Your Turn 6.1 Nitrogen Inventory
The biosphere contains nitrogen in many different chemical forms. Several nitrogen compounds have been mentioned in previous chapters. Select any five and create a table with the names, chemical formulas, Lewis structures, and points of interest. Elemental nitrogen is done for you as an example. Here are some links that may help you complete the last column:
Wikipedia: Nitrogen and Nitrogen oxide
Answers.com: Nitrogen and Ammonia Consider This 6.8 Acidity of Foods.
a. Rank tomato juice, lemon juice, milk, cola, and pure water in order of increasing acidity. Check your order against Figure 6.6.
b. Pick any other five foods and make a similar ranking. Look up the actual pH values at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition or any other source of your own choosing.
c. Why do you suppose so few foods have a pH greater than 7? |
Consider This 6.11 The Rain in Maine . . . Oregon or Florida
Thanks to the NADP/NTN, almost every state plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands has one or more precipitation monitoring sites.
a. In Figure 6.9a, name the precautions you see taken to preserve the integrity of the rain samples.
b. How many monitoring sites are in your state? Check this map, courtesy of the NTN.
c. Do you think the number and placement of collection sites in your state fairly represent the acidic deposition?
d. Again from the map, select a collection site in your state (or in a neighboring one) that provides a photograph. Compare the picture with Figure 6.9a. What additional ways of minimizing contamination (such as a fence or signage), if any, can you spot? Consider This 6.20 Deterioration and Damage
Reexamine Figure 6.18. Although it may be tempting to blame acid rain for the damage, other agents may be at work. View possible other culprits for yourself by taking a photo tour of the acid rain damage at our nation's capitol provided by the United States Geological Survey. What kinds of damage do the photos show? What promotes damage by acid rain? What else has caused the deterioration? |
Consider This 6.21 Acid Rain Across the Globe
The concerns of acid rain vary across the globe. Many countries in North America and Europe have Web sites dealing with acid rain. Either search to locate one (“China , acid rain”) or use these links to Web sites in Canada, the UK, Europe, Japan or China. What are the issues in the country you selected? Does the acid deposition originate outside the borders of the country?
Consider This 6.24 Hazy at Mount Rainier ?
Web cams! Live on the Web, see for yourself the haze (or lack thereof) at Mount Rainer. Dozens of other places have Web cams as well, and the EPA posts a list of these, including one on visibility in our national parks.
a. During daylight hours, look up several Web cams to see what's out there – or not.
b. Find the current air quality for a location of your choice. Some sites provide this information together with the Web cam photographs. For others, you can obtain the data from the EPA AIRNOW site.
c. How well does the air quality correlate with the visibility?
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Consider This 6.28 Less Dirty Diesels?
How successful are the current efforts to reduce diesel emissions of NOx and particulate matter? In June 2006, the EPA released a progress report on the National Clean Diesel Campaign. Read the report, draw your own conclusions, and summarize them.
Consider This 6.30 CCT Demonstration Program
The CCT Program is funded both by government and industry and seeks technologies that better meet our environmental needs. Use the map at the Clean Coal Technology Compendium Web site to access a demonstration site of your choice. Describe the project you found.
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Consider This 6.31 Emissions Close to Home
Thanks to the EPA, you now can find the acid rain emissions data for the power plants in your state. Use the interactive map and select the acid rain program (ARP) and a recent year, then update the national map. Then report:
a. the tons of SO 2 and NOx emitted in a recent year.
b. the trend in emissions, by examining the data from previous years.
Consider This 6.32 Up for Auction
The year 2007 marked the 15th annual auction for sulfur dioxide allowances conducted now by the EPA (formerly by the Chicago Board of Trade). Be a detective on the Web to answer these questions.
a. Are the allowances more costly or less this year than last?
b. How many allowances were auctioned last year?
c. Are most industries still achieving compliance without having to buy credits?
Hint: Check the page at the EPA about the basics of allowance trading and the annual auction results. |
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