ENVIRONMENTA STUDIES

Unit-3 C

Surender Rangi
Assistant Professor
Department of Applied sciences
MSIT, Janakpuri, Delhi

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 Green House Effect & Global Warming
Global warming is the phenomenon due to which earth retain heat.
The global warming means gradual increase in world temperature caused
by green house gases.
These green house gases trap the sun rays in the earth’s atmosphere
causing the temperature rise known as green house effect or global
warming.
The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a
planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is
re-radiated in all directions.
A greenhouse gas (GHG) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits
radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the
fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect.
The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water
vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
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Green House Effect (GHE)

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 GHE

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Cause of GHE/Global Warming

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Effects of Global Warming

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Effects of Global Warming

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Reduction of GHE and Global Warming

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Acid Rain

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 Acid Rain
• Acid rain is a rain or any other form
of precipitation that is unusually acidic,
meaning that it possesses elevated levels
of hydrogen ions (low pH).
• The term "acid rain" was coined in 1872
by Robert Angus Smith.
• Even clean, normal rain has a pH of about
5.6. This is because it reacts with carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere and forms
mildly acidic carbonic acid before it
becomes rain.
• Acid rain has a pH of 5.0 or less. Most
acid deposition ranges from pH 4.3 to 5.0
• It occurs mostly in Northern Hemisphere.
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 Formation of Acid Rain

 It is formed when sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides, as

gases or fine particles in the atmosphere, combine with
water vapours and precipitate as sulphuric acid or nitric
acid.
 The resulting sulfuric and nitric acids can fall as wet or dry
depositions. Wet deposition is precipitation: acid rain, snow,
sleet or fog. Dry deposition falls as acidic particulates or
gases.
 While the air is cleaned of the pollutants in this way.

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Formation of Acid Rain

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Formation of Acid Rain

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 Cause of Acid Rain
 Acid rain, also known as acid deposition, is caused by
emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen
oxides (NOx).
 Some natural reasons for emissions of such pollutants are
from volcanoes, forest fires, lightning strikes and from
biological processes that occur on the land, in wetlands, and
in the oceans contribute acid-producing gases to the
atmosphere
 The principal cause of acid rain is from human sources like:
 Industrial factories, power-generating plants and
vehicles
 Sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen are released
during the fuel burning process (i.e. combustion)
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Emission of SO2 & NOx: Natural & Anthropogenic

Vehicular
Volcanic eruptions
Emission
produces SO2
Factory

Lightening Strokes
produces NO2 Forest Fire Power Plant

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 Effects of Acid Rain
 Acid rain have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters and
soils, killing insects and aquatic life-forms as well as causing
damage to buildings and having impacts on human health.
 At pH lower than 5 most fish eggs will not hatch and lower pH
can kill adult fishes also.
 Chronic acidification may reduce the levels of nutrients such
as calcium, which may weaken the fish and other plants.
 Acid rain may remove soil nutrients such as Ca and Mg from
soils in high elevation forests thus slowing plant growth,
leeches toxins from soil, poisoning plants, creates brown spots
in leaves of trees, impeding photosynthesis
 Degradation of materials; accelerates weathering in metal and
stone structures. E.g. Parthenon in Athens, Greece, Taj Mahal
in Agra, India
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Effects of Acid Rain

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 Acid Rain: Preventive Measures

o Vehicle emissions control reduces emissions of nitrogen

oxides from motor vehicles.
o Fluidized bed combustion also reduces the amount of sulfur
emitted by power production.
o A wet scrubber is basically a reaction tower equipped with a
fan that extracts hot smoke stack gases from a power plant into
the tower.
o Lime or limestone in slurry form is also injected into the tower
to mix with the stack gases and combine with the sulfur
dioxide present.
o Use other sources of electricity (i.e. nuclear power, hydro-
electricity, wind energy, geothermal energy, and solar energy).

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Acid Rain: Preventive Measures

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Ozone Layer Depletion

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 THE SUN’S ULTRAVIOLET RAYS
The sun emits energy over a broad spectrum of wavelengths:
• Visible light that you see
• Infrared radiation that you feel as heat
• Ultraviolet (UV) radiation that you can’t see or feel.
 UV radiation has a shorter wavelength
and higher energy than visible light.
 It affects human health both positively
and negatively. Short exposure to
UVB rays generates vitamin D, but
can also lead to sunburn depending on
an individual’s skin type.
 Fortunately for life on Earth, our
atmosphere’s stratospheric ozone
layer shields us from most UV
radiation
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 Ozone Layer
• The ozone layer is a layer in the
earth’s atmosphere which contains
90% of atmospheric ozone (O3).
• The ozone layer is found in the
lower portion of the stratosphere
from about 15 to 35 km above
earth’s surface.
• It’s thickness varies seasonly and
geographically.
• Units of O3 layer thickness is
Dobson Unit (DU)
• 1 DU = 0.01 mm (at STP) i.e. 1 DU
of O3 concentration can form a layer
of 0.01 mm thickness if compressed
into a single layer at STP
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 Formation of Ozone

The ozone layer or the ozone forms by conversion of

atmospheric oxygen(O2) into ozone (O3), this process
is called as Chapman cycle . The oxygen get
photolyzed by U.V.rays to form oxygen radical.

