ESC 20: Environmental Science and Engineering
Lecture 2: Significant Environmental Issues
Karl Adrian Gandionco
College of Engineering
Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan
Significant Environmental Issues
a. Climate Change
b. Air Pollution
c. Ozone Depletion
d. Water Pollution
e. Eutrophication
f. Solid Waste
g. Land Degradation
h. Resource Depletion
i. Nuclear Risks
Why should we worry about climate change?
Climate Change
Climate change encompasses global warming but refers to the broader range of changes that are
happening to our planet. These include rising sea levels, shrinking mountain glaciers, accelerating
ice melt in Greenland, Antartica and the Artic, and shifts in flower or plant blooming times.
Climate Change
The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 0.9 degrees Celsius since the late 19th
century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the
atmosphere.
Climate Change
Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting
ice sheets and the expansion of seawater.
Global Warming
The trapping of heat near Earth’s surface by gases in the atmosphere is the greenhouse effect.
H2O + hν H 2O *
CO2 + hν CO2*
Climate Change
Why don’t N2 and O2 contribute to the
greenhouse effect ?
N2 and O2 cannot absorb IR
radiation.
3 vibration
modes of H2O
2 of the vibration modes of CO2
Carbon Dioxide Concentration in the Atmosphere
Human activities contribute greatly to the continuous increase
of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.
• Petrochemical plants
• Power plants
• Manufacturing plants
• Transport vehicles
Many scientists consider an atmospheric CO2 concentration
of 450 ppm as a red line.
9
Ozone Depletion
Ozone is a gas which is composed of three atoms of oxygen (O3). Ozone occurs both in the Earth’s
upper atmosphere and at ground level. Ozone can be good or bad, depending on where it is found.
Ozone Depletion
O3 production
UV
O2 O+O
< 240 nm dynamic equilibrium
O + O2 + M O3 + M
O3 destruction
UV
UV
O3 O + O2
O + O3 2O2
Ozone Layer
Ozone Depletion
Anthropogenic O3 destruction
UV
CFCl3 CFCl2 + Cl
UV
CF2Cl2 CF2Cl + Cl
Cl + O3 ClO + O2
+ ClO + O Cl + O2
O3 + O 2O2
Cl catalyzes the reaction
Concentrations of Chlorine Monoxide and Ozone Versus Latitude
Concentrations of Chlorine Monoxide and Ozone Versus Latitude
Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) provide a surface for the reaction:
HCl + ClONO2 Cl2 + HNO3
Cl2 + hν 2Cl
Cl + O3 ClO + O2
+ ClO + O Cl + O2
O3 + O 2O2
Ozone Depletion (in purple) Over the South Pole
Air Pollution
Air pollution problems may occur on three scales: micro,
meso, and macro.
o Microscale problems
range from those covering less than a centimeter to
those the size of a house or slightly larger.
o Mesoscale problems
are those of a few hectares up to the size of a city or
county.
o Macroscale problems
extend from counties to states, nations, and in the
broadest sense, the globe.
Indoor Pollution
The air quality in homes and in the workplace is affected by
human activities, by construction materials, and by other factors
in our immediate environment. The common indoor pollutants are
radon, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and
formaldehyde.
Radon is a member of Group 8A (the noble gases). It is an
intermediate product of the radioactive decay of uranium-238.
Since the 1970s, high levels of radon have been detected in
homes built on reclaimed land above uranium mill tailing
deposits.
Indoor Pollution
Radon-222 is an alpha emitter. When it decays, it produces radioactive polonium-214 and polonium-218,
which can build up to high levels in an enclosed space.
Sources of Background Radiation
Indoor Pollution
Carbon monoxide and Carbon dioxide
The indoor sources of these gases are gas cooking ranges, woodstoves, space heaters,
tobacco smoke, human respiration, and exhaust fumes from cars (in garages).
Indoor Pollution
Carbon monoxide and Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is not a toxic gas, but it does have an
asphyxiating effect. In airtight buildings, the concentration of
CO2 can reach as high as 2000 ppm by volume (compared
with 3 ppm outdoors).
Carbon monoxide is also a colorless and odorless gas, but it
differs from CO2 in that it is highly poisonous. The toxicity of
CO lies in its unusual ability to bind very strongly to
hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier in blood. A small amount of
CO intake can cause drowsiness and headache; death may
result when about half the hemoglobin molecules are
complexed with CO.
