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CHAPTER 15
AIR POLLUTION, CLIMATE CHANGE,
AND OZONE DEPLETION
Outline
15-1 What is the nature of the atmosphere?
A. The atmosphere consists of several layers.
B. A thin envelope of gases surrounding the earth is called the atmosphere.
1. The troposphere is the atmospheric layer closest to the earth’s surface extending only about 17
kilometers (11 miles) above sea level at the equator and 8 kilometers (5 miles) over the poles.
2. The atmosphere’s second layer is the stratosphere, which extends from about 17 to about 48
kilometers (from 11 to 30 miles) above the earth’s surface.
3. Composition is similar to troposphere, except the water vapor is about 1/1,000 and its
concentration of ozone (O3) is much higher.
4. Ozone (O3) is concentrated in a portion of the stratosphere called the ozone layer, found roughly
17–30 kilometers (11–19 miles) above sea level.
a. Stratospheric ozone is produced when some of the oxygen molecules there interact with
15-2 What are the major air pollution problems?
A. Air pollution comes from natural and human sources.
1. Air pollution is the presence of chemicals in the atmosphere in concentrations high enough to
harm organisms, ecosystems, or human made materials, or to alter climate.
2. Scientists classify outdoor air pollutants into two categories.
a. Primary pollutants are harmful chemicals emitted directly into the air from natural processes
3. Outdoor air pollution is a global problem, largely due to the sheer volume of pollutants produced
by human activities
A. What are the major outdoor air pollutants?
1. Carbon oxides.
a. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, and highly toxic gas that forms from motor
vehicle exhaust, burning of forests and grasslands, tobacco smoke, and open fires and
inefficient stoves used for cooking.
i. CO reacts with hemoglobin in red blood cells and reduces the ability of blood to transport
Instructor’s Manual for Environmental Science, 15th edition
b. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a colorless, odorless gas.
i. About 93% of the CO2 in the atmosphere is the result of the natural carbon cycle.
ii. The rest comes from human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and the
clearing of CO2-absorbing forests and grasslands.
iii. Until recently CO2 has not been classified as an air pollutant.
iv. Growing scientific evidence that increasing levels of CO2 are contributing to atmospheric
warming and projected climate change, which can contribute to human health problems.
c. Nitrogen oxides and nitric acid.
i. Nitric oxide (NO) is a colorless gas that forms when nitrogen and oxygen gas in air react
at the high-combustion temperatures in automobile engines and coal-burning power and
industrial plants.
viii. Nitrogen oxides can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat; aggravate lung ailments such as
asthma and bronchitis; and suppress plant growth and reduce visibility when they are
converted to nitric acid and nitrate salts.
d. Sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid.
i. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a colorless gas with an irritating odor.
ii. About one third of the SO2 in the atmosphere comes from natural sources as part of the
sulfur cycle.
e. Particulates.
i. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) consists of a variety of solid particles and liquid
droplets small and light enough to remain suspended in the air for long periods.
ii. EPA classifies particles as fine, or PM-10 (with diameters less than 10 micrometers), and
ultrafine, or PM-2.5 (with diameters less than 2.5 micrometers).
f. Ozone.
i. Ozone (O3), a colorless and highly reactive gas, is a major ingredient of photochemical
smog.
ii. Causes coughing and breathing problems, aggravates lung and heart diseases, reduces
resistance to colds and pneumonia, and irritates the eyes, nose, and throat.
iii. Damages plants, rubber in tires, fabrics, and paints.
Chapter 15: Air Pollution, Climate Disruption, and Ozone Depletion
B. Burning coal produces industrial smog.
1. Sixty years ago, cities such as London, England, and the U.S. cities of Chicago, Illinois, and
2. People in such cities, especially during winter, were exposed to industrial smog consisting mostly
3. Today, urban industrial smog is rarely a problem in most more-developed countries using
pollution controls.
4. In industrialized urban areas of China, India, Ukraine, and some eastern European countries, large
quantities of coal are still burned in houses, power plants, and factories with inadequate pollution
C. Sunlight plus cars equals photochemical smog.
2. Photochemical smog is a mixture of primary and secondary pollutants formed under the influence
of UV radiation from the sun.
4. The NO is converted to reddish-brown NO2, which leads to the name brown-air smog.
6. The resulting mixture of pollutants, dominated by ground-level ozone, usually builds up to peak
levels by late morning, irritating people’s eyes and respiratory tracts.
8. All modern cities have some photochemical smog, but it is much more common in cities with
sunny, warm, and dry climates, and a great number of motor vehicles.
9. CONNECTIONS: Short Driving Trips and Air Pollution
a. About 60% of the pollution from motor vehicle emissions occurs in the first minutes of
D. Several factors can decrease or increase outdoor air pollution.
1. Five natural factors help reduce outdoor air pollution.
a. Particles heavier than air settle out as a result of gravitational attraction to the earth.
2. Six other factors can increase outdoor air pollution.
a. Urban buildings slow wind speed and reduce dilution and removal of pollutants.
b. Hills and mountains reduce the flow of air in valleys below them and allow pollutant levels to
build up at ground level.
Instructor’s Manual for Environmental Science, 15th edition
E. Acid deposition is a serious regional air pollution problem.
1. Most coal-burning power plants, ore smelters, and other industrial facilities in more-developed
2. Prevailing winds may transport the primary pollutants SO2 and NOx as far as 1,000 kilometers
3. Descend to the earth’s surface in two forms:
4. Mixture of wet and dry is called acid deposition—sometimes called acid rain.
F. Acid deposition has a number of harmful effects.
1. Damages statues and buildings, contributes to human respiratory diseases, and can leach toxic
2. Toxic metals can accumulate in the tissues of fish which are eaten by people and other animals.
4. Harms aquatic ecosystems, and can leave lakes with few if any fish.
5. Indirectly kills trees by leaching essential plant nutrients such as calcium and magnesium from
G. We know how to reduce acid deposition.
2. Implementing these solutions is politically difficult.
3. CONNECTIONS: Low-Sulfur Coal, Climate Change, and Toxic Mercury.
H. Indoor air pollution is a serious problem.
1. In less-developed countries, the indoor burning of wood, charcoal, dung, crop residues, coal, and
3. EPA studies have revealed some alarming facts about indoor air pollution.
a. Levels of 11 common pollutants generally are two to five times higher inside U.S. homes and
4. The four most dangerous indoor air pollutants in more-developed countries are:
A. tobacco smoke
Chapter 15: Air Pollution, Climate Disruption, and Ozone Depletion
burning facilities, wood burning, and forest and grass fires
I. Air pollution is a big killer
1. Your respiratory system helps protect you from air pollution.
a. Hairs in your nose filter out large particles.
2. Prolonged or acute exposure to air pollutants, including tobacco smoke, can overload or break
down these natural defenses.
4. Years of smoking or breathing polluted air can lead to other lung ailments such as chronic
bronchitis and emphysema, which leads to acute shortness of breath.
6. The annual number of deaths related to indoor and outdoor air pollution ranges from 150,000 to
350,000 people in the U.S.
8. Every year, more than 125,000 Americans get cancer from breathing soot-laden diesel fumes
emitted by buses, trucks, tractors, construction equipment, and train engines.
15-3 How should we deal with air pollution?
A. Laws and regulations can reduce outdoor air pollution.
1. The United States provides an excellent example of how a regulatory approach can reduce air
pollution.
2. The U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Acts in 1970, 1977, and 1990.
a. The federal government established air pollution regulations for key pollutants that are
enforced by states and major cities.
b. Six major outdoor pollutants regulated:
i. Carbon monoxide
3. The combined emissions of the six major pollutants decreased by about 54% between 1980 and
4. The reduction of outdoor air pollution in the United States since 1970 has been a remarkable
5. U.S. air pollution laws could be strengthened by:
a. Putting much greater emphasis on preventing air pollution.
b. Sharply reducing emissions from older coal-burning power and industrial plants, cement plants,
Instructor’s Manual for Environmental Science, 15th edition
B. We can use the marketplace to reduce outdoor air pollution.
2. The Clean Air Act of 1990 authorized an emissions trading, or cap-and-trade, program, enabled
coal-burning power plants to buy and sell SO2 pollution rights.
a. Each plant is annually given a number of pollution credits, which allow it to emit a certain
3. Emissions trading is also being used for NOx.
C. There are many ways to reduce outdoor air pollution.
1. Figure 15-12 summarizes several ways to reduce emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and
2. Figure 15-13 lists several ways to prevent and reduce emissions from motor vehicles, the primary
factor in the formation of photochemical smog.
