Pollution - correct answer ✔✔The addition of a substance or agent to an environment by human activity
at a harmful rate which affects the organisms within the environment
Point source pollution - correct answer ✔✔The release of pollutants from a single, clearly identifiable
source (factory chimney)
Non-point source pollution - correct answer ✔✔The release of pollutants from numerous, widely
dispersed origins (gases from the exhaust systems of vehicles)
Major sources of pollutants - correct answer ✔✔Combustion of fossil fuels, domestic and industrial
waste, manufacturing and agricultural systems
Describe two direct methods of monitoring pollution - correct answer ✔✔One method for air and one
for soil or water
air pollution:
-measure the acidity of rain water to determine levels of
-measure CO2, CO, or NOx levels in the atmosphere using a gas sensor
-measure particulate matter suspended in the atmosphere
soil pollution:
-conduct tests for nitrates and phosphates
-measure the level of organic matter in the soil
water pollution:
-nitrate and phosphate tests
-fecal coliform tests
-tests for heavy metals
, Biochemical oxygen demand - correct answer ✔✔Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of
oxygen required to support respiration by organisms living in a water sample.
high BOD indicates there are many organisms using oxygen for respiration, low BOD indicates relatively
few organisms needing oxygen for respiration
high BOD = low DO levels = high pollutant levels, especially nitrate & phosphate
low BOD = high DO levels = low pollutant levels
Outline approaches to pollution management. - correct answer ✔✔3-tiered approach to pollution
management- "replace, regulate, and restore" model
-change the human activity that generates the pollutant in the first place
-minimize the amount of the pollutant released into the environment
-clean up the pollutant and the affected areas
Evaluate the costs and benefits to society of the World Health Organization's ban on the use of the
pesticide DDT. - correct answer ✔✔Costs: mosquitoes have developed resistance to DDT, human health
concerns from exposure, loss of biodiversity
Benefits: kills mosquitoes which spread malaria, so malaria rates decrease, cheap, persistent (lasts a long
time), effective
Processes of eutrophication - correct answer ✔✔-increase of nitrates and phosphates leading to rapid
growth of algae
-accumulation of dead organic matter
-high rate of decomposition and lack of oxygen
Positive feedback processes.
Impacts of eutrophication - correct answer ✔✔-death of aerobic organisms
-collapse of food chains and loss of species diversity
-water contaminated with nitrites
Pollution management strategies for eutrophication - correct answer ✔✔Minimize the amount of
nutrients being released into the system by:
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