================================== DOCUMENT 2: SESSION 5 (S5) ================================== POLLUTION ABATEMENT (21CHO105T) Unit 1 - Session 5 I. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (MCQs) 1. Which of the following is a direct health impact of global warming? β Answer: a) Increased malaria spread β Explanation: Warmer global temperatures expand the geographic habitat and breeding range of vector organisms like Anopheles mosquitoes, accelerating transmission rates of diseases like malaria. 2. Which natural process helps reduce global warming by absorbing ? πΆπ 2 β Answer: a) Photosynthesis β Explanation: Photosynthesis fixes inorganic atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic glucose, acting as a major biological carbon sink (6CO2 + 6H2O >>Light>> C6H12O6 + 6O2). 3. Which region is most vulnerable to rising sea levels due to global warming? β Answer: b) Coastal areas β Explanation: Low-lying coastal habitats and island regions are immediately vulnerable to coastal inundation, erosion, and storm surges resulting from thermal expansion of seawater and melting land ice. 4. Global warming can lead to changes in β Answer: A) Weather and climate patterns β Explanation: Shifts in atmospheric thermal energy distribution alter global precipitation patterns, jet streams, monsoon cycles, and climate stability. 5. Rising global temperatures are closely associated with β Answer: b. Increase in extreme weather events β Explanation: Elevated atmospheric and ocean temperatures increase the frequency and severity of heatwaves, severe droughts, heavy precipitation events, and intense tropical cyclones. II. SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS 1. Identify two major causes of global warming and explain how they contribute to it. β Answer: 1. Fossil Fuel Combustion: Burning coal, oil, and natural gas for power generation and transportation releases large quantities of carbon dioxide ( ) into the atmosphere, intensifying radiative heat πΆπ 2 trapping. 2. Deforestation: Land-clearing reduces Earth's natural photosynthesizing biomass (carbon sinks) and releases stored organic carbon back into the atmosphere as πΆπ 2 2. What are the main causes of global warming? β Answer: β Combustion of fossil fuels (power generation, industrial facilities, transport). β Deforestation and broad land-use changes. β Agricultural practices (methane from cattle/paddies, from π 2 π nitrogen fertilizers). β Industrial gas emissions (HFCs, PFCs, ). ππΉ 6 β Municipal solid waste breakdown in anaerobic landfills releasing πΆπ» 4 III. LONG ANSWER QUESTION 1. Analyse the causes and consequences of global warming. β Answer: 1. Causes of Global Warming β Combustion of Fossil Fuels: Industrial operations, power grids, and motor vehicles burn fossil fuels, releasing gigatons of annually into the πΆπ 2 atmosphere. β Deforestation: Large-scale clearing of tropical rainforests impairs biological carbon sequestration and emits stored carbon via burning and decomposition. β Agricultural Activities: Intensive farming releases from livestock πΆπ» 4 enteric fermentation and anaerobic rice fields, alongside from π 2 π synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers. β Industrial Processes: Chemical manufacturing, cement production, and halogenated gas leakage add high-potency greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. 2. Environmental Consequences β Melting Glaciers and Thermal Expansion: Rapid thermal decline in Arctic sea ice and continental ice sheets (Greenland/Antarctica), paired with thermal expansion of ocean water, accelerates global sea-level rise. β Altered Precipitation and Extreme Events: Increased frequency of hydrological extremes, including extended regional droughts, severe rainfalls, flash floods, and intense hurricane activities. β Ocean Acidification: Oceans absorb excess atmospheric , forming πΆπ 2 carbonic acid ( ) which lowers oceanic pH and damages calcifying π» 2 πΆπ 3 organisms (coral reefs, marine mollusks). 3. Socio-Economic and Ecological Impacts β Ecosystem Disruption: Shifts in habitat zones cause biodiversity loss, species extinction, and altered migratory schedules. β Threats to Food and Water Security: Altered rainfall distribution reduces crop productivity and degrades global freshwater resources. β Public Health Disruptions: Elevated global heat stress and vector-borne disease propagation (malaria, dengue) impact human populations worldwide.