Climate change, acid rain and ozone depletion are chemistry topics as much as they are environmental ones, and this deck of 20 flashcards breaks down the reactions behind each. You'll cover the greenhouse effect and the main greenhouse gases, the carbon cycle,...
Climate change, acid rain and ozone depletion are chemistry topics as much as they are environmental ones, and this deck of 20 flashcards breaks down the reactions behind each. You'll cover the greenhouse effect and the main greenhouse gases, the carbon cycle, and ocean acidification from excess atmospheric CO2, before moving into the chemical causes of acid rain and its effects on ecosystems and buildings. The deck explains how CFCs deplete the ozone layer and why the Montreal Protocol mattered, then covers water pollution concepts including eutrophication, biochemical oxygen demand, bioaccumulation and biomagnification, plus the stages of municipal water treatment. It finishes with green chemistry principles and key terms like carbon sinks and particulate matter. Suited to A-Level and AP Environmental Science or Chemistry, these flashcards link real environmental issues back to the underlying chemical processes that cause them.
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The natural process by which gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun, warming the Earth's surface; essential for life but intensified by human emissions.
Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapour, along with synthetic gases like CFCs.
Methane traps significantly more heat per molecule over a 20–100 year period, though it's less abundant and breaks down faster in the atmosphere than CO2.
The continuous movement of carbon through the atmosphere, oceans, soil and living organisms via processes like photosynthesis, respiration, combustion and decomposition.
The decreasing pH of seawater caused by absorption of excess atmospheric CO2, which forms carbonic acid and threatens marine organisms with calcium carbonate shells/skeletons.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from burning fossil fuels react with water vapour in the atmosphere to form sulfuric and nitric acids, which fall as acidic precipitation.
Damages forests and crops, acidifies lakes and rivers (harming aquatic life), and corrodes buildings and infrastructure, especially those made of limestone or marble.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and similar compounds release chlorine atoms in the stratosphere, which catalytically break down ozone (O3) molecules.
It absorbs most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet-B radiation, protecting living organisms from DNA damage and increased skin cancer/cataract risk.
The Montreal Protocol (1987), which phased out the production of ozone-depleting substances like CFCs.
Excessive nutrient enrichment (often from fertiliser runoff) in a body of water, causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen and harm aquatic life.
A measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by microorganisms decomposing organic matter in water — high BOD indicates pollution.
Point-source pollution comes from a single identifiable source (a factory pipe); non-point-source pollution comes from diffuse sources (agricultural runoff across a large area).
The gradual buildup of a substance (e.g. a pesticide or heavy metal) within an organism's tissues faster than it can be excreted.
The increasing concentration of a toxic substance at each successive level of a food chain, as predators consume many contaminated prey.
Screening, coagulation/flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection (commonly with chlorine or UV light).
Acidic, metal-laden water produced when sulfide minerals exposed by mining react with air and water to form sulfuric acid.
Designing chemical processes and products that reduce or eliminate hazardous substances, minimise waste, and use safer, more energy-efficient methods.
A natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores more carbon than it releases, such as forests, oceans and soil.
Tiny airborne particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
