Environmental
Chemistry
Links
and Bookmarks
The following
is an annotated list of links to accompany Dr. Richard Foust's Environmental
Chemistry course (ENV 440). There is also a downloadable bookmark file
(env440bk.html)
which should be made available to students
who wish to keep a file on floppy disk (or hard drive) of these links.
GENERAL:
- About The Department
of Energy
Departmental Department of Energy News and Hot Topics
What's New on the Department's Network
OpenNet (References to the Department's declassified information.)
Electronic Exchange Initiative (Electronic exchange of scientific
and technical documents.)
- EPA News
- Offices, Labs
and Regions
- Regulations
- Contracts, Grants,
and Environmental Financing
- Programs and
Initiatives
- PublicationsAbout
EPA
- Data Systems
and Software
- Information
Services
- The U.S. Geological
Survey maintains this registry of Earth and Environmental Science
Internet resources as a service to the research community.
- OEM Public Information
- Regulatory Information
- Waste Management
- GCDIS is a collection
of distributed information systems operated by government agencies
involved in global change research. GCDIS provides global change data
to scientists and researchers, policy makers, educators, industry,
and the public at large. GCDIS includes multidisciplinary data from
atmospheric science, ecology, oceanography, as well as economics and
sociology. GCDIS is a cooperative activity of agencies participating
in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).
- Academic
- Government
- Industry and
other miscellaneous sites
The Environmental
Professional's Guide to the Net (formerly the Environmental Professional's
Homepage) is for environmental professionals worldwide who are interested
in locating technical sites on the Internet. The PGN provides brief
descriptions of each site to assist the user in evaluating a site
prior to visiting it.
This course provides
students with an appreciation and understanding of the fundamental
and theoretical background and concepts in environmental chemistry.
Students will learn environmental testing methods and gain the knowledge
necessary for critical evaluation of fundamental aspects of testing
procedures and data derived from environmental testing.
Included in this
page are course notes based on the principle lecture text: Environmental
Chemistry, by Stanley E. Manahan, Stanley E. Lewis Publishers;
MI, sixth edition: 1994.
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Environmental
awareness among the public and policymakers has been growing since
the 1960s, when it became widely recognized that human activities
were having harmful and large-scale effects on the environment. Scientific
and engineering research is also playing an increasing role in both
understanding and protecting the environment. Research has demonstrated
the importance of the environment to human health and well-being as
well as the economic, social, and aesthetic harm that can stem from
poor environmental practices. Research has suggested ways to curb
harmful practices without incurring excessive costs. For example,
scientific and engineering research has provided cost-effective ways
to reduce the pollution in air and water in the United States; has
demonstrated the importance of areas, such as wetlands, that were
once considered of little value to human societies; and has helped
to preserve natural ecosystems and the species that inhabit them….
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- Employment and
Internship Opportunities
- Government Agencies
and Programs
- Environmental
Networks and News Sources
- Professional
Organizations for Environmental Scientists and Engineers
- Institutes and
Centers
- Environmental
Engineering Industry Products and Services
- Environmental
Engineering and Science Academic Departments
- Usenet Newsgroups
- Book Publishers
- Publication
Information
- Notes, Definitions,
and Abbreviations
- Appendices
- Reference Maps
LECTURE
1: INTRODUCTION
This U.S.Geological
Survey site shows how chemists and geologists use analytical chemistry
to: determine the age of the Earth; show an extraterrestrial body
collided with the Earth; predict volcanic eruptions; observe atmospheric
change over millions of years; and document damage by acid rain and
pollution of the Earth's surface…
- Why should you
be concerned about air pollution?
- Features of
the 1990 Clean Air Act
- Mobile sources
- Acid rain
- Repairing the
ozone layer
- Consumer products
- Home woodstoves
- How do you know
the Clean Air Act is working?
- Glossary
- The Common Air
Pollutants
The passage of
the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed into law as P.L. 101-549
on November 15, 1990, represents the most significant development
in environmental legislation in years. Only two prior clean air legislative
efforts are comparable in magnitude--the Clean Air Act of 1970 and
the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments…
In 1972, Congress
enacted the Clean Water Act "to restore and maintain the chemical,
physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." It
is the national goal of the Clean Water Act that all of our waters
should be safe for fishing and swimming. To date, only 66% of our
waters meet this goal. To achieve such an ambitious goal, Congress
understood that a variety of programs would be necessary to attack
the many types of pollution entering our waters…
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On August 6,
1996, President Clinton signed legislation amending and reauthorizing
the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) through 2003. The amended SDW Amendment,
142 U.S.C. 300f et seq., 104 P.L. 162, grants the EPA more flexibility
to set risk-based standards for contaminants in drinking water, and
directs it to focus on preventing and treating the most harmful pollutants.
The Amendment also requires most local water authorities to disclose
annually what chemicals and bacteria are in drinking water, to report
non-compliance events in monthly billing statements to consumers,
and to give public notice within 24 hours of discovering dangerous
contaminants in the water system…
- Response under
CERCLA may be necessary from DOE when all of the following four thresholds
are crossed:
- 1. a hazardous
substance
- 2. is released
or there is a substantial threat of a release
- 3. into the
environment, and
- 4. response
is necessary to protect public health, welfare, or the environment.
- Preliminary
Assessment
- Site inspection
- Remedial investigation
- Feasibility
study
- Proposed Plan
- Record of Decision
- Remedial design
- Remedial action
Congress passed
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976. RCRA substantially
revamped federal regulation of solid waste disposal and created the
first comprehensive federal regulatory program for the systematic
control of hazardous waste. RCRA originally amended the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (1965). RCRA was reauthorized in 1984 with the Hazardous
and Solid Waste Amendments and was amended in 1988 to include the
management of infectious waste…
LECTURE
2: COSMOLOGY
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- This web site
introduces basic concepts in modern cosmology and describes the MAP
mission at a general level:
-
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- What is
the Big Bang?
- How old
is the universe?
- How fast
is the universe expanding?
- Is the universe
infinite?
- What is
the universe made of?
- What is
the cosmological constant?
- What is
the theory of Inflation? How does it extend the Big Bang theory?
- How did
the chemical elements form?
- How did
galaxies and large scale structure form in the early universe?
- What is
the cosmic microwave background radiation?
- What are
cosmic microwave background fluctuations?
- What is
the Milky Way?
- The formation
of the first stars and quasars
- The life
and death of stars
LECTURE
3: NUCLEAR PROCESSES, NUCLEAR FUSION, TRITIUM PRODUCTION
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Fusion of light
elements releases energy, as does fission of heavy elements. The relation
E = mc^2 states the equivalence of mass and energy. In a fusion reaction,
some reactant mass energy is converted to kinetic energy of the products.
Binding energy is the energy equivalent of the mass difference between
a nucleus and its individual constituent protons and neutrons. For
energy release in fusion or fission, the products need to have a higher
binding energy per nucleon (proton or neutron) than the reactants.
As the graph above shows, fusion only releases energy for light elements
and fission only releases energy for heavy elements…
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This Page contains
information and links related to Radiation. It has been written for
three distinct groups: the General Public, Students and the Health
Physics community at large.
- General Information
(Basic terms, Radiation info and Short essays)
- Regulatory
Information (DOE, NRC, EPA, etc)
- Professional
Information (Organizations, E-mail, Areas of Interest, Archives)
- Radiation
Specialties and Related Fields (Waste, Space, Shielding, etc.)
- Radiation
and Health Physics Research Information (Labs, Data Bases, Listings)
- Educational
Information (Student, Training and Other Related Information)
- Miscellaneous
Information (Help and Other Information)
- New Items
on Our Site
- Quick Links
(Short cuts to the most used links on this site)
- Key Word Search
on Our Site
- Original Site
- On umich.edu
- What You Need
to Know About Radiation (By Lauriston S. Taylor)
- NRC Technical
Issues Papers and Fact Sheets
- Etc….
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The Particle
Adventure introduces the theory of fundamental particles and forces,
called the Standard Model. It explores the experimental evidence and
the reasons physicists want to go beyond this theory. In addition,
it provides information on particle decay and a brief history section.