D. Reducing indoor air pollution should be a priority.
2. Several ways to prevent or reduce indoor air pollution in less-developed countries.
a. Use inexpensive clay or metal stoves that burn fuels more efficiently and vent their exhaust to
E. We can emphasize pollution prevention.
1. Greater emphasis on preventing air pollution.
3. Citizens can, through their purchases, put economic pressure on companies to get them to
manufacture and sell products and services that do not add to pollution problems.
15-4 How might the earth’s climate change in the future?
A. Weather and climate are not the same.
2. Climate is determined by the average weather conditions of the earth or of a particular area,
3. One or two warmer or colder years or decades can result simply from changes in the weather and
do not necessarily tell us that the earth’s climate is warming or cooling.
4. Climate scientists look at data on normally changing weather conditions to see if there has been a
B. Climate change is not new.
1. Over the past 3.5 billion years, the planet’s climate has been altered by volcanic emissions,
3. For roughly 10,000 years, we have lived in an interglacial period characterized by a fairly stable
4. For the past 1,000 years, the average temperature of the atmosphere has remained fairly stable but
5. Past temperature changes are estimated through analysis of radioisotopes in rocks and fossils;
plankton and radioisotopes in ocean sediments; tiny bubbles, layers of soot, and other materials
C. Human activities emit large quantities of greenhouse gases
1. A natural process called the greenhouse effect occurs when some of the solar energy absorbed by
the earth radiates into the atmosphere as infrared radiation (heat).
2. Four greenhouse gases absorb the heat which warms the lower atmosphere and the earth’s surface,
helping to create a livable climate.
a. Water vapor (H2O).
3. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s, human actions—mainly the
4. The average atmospheric concentration of CO2 rose dramatically during that time, along with the
average temperature of the atmosphere
5. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 to document
6. In 2007, the IPCC issued a report based on more than 29,000 sets of data, finding that:
a. The earth’s lower atmosphere has warmed, especially since 1980, due mostly to increased
7. Evidence that the IPCC and other climate scientists used to support the major conclusions of the
2007 IPCC report:
a. Between 1906 and 2005, the average global surface temperature has risen by about 0.74 C°
(1.3 F°). Most of this increase has taken place since 1980.
b. Average levels of CO2 in the atmosphere rose sharply between 1960 and 2010.
c. The first decade in this century (2000–2009) was the warmest decade since, and 2010 was the
D. CO2 emissions play an important role.
1. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show that the
2. Major climate models indicate a need to prevent CO2 levels from exceeding 450 ppm—an
3. SCIENCE FOCUS: Using Models to Project Future Changes in Atmospheric Temperature and
Climate.
4. INDIVIDUALS MATTER Sounding the Alarm—James Hansen
a. In 1988, climate scientist James Hansen appeared before a U.S. Congressional committee and
stated that atmospheric warming was a grave threat made worse by emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases resulting from human activities. With that, he kicked off
E. What role does the sun play?
1. The energy output of the sun plays the key role in the earth’s temperature and this output has
2. The atmosphere is now heating from the bottom up, which indicates that inputs at the earth’s
surface play an important role.
3. Since the mid-1970s, the sun’s output has remained about the same and thus cannot account for
the rise in temperature since 1975.
F. What role do oceans play in projected climate disruption?
2. The oceans absorb heat from the lower atmosphere and currents slowly transfer some CO2 to the
deep ocean.
