ENV100Y5 Lecture 5: ENV100 - Module 5
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ENV100Y5 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Outdoor air pollution affects climate and harms people & ecosystems. Air pollutants: gases and particulate material added to the atmosphere. Has decreased in recent decades due to government policy and improved technologies in developing countries. Developing countries and urban areas still have significant issues. Many pollutants are aerosols, which vary both in time and space. Aerosols that are in terrestrial or anthropogenic origins have highest concentration near surface. Concentration increases as you go right of the graph. Another concentration in the atmosphere is in the stratosphere; these tend to be from volcano origins. Natural sources can pollute: dust storms, waves, volcanoes. Hundreds of millions of tones of dust are blown westward across the atlantic. Major source of salt moving from ocean to land-based reservoirs (via evaporation or sea spray; smelling the ocean before you get there). Can be natural forest fires or human-made fires. Pollutes atmosphere with soot (tiny particles) and gases from the smoke.
