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Earth and environmental Science for Teachers

Answer the following:

1.  Name a pollutant that you have studied – CARBON MONOXIDE

1.1 Explain why the substance that you have named is considered a pollutant

Carbon monoxide is used as a chemical intermediate in some chemical processes (production

of formaldehyde and methanol. is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is

slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities,

although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is

thought to have some normal biological functions. 

1.2 Outline a method by which the concentration of this pollutant is measured. Include the

units in which the concentration is expressed.

Carbon monoxide has a molar mass of 28.0, which makes it slightly lighter than air,

whose average molar mass is 28.8. According to the ideal gas law, CO is therefore

less dense than air. Neither gas is "ideal", however, so the exact densities and other 

comparative values depend upon temperature and pressure.

1.3 Describe a specific situation of location in which the pollutant occurs.

 During World War II, a gas mixture including carbon monoxide was used to

keep motor vehicles running in parts of the world where gasoline and diesel fuel was

scarce. External (with few exceptions) charcoal or wood gas generators were fitted,

and the mixture of atmospheric nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and smaller amounts of 

other gases produced by gasification was piped to a gas mixer. The gas mixture

 produced by this process is known aswood gas. Carbon monoxide was also, it was

reported, used on a small scale during the Holocaust at some Nazi extermination

camps, the most notable bygas vans in Chelmno, and in the Action T4 "euthanasia"

 program.

1.4 Describe the main characteristics of properties of the pollutant which contribute to how it

functions in the environment.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many

countries. Carbon monoxide is colourless, odorless, and tasteless, but highly toxic. It 

combines with hemoglobin to produce carboxyhemoglobin, which is ineffective for 

delivering oxygen to bodily tissues. Concentrations as low as 667 ppm may cause up

to 50% of the body's hemoglobin to convert to carboxyhemoglobin. A level of 50%

carboxyhemoglobin may result in seizure, coma, and fatality.

1.5 State one major direct and one major indirect way the pollutant significantly affects thehealth of humans or the environment. Describe the effect on human or other species.

Carbon monoxide is a major atmospheric pollutant in some urban areas, chiefly from

the exhaust of internal combustion engines (including vehicles, portable and back-up

generators, lawn mowers, power washers, etc.), but also from incomplete combustion

of various other fuels (including wood, coal, charcoal, oil, paraffin, propane, natural

gas, and trash).

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1.6 Describe a specific strategy that has reduced the risk of the pollutant affecting human health

and the environment.

Preventing and minimizing waste and pollution:

-  Buy only what you need and avoid accumulating unused products

-  Select products based on their durability, ease of repair, and potential for reuse

-  Purchase containers and packaging that can be recycled locally 

-  When safe to do so, select packaging that minimizes waste.

1.7 Evaluate how effective this risk reduction strategy has been. Describe the way this risk

reduction strategy could be improved.

 Reusing, recycling and compositing are three ways to reduce the risk of the

 pollutants.

 Reuse – you can usually find uses for more materials than you realize. Sharing old 

clothes, and used furniture is common from reuse.

 Recycle – wastes often can be recycled. Empty glass bottles can be used to make new

bottles. Old newspapers. Some plastic containers such as milk cartons and soda

bottles can be used to make new plastic things.

2.  Name a fossil fuel and a non-fossil fuel energy source you have studied

2.1 fossil –  petroleum; Non fossil – hydropower 

2.2 Name and describe one specific geographic location (town, region) where the fossil fuel (the

one you named) energy source is currently used or could be economically used to provide for

the energy needs of the location. Discuss whether the fossil fuel energy source will be able to

supply the energy requirements of the location.

El Nido, Palawan, Philippines. The Nido limestone and not the oil itself has been the main

objective in the search for oil ever since the first oil discovery at Nido-1 in 1976. The Philippine

Petroleum Resource assessment project developed a petroleum resource classification system

and established an inventory of Philippine Petroleum resources. The results showed that thecountry’s total nine billion barrels fuel oil equivalent. More than half of these are about fi ve

billion bfoe is estimated to occur in the offshore West Palawan and Sulu Sea regions.

2.3 Name and describe one specific geographic location (town, region) where the non fossil fuel

(the one you named) energy source is currently used or could be economically used to provide

for the energy needs of the location. Discuss whether the fossil fuel energy source will be able

to supply the energy requirements of the location.

 Ambuklao Benguet with a capacity of 75MW. It can surely accommodate the supply of energy to

this location since almost all of the large hydro electric plants, which ranged from over 50MA,

are connected to the main transmission grid, while most of the small (10 MW to 50 MW) and 

mini (101 kW to 10 MW) hydroplants are embedded to the local distribution system. 

2.4 evaluate the over-all sustainability (this may include environmental, economical, and/or

social) of the two energy sources. In your answer, discuss their relative benefits and costs and

include a judgment about which is the more beneficial and cost effective.

The sustainability of the petroleum here in the Philippines will always depend on the

International market unless the oil that they are currently drilling in Palawan will increase while

hydropower will be there as long as there’s water and natural resources that will give life to the

hydropower plant. Hydropower is more beneficial not only to the financial help it could give to

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the Philippines and it’s people but also to the environment. The cost of petroleum will surely 

increase as time goes by while hydropower will last a lifetime depending on the maintenance of 

these type of plants.

3. For the fossil energy source you named in item 2, explain the mechanism by which it contributes to

the enhanced greenhouse effect, and what can be done to reduce this.

3.1 Name a greenhouse gas that does not occur naturally but introduced into the atmosphere

by human activity, and has contributed to the enhanced greenhouse effect

The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon

dioxide, methane ,nitrous oxide, and ozone. 

3.2 Name a gas contributing to the greenhouse effect that occurs naturally but has been

substantially increased by human activity.

 In the Solar System, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and Titan also contain gases that 

cause greenhouse effects. Greenhouse gases greatly affect the temperature of the Earth;

without them, Earth's surface would be on average about 33 °C (59 °F) colder than at 

 present like Nitrogen gas.