24) The most obvious cause of industrial smog is ________.
A) burning trash
B) forest fires
C) indoor air pollution
D) burning fossil fuels
E) generating nuclear power
25) You have been hired by a rapidly growing small city to improve its air quality, which has
deteriorated in the past 10 years. Your first suggestion is to ________.
A) try to negotiate with the large city downwind whose factories produce large amounts of
pollution
B) decrease the amount of CFCs used locally
C) move or close the cattle feedlots near the river
D) improve transportation options, including carpool lanes, buses, and light rail
E) remove the hydroelectric dam on the river
26) Which of the following solutions to vehicular air pollution has London instituted, resulting in
the complaints of some drivers, who feel the solution is draconian, and the attention of many
other large cities?
A) allowing only cars with registration plates ending on even numbers to drive on even days of
the month
B) impounding cars and fining drivers who are heavy polluters
C) raising by five times bridge and expressway tolls
D) charging fuel-inefficient or polluting vehicles a fee to drive in the city
E) publishing photos of worst polluters in the London Times
27) The reason that temperature increases with altitude through most of the stratosphere is
because ________.
A) oxygen and ozone absorb UV radiation
B) sunlight is more intense in the stratosphere
C) jet stream winds produce frictional heat
D) water vapour levels are high and store heat
E) greenhouse gases warm the air
28) Order the altitudes, expressed in kilometres, in order of decreasing annual temperature (list
the warmest first and the coldest last).
A) 1, 50, 15
B) 1, 15, 50
C) 50, 15, 1
D) 1, at 15 the same as at 50
E) at 1 the same as at 50, 15
29) One of the possible effects of climate change could be the expansion of the Hadley cell
circulation. If the Hadley cells expand by several degrees of latitude, this would likely mean the
zone of ________.
A) deserts and semi-deserts around 30°N may move north
B) deserts and semi-deserts around 15°N may move north
C) high precipitation around 30°N may move north
D) deserts and semi-deserts around 15°S may move north
E) deserts and semi-deserts around 15°S may move south
30) The Earth’s tilt changes over time. In the periods when the tilt decreases, what changes to the
seasons would you expect?
A) Summers will get colder and winters warmer, on both hemispheres.
B) Summers will get warmer and winters colder, on both hemispheres.
C) Summers will get colder and winters warmer in the northern hemisphere; and the reverse will
occur in the southern hemisphere.
D) Summers will get colder and winters warmer in the southern hemisphere; and the reverse will
occur in the northern hemisphere.
E) Seasons will be unaffected.
31) How would a goverment regulation requiring oil companies to reduce the sulphur content of
fossil fuel emissions help fish?
A) It would reduce leaching of aluminum from soils into waterways.
B) It would reduce acid skin burns in fish.
C) It would reduce the acid rains, which help invasive species such as zebra mussels in
competing against native fish for food.
D) It would disrupt the reproduction of lampreys preying on fish.
E) It would increase the atmospheric haze that shelters fish from harmful UV radiation.
32) Which of the following airborne pollutants is the least likely to be a problem in remote rural
areas?
A) ground-level ozone
B) ammonia
C) pesticides
D) hydrogen sulphide
E) methane
14.5 True/False Questions
1) The materials and gases found in each of Earth’s atmospheric layers mix completely with all
of the other layers, because of air pressure and convective cells.
2) Tropospheric ozone is an example of a primary pollutant.
3) The “killer smog” in London was sparked by a chemical conversion.
4) The stratospheric ozone layer is important for reducing the amount of UV radiation hitting the
surface of the planet.
5) Of the six major pollutants tracked by Environment Canada, only lead is in the air primarily as
a result of poor farming practices in the Prairie provinces.
6) Indoor pollution is mostly due to kitchen appliances.
7) Currently, many Canadians live in areas that violate Environment Canada air quality standards
for at least one of the six criteria pollutants.
14.6 Essay Questions
1) Define atmospheric deposition in general, and explain the causes and effects of acidic
deposition.
2) Discuss the objective, and the success, of the 1987 Montreal Protocol. To what two factors do
scientists attribute its success?
3) How do interacting masses of warm and cool air generate weather patterns?
4) What determines the amount of solar radiation that strikes Earth’s surface? What is the role of
solar energy in creating seasons?
5) Why is indoor pollution still such a large problem? What are the most dangerous indoor
pollutants in the developed nations?
6) Is the presence of ozone good or bad for us, and why?