LECTURE
4: NUCLEAR CLEANUP AND WASTE STORAGE
- Hanford, Washington
- Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratories
- Nevada Test
Site
- Rocky Flats
Environmental Technology Site
- Idaho National
Engineering Laboratories (Waste Drums-500K.JPG)
- Los Alamos National
Laboratories
- Argonne National
Laboratories
- Mound, Ohio
- Oak Ridge National
Laboratories
- Savannah River
Site
- US DOE Site
locations with links (graphic browsers only)
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Yucca Mountain
is the candidate site for a HLW repository. Under the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act (NWPA), Congress found that a national problem had been
created by the accumulation of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) from commercial
reactors and HLW. The NWPA assigned to DOE the responsibility for
managing the disposal of this spent fuel and waste, specified the
siting process and authorized the construction of one geologic repository.
Under the NWPA Amendments Act of 1987, the process for selecting this
repository was streamlined and the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada was
selected for detailed study as the candidate site for the United State's
first geologic repository…
Many scientists
think that Yucca Mountain has features that may make it suitable for
a nuclear waste repository. By suitable, scientists mean the rock
will keep the waste sufficiently isolated for 10,000 years so that
the radioactive material will pose about the same risk or less risk
of health effects to the public as that of unmined uranium ore. There
also are scientists who question the suitability of the Yucca Mountain
site, or whether it can ever be shown to be suitable. These scientists
are studying:
- The movement
of water
- The movement
of rock and earthquakes
- Volcanoes
and Yucca Mountain…
- Mission
- Background
- Site Treatment
Plan
- Activity Highlights
- Projection of
Activity Over the Next 12 Months
The atmosphere
is the mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth. The atmosphere is
held to the surface of the Earth by gravity. Only very light gas molecules
that are moving at high speeds can escape Earth's gravitational attraction.
The atmosphere has no definite outer boundary. As it extends outward
from Earth, it becomes thinner and blends with particles of interplanetary
space. At a height of about 6000 miles (10000 km) above Earth's surface,
the density of hydrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere becomes equal
to that of interplanetary space…
NASA's Global
Change Master Directory (GCMD) is a comprehensive source of information
about satellite and in situ Earth science data, with broad coverage
of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, oceans, solid earth, and biosphere.
This Page has a large list of links to other servers with atmosphere
and climate information.
This is the home
page for the Atmospheric Chemistry division of the National Center
for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. ACD's objectives include
studying the causes, processes concerning, and effects of gasses in
the atmosphere. Satellite and field experiments bring in new data
on natural and man-made processes. Laboratory experiments examine
controlled and limited chemical environments. And computer models
interpret this data in an effort to evaluate and predict small and
large-scale chemical changes in the atmosphere…
The objectives
of my research are to demonstrate the prebiotic synthesis of various
purines and pyrimidines as well as alternative backbones to ribose
phosphate in the first genetic material of the pre-RNA world…
The origin of
life and its evolution through the metazoa was not a simple process.
It began with the Big Bang, followed by the formation of the universe
and solar system. When the earth formed 4.6 billion years ago, the
earth's was reducing in nature devoid of oxygen which created favorable
conditions for the abiotic synthesis of the first organic compounds.
From these organic molecules, the first primitive cells or prokaryotes
arose…
LECTURE
6: BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
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Bio-geochemical
cycles influence the development of our climate. At the centre of
public awareness is the CO2-cycle. Carbon dioxide is emitted into
the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burnt. About half of the CO2
emissions are retained in the atmosphere, the rest enters the terrestrial
biosphere or is absorbed by the oceans and carried down into the deep
water flow where it is ultimately deposited as sediments. Other chemicals
that affect our environment are methane, sulphur and nitrogen as well
as man made chemicals like CFC and other chlorine compounds. The study
of the cycles of these materials in the atmosphere, ocean and land-surfaces
is the topic of the investigation of bio-geochemical cycles. In order
to model these cycles the relevant, often very complex chemical interaction
need to be represented as well as the transports by the atmosphere
and ocean circulation…
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Biogeochemical
dynamics refers to changes in the chemical makeup of the Earth's environment.
These changes are influenced by interactions among organisms and the
physical and chemical components of their surroundings such as water,
air, rock, soils, and sediments. Biogeochemical dynamics are commonly
thought of as cycles of material, such as the hydrologic cycle or
nutrient cycles, wherein material flows from one component to another,
sometimes changing forms and usually coupled with energy flows.
The Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC)
maintains data that characterize these interactions and cycles within
ecosystems over time and space…
LECTURE
7: WATER
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Before discussing
surfactants and water-soluble products, a brief review of some of
the properties of water might be advisable. From a practical consideration,
water is used in chemical processing and in product formulations because
it is abundant and cheap. Several of the important properties of water
can be summarized as follows:…
This overview
of the science necessary to understand groundwater issues is taken
from Chapter 2 of the Washington State, Department of Ecology, Ground
Water Resource Protection Handbook, Published December 1986.
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The Hydrologic
Cycle (also called the Water Cycle) is the process that moves water
around the earth. The Water Cycle can change the form of water from
liquid to water vapor to ice, and even clean it along the way, but
it can't make more water. The water you drink today may have been
lapped up by dinosaurs millions of years ago!
The Water Cycle
is powered by the sun which evaporates water from oceans, rivers,
lakes, and even from trees. As the water vapor rises, it cools, condensing
into clouds. Winds blow some of the clouds over land. The water falls
to earth as precipitation. Runoff flows on the earth's surface into
streams, rivers, or ponds. Water that sinks into the soil flows through
underground reservoirs, or aquifers, as groundwater. Water passes
through many different aquatic habitats before gravity pulls it to
earth's lowest point, the ocean.
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Evaporation:
As water is heated by the sun, its surface molecules become sufficiently
energized to break free of the attractive force binding them together,
and then evaporate and rise as invisible vapour in the atmosphere.
Transpiration:
Water vapor is also emitted from plant leaves by a process called
transpiration. Every day an actively growing plant transpires 5 to
10 times as much water as it can hold at once.
Condensation:
As water vapor rises, it cools and eventually condenses, usually on
tiny particles of dust in the air. When it condenses it becomes a
liquid again or turns directly into a solid (ice, hail or snow). These
water particles then collect and form clouds…
- Introduction
- Water and People
- What is Hydrology?
- What Hydrologists
Do
- Surface Water
- Groundwater
- Careers in Hydrology
- Reference
- USGS Water Resources
Sites of Regional and State Offices
- Current Hydrologic
Conditions "From the stream to your screen" -- Hammer Award
Winner!
- National Water
Information System (NWIS) Includes Daily Values and Peak Flows
- NAWDEX...National
Water Data Exchange
- Spatial Data
...USGS Node of National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
- Water-Use Data
Maps and tables
- Acid Rain ...National
Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN)
- USGS Water Resources
Applications Software
- Publications:
- USGS Fact Sheets
State & Special Topic
- Water Education
Posters For Grades K-12
- National Water
Conditions Report (monthly)
- Water Resources
Abstracts
- On-line Reports
- National and
International Programs for Water Resources: -- including
- National Water
Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
- Water Information
Coordination Program
- Toxic Substances
Hydrology Program
- National Research
Program
- Water Resources
Projects Search for information.
- Information:
- USGS State Representatives
Points of contact
- USGS Employee
Search
- USGS Press Releases
- America's Water
Resources: Information on the value and quality of our Nation's water
resources.
- Water Topics:
EPA programs and partnerships at work to protect and restore America's
water resources.
- Regulations:
Information on Federal regulations that affect America's water resources.
- Policy Guidance
- Legislation
- You And Clean
Water: Information to raise public awareness and encourage involvement
in water quality issues.
- Water Events:
A listing of national Water Conferences in your area
- Volunteer Monitoring:
Take part in Monitoring the Health of America's Waters
- Information:
Hotlines, periodicals, bulletin boards, and workshop training opportunities.
- Publications
- Data & Tools
LECTURE
8: AQUATIC CHEMISTRY & CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM
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- Definitions
- Chemical Equilibrium
- Weak/Moderate
Acids Bases
- Factors That
Affect the Position of an Equilibrium
- Common Ion Effect
- The Effect of
Competing Equilibria
- The Effect of
Temperature and Solvent
- The Effect of
Electrolyte Concentration
- The Activity
Coefficient
- Redox Reactions
and Electrochemistry
- The Driving
Force: The Cell Potential
- The Nernst Equation
- The Electrochemical
Cell
-
LECTURE
12: OXIDATION/REDUCTION
Determining whether
and how much of some material moves into or out of a cell depends
solely on the free energy of the material inside the cell (Gin) compared
to its free energy outside the cell (G out) at equilibrium (i.e. when
there is no net change in amounts). Or, in other words, movement across
the membrane depends on (out-in)…
LECTURE
16: FERNALD
The Fernald Environmental
Management Project is located on 1,050 acres approximately 18 miles
northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. The site produced uranium metals and
compounds for nuclear reactor fuel as part of the Nation's defense
program from 1953 until 1989, when all production operations stopped.