Both O2 and CO bind to the Fe(II) ion in hemoglobin, but the
affinity of hemoglobin for CO is about 200 times greater than
that for O2 (see Chapter 25). Hemoglobin molecules with
tightly bound CO (called carboxyhemoglobin) cannot carry the
oxygen needed for metabolic processes.
Indoor Pollution
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde (CH2O) is a rather disagreeable-smelling
liquid used as a preservative for laboratory specimens.
Industrially, formaldehyde resins are used as bonding agents
in building and furniture construction materials such as
plywood and particle board. In addition, urea-formaldehyde
insulation foams are used to fill wall cavities.
The resins and foams slowly break down to release free
formaldehyde, especially under acid and humid conditions.
Low concentrations of formaldehyde in the air can cause
drowsiness, nausea, headaches, and other respiratory
ailments. Laboratory tests show that breathing high
concentrations of formaldehyde can induce cancers in
animals, but whether it has a similar effect in humans is
unclear. The safe standard of formaldehyde in indoor air has
been set at 0.1 ppm by volume.
Acid Rain
An active volcano emits gases, liquids, and solids. The gases spewed into the atmosphere include
primarily N2, CO2, HCl, HF, H2S, and water vapor. H2SO4 aerosols have a local cooling effect on the
atmosphere. In addition to destroying ozone in the stratosphere, sulfuric acid aerosols can also affect
climate. Because the stratosphere is above the atmospheric weather patterns, the aerosol clouds often
persist for more than a year. They absorb solar radiation and thereby cause a drop in temperature at
Earth’s surface. However, this cooling effect is local rather than global, because it depends on the site
and frequency of volcanic eruptions.
Acid Rain
It is estimated that volcanoes are the source of about two-thirds of the sulfur in the air.
At high temperatures, the hydrogen sulfide gas given off by a volcano is oxidized by air:
2H2S (g) + 3O2 (g) 2SO2 (g) + 2H2O
(g)
Some of the SO2 is reduced by more H2S from the volcano to elemental sulfur and water:
2H2S (g) + SO2 (g) 3S (s) + 2H2O (g)
The rest of the SO2 is released into the atmosphere, where it reacts with water to form acid rain
(H2SO4).
Acid Rain
SO2 (g) + OH (g) HOSO2 (g)
HOSO2 (g) + O2 (g) HO2 (g) + SO3
(g)
SO3 (g) + H2O (g) H2SO4 (g)
Mean
precipitati
on pH in
1994
Acid Rain
CaCO3 (s) + H2SO4 (aq) CaSO4 (s) + H2O (l) + CO2
(g)
2CaCO3 (s) + 2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) 2CaSO4 (s) + CO2
(g)
The Effect of Acid Rain on the Marble Statue of George
Washington (New York City). Photos Taken in 1944 and 1994
Acid Rain
Water Pollution
Throughout history, the quality of drinking water has been a factor in determining human
welfare. Fecal pollution of drinking water has frequently caused waterborne diseases that
have decimated the populations of whole cities.
Unwholesome water polluted by sewage has caused great hardship for people forced to drink
it or use it for irrigation.
Water Pollution
An on-going concern with water safety now is the potential presence of chemical pollutants.
These may include organic chemicals, inorganics, and heavy metals from industrial, urban
runoff, and agricultural sources.
Water Pollution
General Types of Water Pollutants
Water Pollution
Important Trace Elements in Natural Waters
Eutrophication
Eutrophication, derived from a Greek word meaning “well-nourished”, describes a condition of lakes or
reservoirs involving excess algal growth.
Although some algal productivity is necessary to support the food chain in an aquatic ecosystem, excess
growth under eutrophic conditions may eventually lead to severe deterioration of the body of water.
Eutrophication
The first step in eutrophication of a body of water is an input of nutrients from watershed runoff or
sewage.
The nutrient-rich body of water then produces a great deal of plant biomass by photosynthesis, along
with a smaller amount of animal biomass.
Eutrophication
Dead biomass accumulates in the bottom of the lake, where it partially decays, recycling nutrient carbon
dioxide, phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. If the lake is not too deep, bottom-rooted plants begin to
grow, accelerating the accumulation of solid material in the basin. Eventually a marsh is formed, which
finally fills in to produce a meadow or forest.
Solid Waste
Solid waste includes any discarded item, things destined for reuse, recycle, or reclamation,
sludges, and hazardous wastes (US EPA).
Solid Waste
Composition of Municipal Solid Waste
Land Degradation
Land degradation is caused by multiple
forces, including extreme weather
conditions, particularly drought. It is also
caused by human activities that pollute or
degrade the quality of soils and land
utility. It negatively affects food
production, livelihoods, and the
production and provision of other
ecosystem goods and services.