4. The upper portion of the oceans warmed by an average of 0.32–0.67Cº (0.6–1.2Fº) during the last
5. Increasing levels of CO2 in the ocean have increased the acidity of its surface. This threatens
corals and other organisms with shells made of calcium carbonate, which dissolves when acidity
reaches a certain level.
G. There is uncertainty about the effects of cloud cover on projected atmospheric warming.
1. Warmer temperatures increase evaporation of surface water and create more clouds, which can
either warm or cool the atmosphere.
3. An increase in thin, wispy cirrus clouds at high altitudes could increase the warming of the lower
atmosphere by preventing more heat from escaping into space.
4. CONNECTIONS: Air Travel and Atmospheric Warming
15-5 What are some possible effects of a warmer atmosphere?
A. Enhanced atmospheric warming could have severe consequences.
2. This is very likely to cause climate disruption, a rapid change in the fairly mild climate that we
3. Such changes will determine where we can grow food and how much of it we can grow; which
4. A 2003 U.S. National Academy of Sciences report laid out a nightmarish worst-case scenario in
which human activities, alone or in combination with natural factors, trigger new and abrupt
climate and ecological changes that could last for thousands of years.
a. Ecosystems collapsing.
b. Floods in low-lying coastal cities.
c. Forests consumed in vast wildfires.
B. Severe drought is likely to increase.
1. Severe and prolonged drought affects at least 30% of the earth’s land (excluding Antarctica).
3. Effects of increased drought could include:
a. The growth of trees and other plants declines.
b. Wildfires increase in frequency.
c. Declining stream flows and less available surface water
C. More ice and snow are likely to melt.
a. Climate models predict that climate change will be the most severe in the world’s polar
regions.
b. Light-colored ice and snow in these regions help to cool the earth by reflecting incoming solar
energy.
2. During the past 25 years, many of the world’s mountain glaciers have been melting and shrinking
at accelerating rates.
3. CONNECTIONS: Melting Permafrost and Atmospheric Warming.
a. Ice within soils and ocean bottom sediments, or permafrost, is melting.
D. Sea levels are rising.
1. A 2008 U.S. Geological Survey report concluded that the world’s average sea level will most
likely rise 0.8–2 meters (3–6.5 feet) by the end of this century and probably keep rising for
centuries.
2. Rising sea levels are due to the expansion of seawater as it warms, and to the melting of land-
based ice.
3. A 1-meter (3.3-foot) rise in the world’s average sea level by 2100 could:
a. degrade or destroy at least one-third of the world’s coastal estuaries, wetlands, and coral
4. The projected rise in sea levels would also:
a. flood agricultural lowlands and deltas in coastal areas where much of the world’s rice is
grown.
b. cause saltwater contamination of freshwater coastal aquifers and decreased supplies of
E. Extreme weather is likely to increase in some areas.
1. Atmospheric warming will increase the incidence and intensity of extreme weather events such as
severe droughts and heat waves in some areas.
2. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, so other areas will experience increased flooding
from heavy and prolonged precipitation.
3. In some areas, global atmospheric warming will likely lead to colder winter weather.
4. CONNECTIONS: Atmospheric Warming and Colder Winter Weather
a. As the average temperature of the atmosphere rises, some parts of earth will likely
experience colder winter weather.
5. The consensus view of the effect of atmospheric warming on tropical storms and hurricanes is that
projected atmospheric warming is likely lead to fewer but stronger hurricanes that could cause
more damage.
F. Climate disruption is a threat change will threaten biodiversity.
2. Approximately 30% of the land-based plant and animal species assessed so far could disappear if
the average global temperature change exceeds 1.5–2.5ºC (2.7–4.5ºF).
3. The hardest hit will be:
a. Plant and animal species in colder climates
4. The populations of plant and animal species that thrive in warmer climates could grow.
5. The ecosystems most likely to suffer disruption and species loss from climate change are:
a. Coral reefs.
6. The warmer climate would increase populations of insects and fungi that damage trees.
7. Shifts in regional climate would also threaten many existing state and national parks, wildlife
reserves, wilderness areas, and wetlands, along with much of the biodiversity they contain.
