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Environmental Chemistry

Soil

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Most of the Earth is covered by a layer of soil. What is soil made of?
1) Small fragments of ____ 2) Living and dead vegetation 4) Dead ______ 3) _____

Some plants prefer acidic soil and some prefer alkaline soil. To make soil more alkaline ______ _____ can be added. To make it more acidic ___ ____ is used. Words animals, moss peat, rock, calcium carbonate, water

Acid rain damages trees and buildings and can harm wildlife. What causes it? Sulphur dioxide from Carbon dioxide volcanoes and sulphur dioxide from power stations Oxides of nitrogen
O S O H O H H H O S O O

Acid Rain

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Sulphur dioxide

water

sulphurous acid

Air pollution

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As well as acid rain, air can be polluted by dust, pollen, compounds of lead and carbon monoxide. Nearly all of this pollution is man made, so how can we stop it?
Wash waste gases to remove dust and particles Ways of reducing pollution Use low sulphur petrol Use lead-free petrol Develop more efficient engines

Use catalytic converters in cars

Global Warming
Facts:

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1) The 10 warmest years of the last century have all occurred within the last 15 years 2) Sea level has risen by between 12 and 24cm in the last 100 years 3) Rainfall has risen by 1%

The Greenhouse Effect

1) Heat and light energy reach us from the sun

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3) some of the heat escapes back into space

2) a lot of this heat is reflected off the Earths surface

4) while some of it is reflected back to the Earth this is called The Greenhouse Effect

Upsetting the balance

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Until recently, the environment has maintained a balance in carbon dioxide:

Carbon dioxide is produced by respiration

and used by photosynthesis

Unfortunately, this balance is being upset by two main factors:

1) Excessive burning of fossil fuels

is producing too much carbon dioxide

2) Large scale deforestation

is slowing down the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere