Environmental Flashcards

683296235	Troposhere	Lowest layer of the atmosphere Has most of the earth's air	0
683296236	Stratosphere	Second layer of atmosphere Has ozone layer	1
683296237	Ozone layer	In stratosphere Is like earth's sunscreen Keeps 95% of sun's harmful radiation from reaching earth	2
683296238	Weather	Day to day Smaller area	3
683296239	Climate	Long term Over large area	4
683296240	Al Gore	Ran for US president against Bush Well known speaker about global warming	5
683296241	Global warming cause	Thick blanket of CO2 around earth which keeps hot air in Comes from cars, factories, ploughed fields	6
683296242	Polar icecap size	North Pole In 1980 Now 1/4 the size	7
683296243	Acid rain	Chemicals mixed together in the air Falls as rain which is acidic	8
683296244	Indoor air pollutants	Cigarette smoke, pollen dust mites,aerosol spray,air fresheners, dry cleaning fluid fumes on clothes,chemical from furniture stuffing,and carpets	9
683296245	Clean Air Act	To minimize air pollution Was supposed to be reviewed in 2006 - not done yet	10
683296246	Correlation between CO2 and temperature	As co2 levels go up, temperature goes up	11
683296247	Climate tipping point	Point at which the earths climate can no longer recover- high levels of co2, oceans becoming acidic, inability of oceans to absorb co2,destruction of Amazon forest,, methane gas from thawing Artic permafrost	12
683296248	Lester Brown	Climate change researcher Wrote WHO WILL FEED CHINA says China will run out of food which will affect North America	13
683296249	Personal reasons for not reducing environmental footprint	Procrastination, unaware of environmental issues, comfort, money, not wanting to change lifestyle, convenience	14
683296250	Possible motivators to reduce ecological footprint	Increase fuel prices Government rebates Laws	15
683296251	LEED	Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rating system for buildings Point system - certified, silver, gold ,platinum	16
683296252	LEED Topics	Site development, water efficiency, material selection, indoor environmental quality, innovative design, regional priority	17
683296253	Renewable Energy	Energy which is replenished in a few days to a few thousand years - fairly quickly Solar, hydro, biomass, wind, geothermal, hydrogen	18
683296254	Non-renewable Energy	Will run out eventually Oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy	19
683296255	Energy yield	Energy yield = the amount of energy produced - the amount of energy it takes to produce an energy source	20
683296256	Advantages of Oil energy	Lots available at the moment High net energy yield Low cost	21
683296257	Advantages of natural gas	More plentiful than oil High energy yield Low cost Lowest effect on environment	22
683296258	Disadvantage of energy from oil	Causes air water pollution	23
683296259	Advantage of coal energy	Lots of it High energy yield Low cost	24
683296260	Advantages of nuclear energy	Low environmental impact	25
683296261	Disadvantage of nuclear energy	High cost Long lasting environmental waste	26
683296262	Disadvantage of natural gas	Non-renewable	27
683296263	Advantages of solar energy	Can be used to hot water and indoor spaces Net energy is moderate to high Moderate cost Low impact on environment Renewable	28
683296264	Disadvantage of solar energy	Need sunshine 60% of the time Need backup system	29
683296265	Advantage of hydropower	Can use water flowing in rivers, over dams and ocean waves Renewable, low cost Moderate to high energy yield Low environmental impact	30
683296266	Disadvantage of hydropower	Limited suitable sites	31
683296267	Solar energy	Uses sun and solar panels	32
683296268	Hydropower	Uses water - flowing rivers, dams, ocean waves	33
683296269	Advantages of Biomass	Lots of it in some areas Plantations can help restore degraded lands Moderate cost	34
683296270	Disadvantages of biomass energy	Degrades soil and biodiversity Moderate to high impact on environment	35
683296271	Disadvantages of biomass energy	Degrades soil and biodiversity Moderate to high impact on the environment	36
683296272	Advantages Wind Power	Renewable and easy to find High net energy yield Low cost Easy to build and expand Little or no air pollution	37
683296273	Disadvantages of wind power	People came in causes health issues such as headaches People complain about the humming noise	38
683296274	Advantages of Geothermal energy	Renewable Moderate net energy yield Lower CO2 Low cost	39
683296275	Disadvantages of geothermal energy	Not many suitable sites Noises and some CO2 emissions	40
683296276	Advantages of hydrogen gas	Can be produced from plentiful water at some sites No direct emissions if produced from water High efficiency	41
683296277	Disadvantage of hydrogen gas	Negative net energy yield High costs Need water storage and distribution system	42
683296278	SAM experiment	Island near Denmark Put up wind turbines Now 100% renewable energy	43
683296279	Tom Rand and Planet Traveller Hotel	In Toronto Cut carbon emissions by 75% Uses solar power, geothermal power	44