and be inhaled. Radon is second leading cause of cancer behind smoking |
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Term
| VOCs in home products(Sources and impacts) |
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Definition
| found in building materials, furniture, glues, paints, formaldehyde among the most toxic of them. High concentrations can lead to respiratory irritation, and astha. May be cancerous. |
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Term
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Definition
| Solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. Sources include burning of wood manure, biofuels, coal, oil, gasoline(esp. diesel) PM can range from 1 micrometer to 100 micrometers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Reduced visibility, caused when PM scattters Light. |
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Term
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Definition
| Class of pollutants formed as a result of sunlight acting on compounds such as NOx and SO2. Generally harmful to living things construction materials. |
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Term
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Definition
| Sulfur Dioxide Based, gray color |
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Term
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Definition
| Primarily ozone and characterized by a more brown Color. |
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Term
| Volatile Organic Compounds |
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Definition
| Organic compounds that become vapors at typical atmospheric temperatures. Include hydrocarbons(compunds that contain carbon hydrogen bonds, including gasoline, lighter fluid, oil based paints, and perfumes.Aromatic compoundsare often VOCs. |
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Term
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Definition
| When a relatively warm layer of air at mid altitude covers a layer of cold, dense air below. Emissions are trapped in the low cool areas, causing severe pollution |
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Term
| Effects of Acid deposition |
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Definition
| Include lowering of pH in lake, and serious damage to aquatic ecosystems. Decreased species diversity due to reproductive inability. also can damage culturally valuable statues many of or containing calcium carbonate. |
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Term
| What are some ways to reduce sulfur, nitrogen dioxide, and PM emissions? |
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Definition
| Use less source materials, drive less, also baghouse filter for PM, electrostatic precipitator for smog,the scrubber for PM. |
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Term
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Definition
| chlorofluorocarbons are a group of organic compounds whose properties make them ideal for refrigeration, cooling, and propellant. Dangerous to the atmosphere because UV radiation can break away chlorine, which can then deplete ozone by breaking down as many as 100,000 ozone molecules for one chlorine atom. |
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Term
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Definition
| expose animals or plants to different amounts of a chemical and then observe a variety of possible responses including mortality or changes in behavior or reproduction |
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Term
| Emergent infectious Disease |
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Definition
| Infectious diseases that were previously not described as infectious or have not been common for at least the prior 20 years. |
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Term
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Definition
| Thought to be emergent from primates, it is an emegergent infectious disease that weakens the immue system and allows for severe and rare cases of cancer and pneumonia. the virus is spread through sexual contact and through blood transfusion |
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Term
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Definition
| disease caused by the Ebola virus, originated in central africa. highly lethal. Symtoms include fever, vomiting, internal and external bleeding. Death occurs in two weeks, and there are no drugs to fight the virus. There is no known source of the virus. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| neurological disease that damages a cow's nervous system. The cow looses bodily coordination and dies.small beneficial proteins called prions occasioanlly mutate in to deadly proteins that act as pathogens. disease can be transferred to humans and humans also die. |
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Term
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Definition
| virus that normally only infects birds but jumped to people in asia.as a result, people have few defenses against it. The disease has the potential to kill millions of people. |
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Term
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Definition
| Transmitted by mosquitoes, it is lethal to some birds, but most survive. First identified in 1937 in the west nile region of Uganda, Causes an inflammation of the brain, which can lead to death. Appeared in new york in 1999, peak us infections were in 2002 and 2003. Efforts to control mosquitoe populations have caused a decline in the disease. |
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Term
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Definition
| Dose level that kills 50% individuals, and dose that causes nonlethal but harmful effect in 50% of individuals. |
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Term
| What is the difference between bio accumulation and biomagnification? |
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Definition
| Bio magnification is increase in chemical concentration in animal tissues as the chemical moves up the food chain. Bioaccumulation is simply the increased concentration of the chemical in the body over time. |
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Term
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Definition
| monitor people who have been exposed to a chemical at some point in the past. A past affected group will be compared with a group that was not affected, and their results are compared. |
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Term
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Definition
| monitor those who might become exposed in the future. Subjects are asked to monitor what food they eat, how many cigarettes they smoke, etc. for a long period of time. Researchers can then link and new health problems to their current activities. |
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Term
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Definition
| When two risks together cause more harm than one would expect based on their individual risks. |
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Term
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Definition
| Feild of science that strives to understand the causes of illness and disease in human and wildlife populations. |
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Term
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Definition
| Persistence refers to how long a chemical remains in the environment. Persistance depends on a variety of things including temperature, pH, and whether the chemical is in the water, soil, etc. |
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Term
| Innocent until proven guilty principle |
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Definition
| a potential hazard should not be considered a hazard until the scientific data can definitively demonstrate that the hazard causes harm |
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Term
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Definition
| When a hazard is plausible but not yet certain, we should take actions to reduce or remove the hazard. |
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Term
| What are the five categories of endangerment? |
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Definition
Data deficient
Extinct
Threatened
Near Threatened
Least Concern |
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Term
| 5 Factors contributing to global decline in biodiversity |
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Definition
Alien Species
Habitat Loss
Overharvesting
Pollution
Climate Change |
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Term
| Natural causes of global warming |
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Definition
Volcanic eruption,
Methane through gas and decomposition,
Nitrous oxide through denitrification,
Water vapor through evaporation. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Major Greenhouse gases in order from highest to lowest duration in the atmosphere |
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Definition
CFCs,
Nitrous Oxide,
Methane,
Carbon Dioxide,
Water. |
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Term
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Definition
| Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change, established by UN, over 3000 policy neutral scientists that develop and compile research |
