Human Influences on the Environment
Carbon monoxide
Sulphur dioxide
Acid rain
Makes soil acidic - damaged crops
Makes lakes acidic - can kill fish
Can damage buildings made of limestone
Info
created from incomplete combustion of carbon
Colourless and odourless
Consequences
CO has a higher affinity for haemoglobin that oxygen.
The CO binds irreversibly to haemoglobin which means haemoglobin cannot carry oxygen
Can cause suffocation
Greenhouse gases
Water vapour
Nitrus oxide
Methane
CFC's (chloroflurocarbons)
CO2
Produced from
Increases in the winter as photosynthesis decreases because there are less leaves and there are more fossil fuels being burnt for heating
Respiration
Burning fossil fuels
Landfill sites
Mining
Cattle
Makes up 95% of greenhouse gases
More water in the atmosphere leads to more heat energy being trapped in the atmosphere
Naturally present in the atmosphere but human activities such as burning fossil fuels have led to a rise
Nitrus oxide is extremely effective at trapping heat in the environment
Found in air-conditioning units, aerosols
Broken down to release chlorine which destroys the O-zone layer
Eutrophication
Algae cover water surface which means that light cannot reach plants. This causes plants to die because of less oxygen which means that there is no oxygen for fish or insects
Leaching = fertiliser gets washed into water
Nitrates = algae growth
Deforestation
What is it?
Cutting down trees
Why?
Building material, fuels, land space, agriculture
Consequences?
Soil erosion (tree roots hold soil together)
Rainfall increase leaching out of soil into waterways
water cycle imbalance
Less CO2 being taken out of the atmosphere
Less habitats
'Describe how greenhouse gases contribute to global warming' (6)
CO2 is released through respiration and burning fossil fuels. CO2 can increase in the winter as more fuels get burnt warming buildings and less leaves on trees causes more CO2 to enter the atmosphere. Water vapour makes up 95% of greenhouse gases. More water being trapped in the atmosphere i.e humidity causes heat energy to get trapped in the atmosphere. CFC's brake down to release chlorine which destroys the O-zone layer. When sun rays hit the earth, some rays reflect but some heat gets trapped inside the atmosphere.