Air Pollutants are classified as either Primary or Secondary. A Primary air pollutant is one that is emitted directly to the air from a given source. Carbon monoxide is an example of a primary air pollutant because it is produced as a byproduct of combustion.

A Secondary air pollutant is formed in the atmosphere through chemical reactions involving primary air pollutants. The formation of ozone in photochemical smog is an example of a secondary air pollutant.

The atmosphere is a complex, dynamic and fragile system. Concern is growing about the effects of air pollutant emissions in a global context, and the inter-linkage of these emissions with global warming, climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion.

This task provides information about the causes and effects of air pollution. Use this air pollution webpage to answer the following questions.

1. Worldwide, how many people are estimated to die each year due to air pollution?
    
2. In what country and year did the worst short-term civilian air pollution event occur?
    
3. How many casulties occured in the worst single incident of air pollution to occur in the U.S.?
    
4. What name is used to indicated all sources of pollution caused by "human activity"?
    
5. All contaminants of the air can be divided into two groups. What are they?
    
6. What do the letters TSP stand for?
    
7. Both the PM10 and PM2.5 units refer to what characteristic of atmospheric particles?
    
8. What group of air pollutant gases destroy the stratospheric ozone layer?
    
9. What group of air pollutant gases causes acid rain?
    
10. Two pollutants sometimes found in shower water mist are damaging to inhale. What are they?
     
11. How many lung cancer deaths are estimated annually in the U.S. by second-hand tobacco smoke?
     
12. How do pets contribute to indoor air pollution?
     

Groundwater pollution is much more difficult to clean up than surface pollution because groundwater can move hundreds of miles through unseen aquifers. Porous, fine-grained layers such as sands and sandstones naturally purify water by simple filtration. Groundwater that moves through cracks and caverns is not filtered and can be polluted just as easily as surface water.

This task introduces the basic ways in which waste water can be treated to remove impurities. Answer the questions related to each link below.

This task introduces nuclear pollution and its special environmental dangers. Use this radioactive contamination webpage to answer the following questions.

This task shows how sound can become noise pollution. Use this noise pollution webpage to answer the following questions.

1. How does military SONAR kill marine mammals?
    
2. What is infrasonic sound?
    
3. What type of noise pollution escalated rapidly in the late 1990s?
    
4. What "urban legend" is mentioned in the reading?
    
5. What authorities are usually responsibe for protecting against noise?
    
6. What two US cities have a law allowing impounding af cars with loud stereos?
    
7. What percentage of people bothered by noise will file an official complaint?

This task introduces some of the causes and effects of global warming. Use this global warming webpage to answer the following questions.

1. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to what?
    
2. Over the past century, global (land and sea) temperature has increased by how much?
    
3. How long has it taken for atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide to increase by 31%?
    
4. Some think that even if levels of greenhouse gases were to remain constant, the global climate will warm by 0.5 ^oC to 1.0 ^oC. What would cause this?
    
5. There is a natural greenhouse effect without which the Earth would be uninhabitable. How much lower would Earth's temperature be with this natural effect?
    
6. How many bilions of tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are added to the Earth's atmosphere each year by burning fossil fuels?
    
7. How many millions of tons of methane are added to the Earth's atmosphere by human sources?
    
8. Some researchers have proposed that changes in the Sun, along with feedbacks from clouds and other processes, contribute to global warming. What is the name of this theory?
    
9. What must a computer climate model do before it is accepted by the scientific community as being valid?
    
10. The amount of predicted global warming varies from one computer climate model to another. What probably causes this?
     
11. Most computer climate models are limited by available computational power. Why is so much computing power needed?
     
12. What potent greenhouse gas is trapped in large quantities in the permafrost of the tundra?
     
13. Global warming from CO₂ radiative forcing is expected to cool the stratosphere. What effect will this have on ozone depletion?
     
14. Some scientists seem to have observed a reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the planet, possibly due to aerosols. What is this phenomenon called?
     
15. The primary effect of global warming is increasing carbon dioxide and increasing global average temperature. List four secondary effects of global warming.
     
16. What eight countries would be most affected by sea level rise from global warming?

This task introduces the EPA, the US government agency responsible for protecting the environment. Use this Environmental Protection Agency webpage to answer the following questions.

1. What do the letters FIFRA stand for?
    
2. EPA tests for automobile fuel economy do not measure actual fuel consumption. What do they measure?
    
3. What type of vehicles have the most significant differences between the EPA milage rating and actual milage?
    
4. In what year was the "Scenic Rivers Preservation Act" passed?
    
5. Which EPA region includes Oklahoma?

Greenpeace's official mission statement describes the organization and its aims as follows:

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions for a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace's goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity.

1. What is the name of the "Committee" from which Greenpeace was formed?
    
2. Greenpeace International was formed on what date?
    
3. To ensure its independence and impartiality, Greenpeace does not accept money from what two sources?
    
4. What is the Rainbow Warrior?
    
5. What are the two main environmental issues Greenpeace focuses on today?
    
6. David McTaggart, one of the founders of Greenpeace International, was a champion at what sport in his youth?
    
7. Who was killed when the French government used frogmen to attach two bombs to the Rainbow Warrior and sink her?
    
8. What brand product of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation does Greenpeace charge is leading to the destruction of ancient boreal forests in Canada?
    
9. Because of their door-to-door fund-raising, Paul Watson, a vocal critic, once called Greenpeace what?
    
10. Greenpeace activists were arrested and charged with "sailormongering" while protesting U.S. importation of Brazilian mahogany. What is "sailormongering"?