U.V. Light
2
O2 O

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The oxygen radical then react with molecular
oxygen and forms ozone molecule (O3).

O O2 O3
At the same time ozone gets reduce to oxygen by reacting
with oxygen radical.

2
O O2
O3
So, ozone is constantly get created and destroyed by
Chapman cycle, which is a natural process.
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 OZONE DEPLETION
• Decrease in concentration of ozone and thinning
of ozone layer is called Ozone depletion.
• From industries and our day to day life many
gases like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) ,
Hydro- chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC’s) , halons,
halogens, etc. get evolved in atmosphere which
are mainly responsible for ozone depletion, as it
contains or produce Chlorine (Cl) atom.
Let’s take look at the process of ozone depletion---

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PROCESS OF OZONE DEPLETION
Due to solar radiation i.e. U.V. Rays CFC’s , HCFC’s breaks
and form Cl atom which react with ozone molecule and forms
Chlorine monoxide (ClO). Chlorine monoxide then reacts with
oxygen radical to form Chlorine atom and molecular oxygen.

U.V. Light

O3 O2

O O2
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NET REACTION :

U.V. Light
2

O3 O O2

As Cl atom acts as a catalyst , one single Cl

atom can destroy much amount of ozone molecules.

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OZONE DEPLETION: Summary &Facts
 The breaking up action releases Chlorine atoms. Chlorine
atoms react with Ozone, starting a chemical cycle that
destroys the good ozone in that area.
 One chlorine atom can break apart more than 100,000 ozone
molecules.

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 OZONE HOLE
• As a result of ozone
depletion, over Antarctica
the ozone hole is formed.
This ozone hole leads to
melting of ice of Antarctica,
increase in sea level and other
harmful effects on it’s
environment.
• Scientists call the Antarctic
“Ozone Hole” is an area
where ozone conc. drops to
an average of about 100 DU
(1 mm)
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 Ozone Hole
• Since the 1970’s the ozone hole has been increasing
in size over the Antarctic.
• For the first time, in September 2000, the ozone hole
became so large it actually left populated areas of
southern Chile fully exposed to the effects of the
Sun’s UV rays.
• Ozone holes also formed
in Arctic stratosphere
which is Antarctica’s
counterpart. This year
largest-ever ozone hole
formed in Arctic.
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 OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES
Ozone depleting substances are
mainly CFC’s, HCFC’s, Halons, etc.
which are found in Refrigerators,
Cleaning agents, sprays, Pesticides, Air
conditioners, car emissions, etc.

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OZONE DEPLETING SUBSTANCES

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 EFFECT OF OZONE DEPLETION
Due to ozone depletion harmful U. V. Rays such as UV-
B Radiation reaches to earth which leads to harmful
effects on animals, plants, aquatic life as well as on
humans also.
Effect on Aquatic System: Affects phytoplankton,
fish, larval crabs. Decrease in amount of phytoplankton
increase the CO2 in atmosphere which contribute the
global warming.
Effect on Materials: Degradation of paints and
plastics.
Effect on Climate: Global Warming (Increasing the
Average temperature of the Earth’s surface).
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 Effect on Human Health:
• Damage genetic materials in the cells.
• Leads to more people suffering from Cataracts.
• Causes cancer, allergies and some other infectious
disease.
• 10% depletion in ozone layer results in 30% increase
in skin cancer infection.

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 PREVENTIONS
• Limit private vehicle driving to decrease vehicle emissions.
• Use Eco-friendly household or other cleaning agents.
• Avoid excess use of pesticides. Replacing CFC’s by other material
which are less damaging.
• Manufacturing and using of ozone depleting chemicals must be
stopped, etc.

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 Largest-Ever Ozone hole Closed:
News 30th April 2020 (Lock-down period)
Largest Arctic ozone hole ever recorded opens
up over the North Pole (News 23rd March
2020)

Largest Arctic ozone hole Closed (News 30th

April March 2020)

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 But, for controlling ozone
depletion the most important thing is
to aware people about it,
and that’s why International
Environmental Community declared 16
September as a World Ozone Day .

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