G. Agriculture could face an overall decline
2. Climate change models predict a decline in agricultural productivity in tropical and subtropical
regions.
4. Food production could also decrease in farm regions that are dependent on rivers fed by snow and
glacial melt, and in any arid and semiarid areas where droughts become more prolonged.
6. By 2050, some 200–600 million of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people could face
starvation and malnutrition due to the effects of projected climate disruption.
H. A warmer world is likely to threaten the health of many people.
1. More frequent and prolonged heat waves in some areas will increase numbers of deaths and
2. Hunger and malnutrition will increase in areas where agricultural production drops.
4. Microbes that cause infectious tropical diseases such as dengue fever and yellow fever are likely
5. A 2009 study estimated that climate disruption already contributes to the premature deaths of
15-6 What can we do to slow projected climate change?
A. What are our options?
1. Calling for urgent action at the national and international levels to curb greenhouse gas
emissions by regulating and taxing such emissions will not work.
2. Important short-term benefits for individuals, corporations, schools, and universities of
working locally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include:
3. Most climate scientists argue that our most urgent priority is to do all we can to avoid any and
4. There are two basic approaches to dealing with the projected harmful effects of global climate
disruption.
5. Some say that climate change will provide economic opportunity and that making a shift to a
Instructor’s Manual for Environmental Science, 15th edition
B. Preventing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions
1. Four major prevention strategies.
a. Improve energy efficiency to reduce fossil fuel use, especially the use of coal.
2. Output, or cleanup, strategies focus on dealing with CO2 after it has been produced.
a. Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, involves removing CO2 from the smokestacks of
3. CONNECTIONS: Sea Creatures, Carbon Dioxide, and Cement.
a. In 2010, earth science professor Brent Constantz developed a process for removing CO2
4. Focus on reducing and preventing greenhouse gas emissions, as soon as possible.
5. Some scientists urge us to increase efforts to reduce emissions of other greenhouse gases.
6. Geo-engineering or trying to manipulate natural conditions to counter an enhanced
greenhouse effect.
7. One major problem with most of these technological fixes, and with some carbon capture and
8. If we rely on these systems and continue emitting greenhouse gases, and if the systems then
fail, atmospheric temperatures will likely soar at a rapid rate, greatly speeding up the
processes of climate disruption.
C. Governments can help to reduce the threat of climate disruption.
1. Governments can use six major methods to promote the solutions.
a. Strictly regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) as climate-changing
pollutants.
b. Phase out the most inefficient polluting coal-burning power plants and replace them
with more efficient and cleaner natural gas and renewable energy alternatives such as
2. Many say that the most critical goal for governments is to find ways to put a price on carbon
emissions.
3. The resulting higher costs for fossil fuels may spur innovation in finding ways to reduce
4. Establishing laws and regulations that raise the price of fossil fuels is politically difficult
because of the immense political and economic power of the fossil fuel industries.
5. In December 1997, delegates from 161 nations met in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate a treaty to
slow global warming and its projected climate disruption.
a. The Kyoto Protocol went into effect in 2005 with 187 of the world’s 194 countries
D. Some countries, states and localities are leading the way.
2. China has one of the world’s most intensive energy efficiency programs.
4. Since 1990, local governments in more than 650 cities around the world (including more than
450 U.S. cities) have established programs to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
E. Some companies are reducing their carbon footprints
1. Leaders of some of the most prominent U.S. companies, including Alcoa, DuPont, Ford Motor
Company, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and Shell Oil, have joined with leading
F. Colleges and universities are going green
1. Some colleges and universities in the U.S.A., Costa Rica, Canada, and the United Kingdom are
taking action.
G. We can prepare for climate change.
1. Individual Choices Make a Difference.
a. Each of us plays a part in the projected acceleration of atmospheric warming and climate
H. We can prepare for climate change.
1. The world needs to make a 50–85% cut in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 to stabilize
2. Also should begin to prepare for the likely harmful effects of projected climate disruption.
I. A no-regrets strategy.
1. What if it turns out that the climate models are wrong and atmospheric warming is not a serious
threat?
a. Should we abandon the search for preventive solutions?