In 1991, production was permanently halted, and the Fernald Environmental
Management Project began. The project has one major mission: cleanup
of the site and any offsite contamination as soon as possible in a
manner that is safe and cost-effective…
- Basis for Evaluation
- Overview of
the Fernald Site
- Evaluation Scope
- Conceptual Basis
for Evaluation
- Evaluation Rating
System
- Results
- Guiding Principle
#1 - Line managers are responsible and accountable for safety
- Guiding Principle
#2 - Comprehensive requirements exist, are appropriate, and are executed
- Guiding Principle
#3 - Competence is commensurate with responsibilities
- Conclusions
and Ratings
LECTURE
18: PHASE INTERACTIONS, SOLUBILITY OF GASES
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Aerosols and
colloids encompass a large body of scientific and technological problems
that share a common theme of the important role interfacial properties
play in determining structure and behavior. Examples such as the nucleation
and growth of a new phase, whether it be small aerosol or catalyst
particles or larger single crystal semiconductor components, or the
kinetic aggregation of particles to form ceramic precursor materials,
readily come to mind. Problems of this type cut across traditional
divisions of research, requiring a combination of chemistry, statistical
mechanics, and transport phenomena for successful study and analysis…
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Calculations
in atmospheric chemistry depend strongly on the availability of kinetic
and thermodynamic data. For gas-phase chemistry, evaluations such
as the JPL data set greatly facilitate obtaining reliable values.
However, no such comprehensive compilation exists for Henry's law
constants (solubilities) for tropospheric modeling of clouds and aerosol
particles. Waste water treatment is another research area where Henry's
law constants are needed since solubility affects volatilization of
toxic compounds into the air…
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Concentration
of solutions was taken up as part of molar stoichiometry in earlier
sectionsof introductory university chemistry. The concentrations used
in this section will all be molar concentrations, because in homogeneous
solutions active mass is the ratio of amount of substance to unit
volume. Molar concentration will be indicated by c, with the solute
in parenthesis following the symbol, or by placing the solute molecule
or ion symbol in square brackets. Other concentration units, such
as molality, are less commonly usedin aqueous equilibrium calculations…
LECTURE
20: WATER POLLUTANTS
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The occurrence
of toxic substances in surface and ground waters is a threat to human
health and aquatic life. Contaminants from gasoline, pesticides, sewage,
cleaning solvents, and trace metals are harmful to humans in very
low concentrations. For example, 1 gallon of trichloroethylene (a
cleaning solvent) can contaminate 290 million gallons of water beyond
safe drinking-water limits. The General Accounting Office has stated,
"the dimensions and potential costs of cleaning up our environment
are so great that, without innovative technologies, we may find the
solution cost prohibitive and impacting on our ability to address
other national needs."…
This bibliography
includes 112 items issued since January 1970. It was compiled February
6, 1996. Items are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
When disease
causing organisms such as bacteria and viruses get into surface water,
they can spread dysentery, hepatitis, and other diseases. One of the
major sources of these organisms is untreated human waste. In most
areas of the U.S., water carrying human waste passes through sewage
treatment plants which treat the wastewater to kill disease causing
organisms before being released into surface water. But during heavy
storms, the wastewater coming into the plants may back up and overflow
directly into surface water without being treated. Untreated waste
can also wash directly into surface water if a treatment plant isn't
working properly…
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Controlling the
discharge of toxic pollutants into the Nation's waters is once again
an issue as Congress considers reauthorizing the Clean Water Act.
This report describes the evolution of programs and policies in the
Act concerning toxic pollutants, discusses current problems with implementation
of some of these programs and policies, and outlines a number of issues
that are on the legislative agenda…
LECTURE
22: PESTICIDES, PCBs, ETC.