Desertification is a form of land
degradation by which fertile land
becomes desert.
Land Degradation
What are the threats to land integrity?
Land degradation has accelerated during the 20th and 21st centuries due to increasing and combined
pressures of agricultural and livestock production (over-cultivation, overgrazing, forest conversion),
urbanization, deforestation and extreme weather events such as droughts and coastal surges, which
salinate land.
What does land degradation mean for the planet?
These social and environmental processes are stressing the world's arable lands and pastures essential
for the provision of food and water and quality air. Land degradation and desertification can affect human
health through complex pathways. As land is degraded and deserts expand in some places, food
production is reduced, water sources dry up and populations are pressured to move to more hospitable
areas.
What effect does desertification on human health?
The potential impacts of desertification on health include:
higher threats of malnutrition from reduced food and water supplies; more water- and food-borne
diseases that result from poor hygiene and a lack of clean water; respiratory diseases caused by
atmospheric dust from wind erosion and other air pollutants; the spread of infectious diseases as
populations migrate.
Resource Depletion
Resource depletion is the consumption of a resource
faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources are
commonly divided between renewable resources and
non-renewable resources (see also mineral resource
classification). Use of either of these forms of resources
beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be
resource depletion. The value of a resource is a direct
result of its availability in nature and the cost of extracting
the resource, the more a resource is depleted the more
the value of the resource increases. There are several
types of resource depletion, the most known being:
Aquifer depletion, deforestation, mining for fossil fuels and
minerals, pollution or contamination of resources,
slash-and-burn agricultural practices, soil erosion, and
overconsumption, excessive or unnecessary use of
resources.
Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference
to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and consumption
of fossil fuels. Depletion of wildlife populations is called
defaunation.
Nuclear Risks
Natural Background
People are exposed to natural radiation from
cosmic, terrestrial, and internal sources.
Cosmic radiation is a type of radiation that
originates outside of our atmosphere. This radiation
consists predominately, if not entirely, of protons
whose energy spectrum peaks in the range of 1 to
2 GeV.
Nuclear Risks
Terrestrial radiation exposure comes from the 50
naturally occurring radionuclides found in the
Earth’s crust. Of these, radon has come to have
the most significance as a common environmental
hazard to the general public.
The hazard of radon does not come from radon
itself but from its radioactive decay products (218Po,
214
Po, 214Bi). The decay products are charged
atoms of heavy metals that readily attach
themselves to airborne particulates.
Nuclear Risks
Internal Radiation
Any radioactive material that gains entry into the body is an internal hazard. The extent of the hazard
depends on the type of radiation emitted, its energy, the physical and biological half-life of the
material, and the radiosensitivity of the organ where the isotope localizes. Alpha and beta emitters are
the most dangerous radionuclides from the standpoint internal hazard because their specific ionization is
very high.
Radionuclides with half-lives of intermediate length are the most dangerous because they combine
fairly high activity with a half-life sufficiently long to cause considerable damage. Polonium is an example
of a potentially very serious internal hazard. It emits a highly ionizing alpha particle of energy 5.3 MeV
and has a half-life of 138 days.
Nuclear Risks
Radioactive Wastes
There are three principal sources of radioactive wastes: reactors and chemical processing plants,
research facilities, and medical facilities. Regulations for the handling and disposal of radioactive
wastes are designed to minimize exposure to the general public, but the regulations obviously provide
less protection to those handling the waste.
Types of Waste
No single scheme is satisfactory for classifying radioactive waste in a quantitative way. Usage has led us
to categorize wastes into “levels.” High-level wastes are those with activities measured in curies per
liter; intermediate-level wastes have activities measured in millicuries per liter; low-level wastes
have activities measured in microcuries per liter.
References
1. Chang, R. (2010). Chemistry. 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
2. Masten, S.J and Davis, M.L (2009). Principles of Environmental Engineering and Science. Mc-Graw
Hill Inc.
3. Global Monitoring Laboratory, Earth System Research Laboratories
[Link]
3. World Health Organization
[Link]
4. Wikipedia
[Link]
5. Encyclopaedia Britannica
[Link]
6. Google Images
Any Questions?
Should you have any questions regarding the lecture material, please feel free to contact me through my XU
email address. You can also post your questions on our eLearn virtual classroom by creating a discussion forum
on the main course section.
Thank you!