15-7 How have we depleted ozone in the stratosphere and what can we do about it?
A. Our use of certain chemicals threatens the ozone layer.
1. A layer of ozone in the lower stratosphere keeps about 95% of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV-
A and UV-B) radiation from reaching the earth’s surface.
2. Measurements show considerable seasonal depletion (thinning) of ozone concentrations in the
4. Problem began with the discovery of the first chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) in 1930 and later Freon.
a. Popular non-toxic, inexpensive coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators, propellants in
5. INDIVIDUALS MATTER: Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina—A Scientific Story of
Expertise, Courage, and Persistence
a. In 1974, chemists Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina of the University of California found
that CFCs were lowering the average concentration of ozone in the stratosphere. They called
for an immediate ban of CFCs in spray cans.
B. Why should we worry about ozone depletion?
1. More biologically damaging UV-A and UV-B radiation will reach the earth’s surface.
2. Causes problems with human health, crop yields, forest productivity, climate change, wildlife
populations, air pollution, and degradation of outdoor materials.
C. We can reverse stratospheric ozone depletion.
2. In 2008, the area of ozone thinning was still near its record high of 29 million square kilometers
(11 million square miles), set in 2006.
3. Models indicate that even with immediate and sustained action.
4. CONNECTIONS: Atmospheric Warming and Repair of the Ozone Layer.
5. In 1987, representatives of 36 nations met in Montreal, Canada, and developed the Montreal
Protocol to cut emissions of CFCs.
D. The three big ideas for this chapter:
2. Reducing the projected harmful effects of rapid climate disruption during this century requires
Chapter 15: Air Pollution, Climate Disruption, and Ozone Depletion
Objectives
15-1 What is the nature of the atmosphere?
CONCEPT 15-1 The two innermost layers of the atmosphere are the troposphere, which supports life, and the
stratosphere, which contains the protective ozone layer.
1. List and briefly describe the two bottom layers of the atmosphere. Compare the function of ozone in
15-2 What are the major air pollution problems?
CONCEPT 15-2A Three major outdoor air pollution problems are industrial smog caused mostly by the
burning coal, photochemical smog caused by motor vehicle and industrial emissions, and acid deposition caused
mainly by coal burning power and industrial plants and motor vehicle exhaust.
CONCEPT 15-2B The most threatening indoor air pollutants are smoke and soot from wood and coal fires
(mostly in less-developed countries), cigarette smoke, and chemicals used in building materials and cleaning
products.
1. List the major classes of outdoor air pollutants. Distinguish photochemical from industrial smog.
Explain how outdoor air pollution is commonly reduced, and how it is commonly increased.
2. Distinguish between acid rain, wet and dry deposition. Mention the primary causes of acid depositions.
4. Summarize air pollution effects on human health. Understand how the human lungs protect us from the
effects of air pollutant exposures.
15-3 How should we deal with air pollution?
CONCEPT 15-3 Legal, economic, and technological tools can help us clean up air pollution, but the best
solution is to prevent it.
1. Summarize the Clean Air Act. List six ways to strengthen the Clean Air Act. Summarize the concept
3. List ways to reduce both outdoor and indoor air pollution. Discuss the importance of pollution
prevention.
15-4 How might the earth’s climate change in the future?
CONCEPT 15-4 Considerable scientific evidence indicates that the earth’s atmosphere is warming at a rate that
is likely to lead to significant climate change.
2. Describe patterns of timing of past glacial and interglacial periods. List the four greenhouse gases that
3. Describe the impact of carbon dioxide emissions and the oceans on climate disruption.
15-5 What are some possible effects of a warmer atmosphere?
Instructor’s Manual for Environmental Science, 15th edition
CONCEPT 15-5 The projected rapid change in the atmosphere’s temperature could have severe and long-
lasting consequences, including flooding, rising sea levels, and shifts in the locations of croplands and wildlife
habitats and more extreme weather.
15-6 What can we do to slow projected climate disruption?