- Chemical Fact
Sheets Available in ASCII text format
- Acetaldehyde
(CAS 75-07-0)
- Fact Sheet
- Chemical Summary
- Acetonitrile
(CAS 75-05-8)
- Fact Sheet
- Chemical Summary
- Acrylamide (CAS
79-06-1)
- Fact Sheet
- Chemical Summary
- Acrylonitrile
(CAS 107-13-1)
- Fact Sheet
- Chemical Summary
- Etc.
- Pesticides
- Toxic Substances
- Rules, Regulations,
and Legislation
- OPPTS Test Methods
and Guidelines
- Pesticide Information
Profiles
- Toxicology Information
Briefs
- Toxicology Issues
of Concern
- Factsheets
- News about Toxicology
Issues
- Newsletters
- Resources for
Toxicology Information
- Technical Information
Exposure to polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) happens mostly from eating contaminated foods or
breathing contaminated workplace air. High exposures to PCBs can damage
the skin, eyes, and lungs. PCBs have been found in at least 349 of
1,300 National Priorities List sites identified by the Environmental
Protection Agency.
The dramatic
growth in the number and variety of chemical products since the Second
World War has led to concern for the health of both wildlife and humans.
More than 35 000 chemicals are reported to be in use in Canada today.
Just how many of these are toxic is unclear, but particular concern
has focussed on groups of contaminants that are associated with adverse
effects on wildlife. One notable group is persistent organochlorines…
LECTURE
23: CARBON CYCLE
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Among the most
important research initiatives of the 1990s is the study of global
change, including the relationship between the biogeochemical cycles
and the Earth's climate. Of particular interest is the global carbon
cycle and its alteration by human activities. The burning of fossil
fuel releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As a result, carbon
dioxide has been steadily increasing in the atmosphere and oceans
since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Over the same period
of time, deforestation has
eliminated a
significant fraction of the terrestrial plant life, affecting the
rate at which land vegetation can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Current climate models predict that the increasing concentrations
of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gasses" in the Earth's
atmosphere will produce an increase in average global temperature
of some 1-5 degrees Celsius in the next half-century…
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Carbon dioxide
("oxidized" carbon) in earth's atmosphere escaped from molten
rock when it erupted and cooled on theearth surface. Photosynthesis
in plants and algae converts atmospheric carbon dioxide and water
into living tissue (biomass is aform of "reduced" carbon)
releasing oxygen. Microbes and other organisms decompose biomass,
thereby producing humus(another "reduced" form of carbon).
Soil humus accounts for three times more "reduced" carbon
than biomass...
LECTURE
28: BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND--THE ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
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reats over half
of Flagstaff's raw sewage. The plant, although not fully automated,
is for the most part computer controlled. Much of the processes taking
place are covered to control odor and to control temperatures throughout
the year. Sewage flows into the plant from eastern Flagstaff. Treated
water leaving the plant is used to irrigate golf courses and landscaped
areas. The final product is not intended for drinking. It is categorized
as partial body contact by Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
The wastewater treatment process at Wildcat Hill Wastewater Treatment
Plant is made up of Pretreatment, Primary Sedimentation, Biofilters,
Secondary Sedimentation, Chlorine Disinfection, Sand filters, and
Sludge Treatment.
LECTURE
31: ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
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Atmospheric chemists
are interested in understanding the chemical composition of the natural
atmosphere, the way gases, liquids, and solids in the atmosphere interact
with each other and with the earth's surface and associated biota,
and how human activities may be changing the chemical and physical
characteristics of the atmosphere. This latter question is currently
a driving force behind the growing need for atmospheric chemists in
Canada. There are a number of critical environmental issues associated
with a changing atmosphere, including photochemical smog, global climate
change, toxic air pollutants, acidic deposition, and stratospheric
ozone depletion…
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An air pollution
emissions inventory is a schedule of the sources of an air pollutant
or pollutants within a particular geographical area. The inventory
usually includes information on the amount of the pollutant released
from major industrial plants, road transport and other sources, and
average figures for the emissions from smaller sources throughout
the area. Emission inventories are a tools which can used in the management
of air quality nationally and locally. Whilst monitoring, such as
that carried out through the UK Automatic Monitoring Networks shows
the concentration of air pollution in the UK, emission inventories
identify the sources and help in preparing abatement strategies…
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