This midterm will be a 50 minute closed-book exam on Friday November 18 at 10:30 am. It will cover the material we've discussed in class since midterm#1: aerosols and acid rain; visibility and radiation; indoor air pollution; health effects of air pollution; air quality regulation and trends. You will find below a description of what you should know for each of these topics. The format of the exam will be similar to the format of the homework assignments. Please bring a calculator to class.
Be able to define atmospheric aerosols.
Know difference between primary and secondary aerosols, and be able to give examples (including sources, composition, size distribution) of each.
Be able to list a few natural and anthropogenic sources of aerosols.
How do aerosols affect our lives?
What is the difference between PM2.5 and PM10 aerosols?
Know the approximate lifetime of aerosols and how they are lost from the atmosphere.
Know the processes by which aerosols grow in the
atmosphere,
and why their size impacts our health and visibility.
Define acids and bases.
Know the three main anthropogenic components contributing to the formation of acid rain.
Be able to calculate the pH of solution given H+ concentration (and vice versa).
Be able to balance acid-base reactions.
What are the ecological effects of acid rain?
Be able to describe the cap and trade system (emissions trading), and compare and contrast implications of cap and trace for SO2, Hg, and CO2.
2) Visibility and radiation
Know the two main ways in which aerosols and gases affect visibility in the atmosphere.
Be able to describe why the sky is blue, clouds are white, and why we see red colors at sunset.
Be able to give an example of a gas and an aerosol type (chemical composition) that effectively absorbs visible radiation, and a gas and aerosol type (chemical composition) that scatters visible radiation.
What are the main processes by which aerosols scatter radiation?
Know the aerosol particle size range that is most effective at scattering sunlight.
3) Indoor
air pollution
List a few examples of gas and particle pollution in indoor air, and their sources.
Why is tobacco smoke not regulated by the EPA?
Know why indoor air pollution such a major concern in developing countries.
4) Health effects of air pollution
Describe how air pollution
affects health, with specific examples.
How do particulates affect
health?
Have a general understanding of
how one can quantify the negative effects of pollution.
Understand and be able to define
the dose of a given pollutant.
Example: Which of these
situations poses the greatest health risk to you?
a) spending 2 hours/day in downtown Seattle with particulate levels of
40 micrograms/m3
b) spending 10 hours/day indoors with particulate levels of 10
micrograms/m3.
What does a dose-response
relationship tell us?
Have a general understanding of
what we need to know in order to assess the health risk associated with
a pollutant.
What is the purpose of a
cost-benefit analysis?
5) Air quality regulation and trends in air pollution
Have a general understanding of how air quality regulation works in the US currently.Example: What are the 6 criteria air pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act?
How is the Air Quality Index (AQI) defined?
How has air quality regulation affected ambient pollution levels in the U.S. over the last 30 years?
How does air pollution in the U.S. compare to pollution elsewhere in the world?
Last
Updated:
11/13/2005