Unit 6/7 -Energy and Pollution

• Fossil Fuel - any hydrocarbon used as an energy source
• Fossil Fuel ex. - Coal, oil, and natural gas
• Coal

  • Forms when heat and pressure transform PLANT material over millions of years
• Steps for COAL formation:

  1. Peat - partially decayed plant material
  2. Lignite ( brown coal, a sedimentary rock ) 
  3. Bituminous Coal ( soft coal, a sedimentary rock ). Heat and pressure transforms lignite and bituminous coal. 
  4. Anthracite ( hard coal, a metamorphic rock ). Continued heat and pressure turns bituminous coal into anthracite.
• Petroleum and Natural gas 

  • Form from the remains of PLANTS and ANIMALS
  • The remains become buried in ocean-floor sediment ( sediment protects organic remains from oxidation ) 
  • Chemical reactions change the sediment into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons 

  1. These materials get squeezed from the compaction
  2. Move into permeable rock beds 
  3. Water, Oil, and gas separate into layers

  • An Oil trap allows for large accumulation
• Tar Sands

  • Mixtures of clay and sand combined with water and bitumen ( a thick black tar ) 
  • Much more resistant to flow and cannot be pumped easily
  • Mined from the surface 

  1. The material is heated until it rises
  2. Process to remove impurities, add hydrogen and refine into oil
  3. The process causes substantial land disturbances
  4. Contaminated water and sediment accumulate in toxic disposal pools
• Oil Shale 

  • A rock that contains a hydrocarbon called kerogen 
  • Can be mined and heated to vaporize the kerogen 
  • The vapor is processed to remove impurities and the processed
• Greenhouse Gases - Gases that trap heat into the Earth's atmosphere
• Greenhouse Gas EX; CO2, Methane, Water Vapor
• When the carbon dioxide concentration goes up, temperature goes up.
• MAIN greenhouse gasses - Methane, CO2, Water Vapor, Nitrous Oxide
• What countries are the largest contributors of greenhouse gasses?

  China, USA, India
• Natural causes of climate change: Volcanic Eruptions, Ocean Circulation, Solar Activity
• Human Causes of climate change - Industralization, Urbanization, Deforestation
• Fossil Fuel: A fuel made from the remains of plants and animals that have been buried underground for millions of years
• Heat Island: A city that is warmer than its surrounding area due to the urban heat island effect.
• Renewable Energy: Energy that is replenished as it is used.
• Major Air Pollutions - Particulate Matter, Lead, Ozone, CO, Sulfur Monozide, VOC's, Noxide Oxidides
• Main issue of air poulltants is respiratory illness.
• Eutrophication: excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to run-off from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life.
• Land Subsidence - When the ground sinks, causing buildings to collapse. Caused over-pumping groundwater from aquifers and mining.
• Climate - The average weather conditions in a particular area over a long period of time.
• What influences climate?


  Seasons, Lattitude, Winds, Costal/Contenental
• 4 Basic Climates?


  dry, tropical, temperate, polar/cold
• Biome - A large region of the Earth with a similar climate and plant and animal life.
• What determines a biome?

  Climate and Geography
• Biotic - living things that affect the environment, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms
• Abitoic - non living things in an ecosystem
• Food Chain - one animal eating another
• Food Web - many animals interacting and depending on each other.
• Arrows on a food chain represent the movement of energy
• Trophic Level - The position in a food chain of an organism.
• How much energy gets passed up the food chain?

  10%
• Biodiversity- the variety of different species in an ecosystem.
• Increase biodiversity : diverse habitat, nutrients, rain, temp
• Decrease biodiversity- environmental stress, limited nutrients, invasive species
• HIPPO - Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Pollution, Population Growth ( of humans ), Overuse/Over harvesting
• Sustainability: the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level