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Term
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Definition
| States that CO2 levels have been steadily increasing since 1958, although it varies sinusoidally with the seasons. |
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Term
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Definition
| Involves taking CO2 out of the atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| Global emissions from all greenhouse gases from all industrialized countries will be reduced to 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012. |
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Term
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Definition
| a type of shell that becomes buried in ocean sediments. Scientists can indirectly estimate ocean temperature changes over time based on which species are found in each sediment layer. |
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Term
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Definition
| The costs or impacts of a good or service on people not included in the economic price of that good or service. |
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Term
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Definition
| -when both environmental and ecological economists try to assign monetary value to intangible benefits and natural capital |
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Term
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Definition
| treats the field of economics as a component of ecological systems rather than as a distinctly separate field of study. |
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Term
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Definition
| Natural, Human, Manufactured |
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Term
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Definition
| when an economic system does not account for all costs. |
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Term
| Deterrents-Command and control approach |
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Definition
| sets regulations for emissions, then controls with fines or other punishments. |
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Term
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Definition
| includes financial and other incentives for lowering emissions based on profits and benefits. |
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Term
| Which is better between demand and control approach? |
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Definition
| A combination of both approaches is most likely to generate the max amt of desired changes. |
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Term
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Definition
| -gross domestic product-value of all products and services produced in a year in a given country |
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Term
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Definition
| -genuine progress indicator, includes measures of personal consumption, income distribution, levels of higher education, resource depletion, pollution, and health of the population. |
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Term
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Definition
| -gross national happiness(holistic quality of life: sustainable development, cultural value, nature conservation, and good governance |
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Term
| Sustainable systems analysis |
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Definition
| Our current method of maximization of labor, energy, and resources is not sustainable. Large amounts of waster are outputs. Instead, a more sustainable approach would be to rely more on ecosystem services and reuse of already existing manufactured materials and less on resource extraction. “waste stream recycling.” |
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Term
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Definition
| Human development index combines three measures of human status: life expectancy, knowledge(shown in adult literacy rate), and standard of living(per capita gdp). |
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Term
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Definition
| Human poverty index, developed by the UN to explore the proportion of a population suffering from deprivation in a country with a high HDI. |
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Term
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Definition
| national environmental policy act, 1970, enhance environment, monitor with a tool: the environmental impact assessment. Used in protection of coral and sea turtles. |
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Term
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Definition
| Occupational safety and health act, 1970, prevent work related injuries, illnesses. worker training and knowledge increase. |
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Term
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Definition
| Endangered species act, 1973, species protection against extinction. bald eagle, perigrine falcon, and gray wolf have all recovered. |
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Term
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Definition
| Clean air act, 1970, promote clean air, sulfur dioxide reductions from cap and trade have occured. |
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Term
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Definition
| clean water act, 1972, promote clean water, swimmable and fishable rivers across the USA have increased. |
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Term
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Definition
| resource conservation and recovery act, 1976, govern tracking and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. Numerous brownfields and contaminated areas have been cleaned up. |
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Term
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Definition
| COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT, 1980. forces the cleanup of haz waste sites. Dozens of superfund sites have been cleaned as a result |
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Term
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Definition
| Fair distribution of earth's resources. |
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Term
| Challenges presented by poverty and social-environmental injustice |
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Definition
Possible Environmental racism(as in the case of the landfills, should be considered which came first,
Unequal enforcement of regulations |
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Term
| Two possible methods towards sustainability |
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Definition
Top down: International organization, govt regulations(IUCN, conservation international, EPA)
Bottom up: community activism, local programs and city governane(farmer's markets, local ngo, microfinancial, community-based mgmt. |
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Term
| Alien versus Invasive species |
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Definition
| Invasive species are alien species that spread rapidly across large areas. |
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Term
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Definition
| Chemicals that disrupt the nervous systems of animals and humans. examples include some insecticide, lead, mercury |
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Term
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Definition
| Chemicals that cause cancer. include abestos, radon. |
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Term
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Definition
| chemicals that interfere with the normal development of embryos or fetuses. Include alcohol and thalidomide |
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Term
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Definition
| chemicals that cause allergic reactions. some common examples are peanuts and milk and several drugs including penicillin and codeine |
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Term
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Definition
| Chemicals that interfere with the normal functioning of hormones in the body. Sources include insecticide, DDT, Atrazine. |
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Term
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Definition
| Persistent organic compounds are synthetic, and do not easily break down in the environment. Include DDT, Dioxins, PCBs. they accumulate in fat. |
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Term
| Three responses to a toxin |
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Definition
Behavioral: avoid toxin
Physiological: many mechanisms, detoxification one example
Genetic: adaptation of insect pests to pesticides (resistance) |
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Term
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Definition
| sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, PM, lead, ozone |
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