CONCEPT 15-6 We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the threat of climate disruption while saving
money and improving human health if we cut energy waste and rely more on cleaner renewable energy
resources.
1. Note the short-term benefits of dealing with climate disruption. Define climate tipping point and
2. Summarize the role of individual governments and the international community. List examples of
15-7 How have we depleted ozone in the stratosphere and what can we do about it?
CONCEPT 15-7A Widespread use of certain chemicals has reduced ozone levels in the stratosphere and
allowed more harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach the earth’s surface.
CONCEPT 15-7B To reverse ozone depletion, we must stop producing ozone-depleting chemicals and adhere
to the international treaties that ban such chemicals.
1. Define ozone depletion and the ozone hole. Briefly describe what is happening to ozone in the
Key Terms
acid deposition
air pollution
atmosphere
carbon capture and storage
geoengineering
greenhouse effect
greenhouse gases
industrial smog
secondary pollutants
stratosphere
temperature inversion
troposphere
Teaching Tips
Examine your local weather and air quality and compare it to the national and global weather. Compare the
weather to the climate. Discuss some variables that might have influenced the weather.
Paper Topics
1. What are some of the variables influencing climate patterns such as El Niño/Southern Oscillation;
weather control and modification; the Gulf Stream; upwellings; and thermal inversions?
2. What is the greenhouse effect and how do the following relate: greenhouse gases; global warming and
our coastlines; global warming and the incidence of severe storms; deforestation and global warming;
climate and biodiversity; rates of global climate change and adaptation; global warming and
agriculture?
5. What are the sources of several indoor air pollutants and their associated health problems? How does
radon gas get into our homes? How can people control for indoor air pollution?
6. How does acid deposition form and then impact our world? Discuss the challenges with tall
7. How has our nation addressed the air quality issue? Include the Clean Air Act amendments; the EPA’s
8. How has the international community focused on the air quality issue? What are a few international
locations that have been able to solve their problems and how have they solved these problems? How
have the different countries addressed the ozone hole collectively?
Activities and Projects
1. Visit the chemistry department or invite a chemistry professor to visit your class to discuss
2. As a class exercise, interview farmers, foresters, and wildlife experts in your area to determine whether
they know of any plant, fish, or animal damage from air pollution. Is acid deposition a problem in your
locale? If so, what is the extent of the damage? Is anything being done about it?
3. Have a doctor or health official visit your class to explain and illustrate the various types of lung
4. Have an epidemiologist visit the class to present available evidence on relationships between air
pollution and human health.
6. Have a meteorologist visit your class to discuss the weather and climate patterns of your locale. Find
out if there are any atmospheric patterns in your area that aid or hinder air pollution effects.
8. Have your class make a community-wide survey of particulate fallout and plot the results on a map of
your area. Obtain some small, open-top boxes—all the same size. Use masking tape to stick a clean
piece of white typing paper in the bottom of each box. Place the boxes at various locations for a period
9. Have your class use a local map to determine the distance from your classroom or school to mountains,
hills, tall buildings, towers, and other recognizable landmarks at varying distances. Each day for
10. As a class project, test the vital capacity of the lungs of each member of the class. Your vital capacity
is the total volume of air you can exhale in one breath. Low vital capacity indicates that only a small
fraction of the volume of a person’s lungs is being used for breathing and obtaining oxygen. It can also
11. Ask your students to conduct a class or school survey to see what percentage of the respondents: (a)
12. As a class project, carefully prepare a questionnaire to investigate what people know about global
warming (causes and potential effects), attitudes toward potential global warming, and actions (if any)
they are willing to take to ameliorate rapid global climate change. Administer the questionnaire to a
variety of citizens, deciding on a sampling strategy in advance. Summarize your results in appropriate
tables, graphs, charts, and written descriptions. What conclusions can be drawn from your results?
Who might be interested in receiving a copy of your work?
Attitudes and Values Assessment
1. What is blowing in the wind in your community? How does the wind make you feel?
2. Do you feel that the development of your community is related to the climate of the area? Are there
any connections you have experienced? Within how many different climatic conditions have you
lived?
