Air Quality and Global Warming

Atmosphere

• Atmosphere of the earth refers to

the layer of air that surrounds the
solid crust of the earth.
• It extents as far as 1600
kilometers above the surface of
earth.
• The atmosphere is made of gasses
such as nitrogen (78%), oxygen
(21%), carbon dioxide (0.04%),
hydrogen, water vapor, ozone, and
the wind.
 Air Pollution
• Air pollution may be defined as any atmospheric condition in which certain
substances are present in such concentrations that they can produce undesirable
effects on man and his environment. These substances (pollutants) include-
• Gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides
(NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons etc.
• Particulate matter: smoke, dust, fumes, aerosols
• Radioactive materials and many others
•Contribution to air pollution:
Air pollutant (gas) emission by sectors/sources Emission from different sources as gas
 What is Air Quality Index (AQI)?
• The AQI is a tool for reporting daily air quality of any city or country. It tells
how clean or polluted the air is, and what associated health effects might
be a concern for public.
• In Bangladesh the AQI is based on 5 criteria pollutants; Particulate Matter
(PM10 and PM2.5), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), Sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and Ozone (O3). The Department of Environment (DoE) has set
national ambient air quality standards for these pollutants.
How does the AQI work?
• The AQI value runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the
level of air pollution and the greater the health concern.
• For example, an AQI of 50 represents good air quality with little potential to
affect public health, while an AQI value of 300 represents hazardous air
quality.

• An AQI value of 100 generally corresponds to the national air quality standard for
the pollutant, which is the level that set by the mandated Environment Protection
Agency (e.g., for Bangladesh Department of Environment) to protect public health
• Now carefully look at an example of AQI report of Dhaka city collected
by the US Embassy on 19 January 2022 which has been provided below.
• Note that data from a single monitoring station cannot be applied to
an entire city. Therefore, air quality data collected at one monitor
station may differ from other monitors located in the same cities.

https://www.airvisual.com

Question 1: Look at the AQI value for any five city (Including
any city from Bangladesh) today and write it down with
health message and explain the values by comparing.
 Global Warming
• Greenhouse Effect: Some gases in Earth's atmosphere i.e. water
vapor, carbon dioxide, methane trap some heat that is coming from
the sun and thereby making the Earth warmer.
In trapping heat, the gases act like a greenhouse, which is why
they are known as Greenhouse Gases (GHG). Accordingly, the effect
is called the Greenhouse Effect.

• Global warming is defined as a natural or

human induced increase in the average
global temperature of the atmosphere near
the Earth's surface.
The most prominent cause behind global warming
is man-made pollution. A large part of this pollution
can be attributed to the burning of fossil fuels. 7
 Consequences/Effects of Global Warming
Increased Temperature Changes in Water Supply Crop destruction

Rising Sea Level

Reasons of Sea Level
Rise Global Warming

Habitat Damage and

Species Affected
Melting of Thermal
Ice Caps and Expansion of
Glaciers Sea Water
 Thermal Expansion of Water
• Water molecules are always in motion. When heat is applied that motion will
increase and the molecules will spread out.
• The surface temperature of ocean water is affected by air temperature.
Globally, ocean water is 4oC on average. If average surface temperature
increases (the air temperature near Earth’s surface), ocean temperatures also
increase.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy7n7_8B8DE : particle movement
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHhvaUdWfDI : increase of volume
• According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2004), Earth’s average
surface temperature increased by 0.85 [0.65 to 1.06] O C, over the period 1880 to 2012. This
temperature is expected to increase by an additional 1.8-4.0 0 C by the year 2100 (relative to
2000). The increase in air temperature causes a rise in sea level rise as well. For the period
1961-2003, global sea level rose an average of 1.8mm per year (total of 75 mm, or 7.5 cm),
and it is expected to rise by another 0.2-0.6 m (20-60 cm) by the year 2100 (IPCC, 2014).
 Thermal Expansion of Water (contd..)
• Density is mass divided by volume (ρ=m/v),The approximate density
of water is 1 g/mL, 1 g/cm3, or 1000 kg/m3. Thermal expansion
refers to the fact that, above 40 C, as temperature increases, water
expands. In other words, water becomes less dense; a given mass
of water will occupy a greater volume.
Question 2: Calculate the density of water in volumetric flask at room
temperature.
• Step 1: Weigh the empty 500 mL volumetric flask on the balance
(show all figures after the decimal point- don’t round).
• Step 2: Pour 500 mL water in the volumetric flask. Volumetric flasks
have a line marked on the neck of the flask. When the bottom of the
meniscus is at the line, the flask contains its stated volume of liquid.
We fill a volumetric flask to the mark in two steps:
• First use a beaker to quickly add liquid to a level below the mark.
• Then, holding the flask so the mark is at eye level, use a pipet to
carefully transfer liquid from the beaker into the flask until the bottom
of the meniscus is exactly at the mark.
• Step 3: Weigh the volumetric flask and the 500 mL of water in it.
• Step 4: Subtract the mass of the flask from the mass of the flask +
water to get the mass of the water only.
• Step 5: Now calculate the density of your water at room
temperature by using the formula below.
density (d)= = Remember that 1cm3 is equivalent to 1mL.

Table 2: Measurements and reading for calculating the density of water

Parameters Measurements and calculations
Volume of water (mL)  500
Mass of flask (g) 255.35
Mass of flask (g) + water (g) 754.30
Mass of water (g)  
Density of water (g/mL)  
Question 3. The approximate volume of water in the world’s oceans is
1.335X1024 cubic cm. Assume that this is the same temperature as your
room-temperature. Now calculate the mass of this world’s ocean
water.
Hints: Use the density you calculated for water at room temperature in
Question 2. (Show your work and show the equation you used for your
calculations.)
density (d)= , so mass = density x volume

Question 4. Now using the mass you obtained in Question 3 and the
known density of water at 360 C (0.9937 g/cm3), compute the volume
of that mass of water. Show your work and show the equation you
used for your calculations.
 
density (d)= so volume =
Question 5. Estimate the sea-level rise that would result from the
temperature increase from room temperature to 36 0C. Express the
result in both meter and feet.
Hints: Think of the world oceans as a large box to simplify this
calculation. Given that the surface area of the oceans is 3.61 x 10 18 cm2,
calculate the depth (both in meter and feet, 1 meter= 3.28 feet) for the
ocean at the two water temperatures that you measured (room
temperature and 360C). Volume at room temperature is 1.335 x 10 24 cm3
and volume at 360 C is the volume you got in Question 4.
The volume of the box (world ocean) = surface area of the oceans * the
depth of the box/Height of ocean

Question 6. a) Write down five major impacts of sea level rise in

Bangladesh. b) Describe any three management strategies that are
practiced in Bangladesh to deal with this issue.