Pollution

514 GENERAL SCIENCE

 Pollution
Introduction of a substance/thing that has harmful or poisonous effects.
 Pollution - Brainstorm
What are the main types of pollution? E.g ‘land pollution’
 Pollution – Umbrella Terms
• Air • Visual
• Water • Thermal
• Light • Radioactive
• Land • Odor
• Noise • Waste
 Pollution – Umbrella Terms
• Note: some of these overlap. It’s not an exact science of terms
 Visual Pollution – Group Task
Can you think of examples in Bangkok/Thailand?
 Visual Pollution – Examples
• Condos
• Overhead wires
• Advertising
• Overdevelopment:
• Natural areas (beaches)
• Excess tourism
• Old Farangs in Pattaya
• Graffiti
 Regulations - UK
• UK government guarantees a ‘right to light’ in law
• Guarantees certain level of illumination
 Hong Kong
Hong Kong isn’t so lucky…
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xQKogpt0Cg
 Hong Kong Overcrowding
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQkvI_J8_QI
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxkS8AUCliI
 Noise Pollution - Group Task
Can you think of examples in Bangkok/Thailand?
 Noise Pollution - Examples
• Airports
• Construction
• Motorcycles
• Nightlife
• BTS/Public transport
• Traffic
• Loudspeakers
• Horns (Vietnam)
 Noise Guidelines - UK
•Night hours - 11pm and 7am
•Measured against background level
Noise Level – Protection Guidelines
• Guidelines for safe use exist
 Radioactive Pollution – Group Task
Can you think of any examples? (Not in Thailand)
 Radioactive Pollution - Examples
• Nuclear power plants
• Produce radioactive waste

• Nuclear testing
• Non-ionizing radiation:
• Radio towers
• Mobile phone towers
• High-voltage power lines

• Ionizing radiation
• Gamma/X-rays
• Alpha
• Beta
• Cosmic rays
Radioactive Waste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgVyPwhkoJs
 Radioactive Exposure
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Internal Bleeding
• Loss of weight
• Skin spots
• Cancer
• Death
 Nuclear Power Plants – Chernobyl 1986
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlJXJ3BM7j0
 Nuclear Power Plants – Fukoshima 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qtQvOxRtFk
 Nuclear Testing
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOZhtt8SfoU
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTk0IH_Y0iY
 Marshall Islands Dome
• 23 nuclear devices detonated by USA between 1946 and 1958
• Evacuation, sickness, ruination of farming, nuclear waste
Odor Pollution – Group Task
• Can you think of any examples in Bangkok/Thailand?
 Odor Pollution - Examples
• Landfill
• Car/motorcyle fumes
• Factories
• Durian!
• Sewage systems
• Farming
• Construction
• Chiang Mai - burning
 Light Pollution
• Can you think of any examples in Bangkok/Thailand/Other?
 Light Pollution
• Street lights
• Condo lights
• Smartphones in cinema!
• Car headlights
•
 Light Pollution
• Why is it bad?
 Light Pollution - Problems
• Light trespass
• Visual pollution
• Health problems:
• Circardian disruption
• Anxiety/stress/fatigue/glare
• Loss of sleep/insomnia
• Disrupt ecosystems (bats/birds/plants)
• Effect astronomy
 Circadian Cycle
We evolved to be in sync with the sun
 Air Pollution
Can you think of any examples in Bangkok/Thailand?
 Overlaps with Odor pollution…
• Landfill
• Car/motorcyle fumes
• Factories
• Chiang Mai – burning
• Fossil Fuels
• CO2
• Methane
 Smog
• Water vapour mixed with chemicals from human activities such as burning
fuels, chemical emissions from cars/industry (Contains NOx, SOx , O3)
•
 Smog in China
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFZaSbkf0U
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI8q_wDTARE
Bangkok – Air Pollution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVPJ-_QbDMc
 Ozone
• Produced when Nitrogen oxides react with oxygen in air under sunlight
• Is Ozone good or bad?
 Bad Ozone
• In lower atmosphere – harmful.
• Short term - Chess pain, coughing and breathing difficulties
• Long term- Lead to bronchitis, emphysema, asthma
 Good Ozone – The Ozone Layer
• 20km above Earth (stratosphere) – protects against UV radiation
• UVC is highest energy. Would cause serious eye damage
• What damages the ozone layer?
 Chlorofluorocarbons – CFC’s
• CFC’s act as catalysts for reactions that break down Ozone
• A single CFC molecule can help destroy 100,000 ozone molecules!
• What human activity produces them?
 CFC’s from Human Activity
• Coolants in air conditioners and fridges
• Propellants in aerosol spray cans
• Manufacture of plastic foam products
 Global Warming
• Rising CO2 linked to rising temperatures/climate change
• Traps solar energy – raises temperatures
•
•
 Higher Global Temperatures
• Rising sea levels
• Melts polar ice caps
• Effects animal habitats
•
 Acid Rain
•Water enters atmosphere as vapour then returns to Earth (water cycle)
• Some pollutants combine to form acid rain
 Acid Rain
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PDjVDIrFec
• Increases acidity of soil and water. Causes death/disease
 Thermal Pollution
• Degradation of water due to change in the water's ambient temperature caused by
human activities
• Water is often used as coolant by power plants then returned at a higher temperature
• Higher temperature decreases oxygen supply in water, effecting ecosystem
 Thermal Pollution
• Organisms adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by abrupt change
• Known as "thermal shock.“
• Water has high specific heat capacity. Difficult to heat. Organisms shocked by temperature
change
 Water Pollution – Group Task
Can you think of examples in Thailand?
 Water Pollution – Group Task
• Khlongs
• Waste
• Sewage
• Chemical
• Inorganic metals in water supply
• Fertilizers
• Biological
• Pathogens
• Disease
• Groundwater
• Oxygen depletion
 Water Pollution – Industry
• Industry can significantly effect water quality
 Water Pollution – Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om42Lppkd9w
 Eutrophication
• When a body of water becomes overly enriched with minerals and nutrients
• Induces excessive growth of plants and algae.
• Result in oxygen depletion of the water body
 Eutrophication
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAT1gLMPu4
• From fertilizers running off
 Water Pollution in Bangkok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WpsKNWcaiU
 Land Pollution
• Where an area of land is damaged or changed by some outside source.
• Results in a major decrease in the fertility of soil and agricultural production.
• Can be natural or man-made
 Land Pollution – Group Task
• What are some natural causes of land pollution?
 Land Pollution – Natural Disasters
Forest fires Volcanic eruptions Earthquakes Tsunamis
 Land Pollution – Group Task
• What are some man-made causes of land pollution?
 Land Pollution – Man-made causes
Acid rain Industrial run-off
Forest fires (burning fossil fuels) (chemicals from pesticides etc.)
factories
Deforestation Domestic waste/ littering mines
leading to soil erosion Construction sites Intensive farming

Anthropogenic – land pollution originating from human activity

 Intensive Farming
How can faming lead to land pollution?
 Intensive Farming
Chemical fertilizers - phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium. ‘run off’ – nitrogen
affects aquatic ecosystems.
Pesticides - contain arsenic, ammonia, benzine, chlorine - toxic to organisms.
 Land Pollution – Group Task
• Can you think of examples in Bangkok/Thailand?
 Plastics Contribute!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qhhJ_vFbpk