environmental impact ddt - university of icelandthorstur/teaching/uau102/... · 2016. 10. 27. ·...
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Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 1
Throstur [email protected]
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTDDT
First synthesized in 1874, DDT's insecticidal properties were not discovered until 1939, and it was used with great success in the second half of World War II to control malaria and typhus among civilians and troops.
1947
DDT
3
DDT
DDT Let's put it everywhere !
DDT spraying of children
POLLUTION HISTORYVery brief
Houses of Parliament, London
- Sun breaking through the fog(Claude Monet, 1904)
Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 2
Pittsburg
Pittsburg,
USA in 1940.
Victorian times - London
1838 - 1901
1831-1901
Beijing 2008
Around the Olympics in 2008 a lot of
concern regarding air pollution
Two major historic events
• Two event changed people’s
awareness for air quality
• Donora, W-Pennsilavania 1948
• London in 1952 – “The killer fog”
Cairo smog
Donora
1948
At least 21 people died due to this pollution event
Donora
1910 Zinc plant
Donora Zinc Works of the American Steel and Wire Company is
dimly seen through fume-laden smoke and fog in 1948.
Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 3
Donora
Nurses Betty Tropak and Eleanor Novak
supervise oxygen treatment for two of forty
persons hospitalized by fume-laden smoke
and fog.
The killer smog
• Occurred in London in December 1952.
• Coal ovens caused the pollution, which lasted for a week.
– Visibility was only a few meters,
– SO2 levels rose to 7x the normal level,
– CO to 2x the normal level
London 1952 Spring 2013
ENVIRONMENTThrostur Thorsteinsson
ENR & IES, University of Iceland
Houses of Parliament, London, Sun BreakingThrough the Fog, Monet 1904
Pollution ↔ Climate concerns
Very closely related to energy use
CO2 emission growth
Coal consumption
• Grew by 7.6% in 2010
• Share of global energy
consumption 29.6%
– China share 48.2%
Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 4
Potential emissions could result in GHG
concentration levels far above 600ppm LCA GHG Emission
Air quality / quality of life
“And this little warning light flashes when the
air outside becomes too polluted to breathe.”
Air pollution
Presence of substances in high enough levels to
threaten health, survival or activities of
humans or others
⇨ Sources⇨ Natural
⇨ Anthropogenic
⇨ Impact⇨ Local
⇨ Trans-boundary
Environmental impactwhere does the cost come from?
⇨ Recovery:
damage to fragile ecosystems, water and air
pollution, and waste disposal
⇨ Refining:
soil, water and air pollution
⇨ Delivery and Use:
energy to power automobiles, produce
electricity, etc.
Environmental impact
⇨ Household Scale⇨ Carbon monoxide
⇨ Local (community) Scale⇨ Fuel-derived air pollution/urban pollution.⇨ Electric Power sector - particles, NOx and SOx, lead
e.g. Local pollution
⇨ Car exhaust - Small particles, NOx, SOx, VOC - Smog
⇨ Oil Spills: impact on water and terrestrial
ecosystems, very difficult to clean.
⇨ Local impact from extraction
Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 5
Env. impact
• Regional scale
– Acid Rain
• Global Scale
– Climate change
Stationary and Mobile Sources of Air Pollution
• Two Sources of Air Pollution
1. Stationary Sources: have a relatively fixed location• Point Sources
• Area Sources
• Fugitive sources (from pressurized equipment)
2. Mobile Sources: move from place to place while emitting pollutants• Ex. Airplanes, vehicles
General Effects of Air Pollution
• Visual quality of the environment
– Discoloration, clarity
• Health of Vegetation, Animals, Soil
• Water Quality
– Acidity, heavy metals
• Natural and Artificial Structures
• Human Health (dose response)
– Indoor, outdoor
Primary vs. Secondary Pollutants
• Primary Pollutants
– Those emitted directly into the air
– S02, CO, Hydrocarbons, particulates
• Secondary Pollutants
– Produced through reactions between primary
pollutants and normal atmospheric
compounds
– Ozone, Acid rain
Major Local and Trans-boundary
Air Pollutants
• Sulfur Dioxide
• Nitrogen Oxide
• Carbon Monoxide
• Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants
• Volatile Organic Compounds
• Particulate Matter
• Hydrogen Sulfide
• Hydrogen Fluoride
Trans-boundary Pollutants
Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 6
Sulfur Dioxide
• Colorless, highly corrosive and irritates the lungs, shortness of breath, narrow airways
• Natural sources are volcanoes, sea spray , rotting vegetation and plankton
• 50% of all sulfur in atmosphere is emitted from anthropogenic sources
– Mostly from the use of fossil fuels, coal fired power plants, industrial processes
• Precursor for acid rain
Sulfur Dioxide – local impact
• Impact on humans: enhances respiratory
diseases.
• Impact on Plants: Many plants of economic
importance are sensitive to sulfur dioxide
including potatoes, cucumbers, peas, gladiolus,
tulips, grass and several types of trees.
• On Visibility : Can reduce levels of visibility.
© 2005 John Wiley and Sons Publishers
Acid Rain Acid Rain - Impact
• Erodes buildings, fabrics, books etc.
• Visibility
• Damages aquatic life
• Releases heavy metals
• Alters the chemical equilibrium of soils
• Affects vegetation
• Health
34
Energy related pollutionMore …
• Land use
• Water use
• Visual effects - NIMBY
Land use
36http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/energy-water-and-land
Environment
Throstur Thorsteinsson ([email protected]) 7
Water consumption
37
Throstur
Throstur’s research:http://EnvNatRes.wordpress.com (English)http://Twitter.com/throstho