7) Explain why the trade winds between 30°N and the equator are north easterlies (i.e., blow
from the north-east direction). What direction would you expect the trade winds to blow on the
other side of the equator (i.e., between 30°S and equator)?
8) How could the use of CFCs increase levels of mercury (Hg) in polar bears?
9) Describe Hadley cells and use them to explain the Sahara.
20
14.7 Scenario-Based Questions
Read the following scenario and answer the questions below.
Thousands of young families moved “over the hills” and into the San Fernando Valley, a suburb
of Los Angeles, after World War II. New neighbourhoods were springing up, replacing orange
groves and open space; roads and schools quickly sprang into existence, trying to keep pace with
the rapid population growth. The number of cars increased as there was no public transportation
to these suburbs. Ringed by beautiful mountains, the entire Los Angeles basin looked like a new,
green, sun-filled paradise to the families seeking a fresh start. In the early 1950s, one of the
common family chores in Los Angeles was to carry the trash out to the stone incinerator behind
the garage where each family burned all of their dry trash. “Wet” garbage was collected and
taken to a city dump, where it was burned by the city. Everyone throughout the city either used
an incinerator or burned things in an open trash pile; there were over 400 000 backyard trash
incinerators. On warm afternoons, eyes would sometimes sting and burn as the smoke could not
move over the mountains because of inversion. The combination of this smoke and smoke from
automobiles mixed with fog from the ocean formed “smog,” as it was dubbed in Los Angeles.
People would stop, close their eyes, and let the cleansing tears refresh irritated eyes. They
accepted this as a normal part of life in sunny California. Later, in the 1970s, the effect of
sunlight on the air and smoke inversion created a photochemical type of smog. Vancouver has a
very similar geographical layout. It, too, is ringed by mountains and, especially in winter, has a
lot of fog. Based on the lesson learned in California, however, Vancouver never allowed people
to burn anything in their backyards. Today, Vancouver enjoys an excellent environment.
1) Part of the reason that people’s eyes would sting was the ________.
A) lead emissions from the burning trash
B) carbon monoxide from the burning trash
C) smoke and particulates from the burning trash
D) excess water vapour from the burning trash
E) plastics and chemicals in the burning trash
2) In the 1950s, Los Angeles became famous for its smog. One part of the problem was
________.
A) the increase in the number of automobiles
B) the heavy industry along the coastline
C) natural gas leaks from wells
D) the pollution from the dams on the Colorado River
E) the dust from inland farms suffering extended droughts
3) One key to the puzzle of Los Angeles smog is the fact that ________.
A) the offshore breezes carry inland pollution to coastal Los Angeles
B) the Hadley cell for that area drops cool air, and pollution, right over Los Angeles
C) Los Angeles and its suburbs are all ringed by mountains
D) incoming tides in the harbour push air pollution ahead of them
E) there are so many rainy days, increasing the acidic deposition
4) The Los Angeles smog problem is made much worse by ________.
A) the foggy climate, which leads to acidic deposition
B) nearby mountains and the sunshine, which cause inversion layers
C) the convection cells, which bring pollutants from other cities
D) the high cloud levels, which deplete the local ozone layer
E) the onshore breezes, which prevent pollution from dispersing
5) In the mid-1950s, a researcher in Los Angeles was able to create smog by setting up a large,
clear chamber and using it to expose auto exhaust to sunlight. He was demonstrating ________.
A) the cause of acidic deposition
B) point source pollution
C) non-point source pollution
D) the cause of ozone depletion
E) photochemical reactions
6) By the late 1950s, four counties in southern California had created air pollution control
districts, agreeing that ________.
A) the major problem, non-point source pollution, was primarily in Los Angeles
B) the major problem, point source pollution, was primarily in Los Angeles
C) the most effective method was for each city to address its own polluters individually
D) air pollution was more effectively regulated by counties than by individual cities
E) more and better freeways would help solve the problem
7) In 1958 trash collection programs were established, and backyard incinerators were banned in
the hope of reducing smog. However, it was estimated that massive amounts of gasoline were
evaporating from storage tanks, fuel pump nozzles, and delivery trucks. This was also considered
a serious contributor to smog, and over the next 20 years several new rules, and several new
devices, were put in place to alleviate it. There was still a great deal of smog, now identified as
photochemical smog, despite the changes. The major remaining problem was ________.
A) indoor pollution from new houses, with new furniture
B) the influx of new manufacturing, with new chemicals
C) too many coal-fired power plants along the coast
D) the large distances travelled daily by solitary commuters
E) insufficient city funding to improve waste dumps
i
o
n