Study Guide | Explore This Topic | Meet the Scientist
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Explore This Topic

Check Your Understanding

The following questions accompany this lesson. The answers are given below each question. To reveal an answer, place the cursor over "REVEAL THE ANSWER".

1. Visit this web site.

   Notice that under pollutants you can search for particles (PM2.5). These are the very small particles that were mentioned in the Study Guide.

   Why are they reporting the particles in the smaller size range?
   

2. List at least five sources of atmospheric aerosols.
   

3. What is the difference between primary and secondary aerosols?
   

4. What are some of the ways atmospheric aerosols can influence climate?
   

5. Why do atmospheric aerosols influence ozone depletion?
   

Test your knowledge by completing the Atmospheric Crossword.

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Exercise Your Brain

Whose Responsibility Is It?

During the middle of the twentieth century, several cities and towns around the world had deadly air pollution events. In Belgium's Meuse Valley, 63 people died during a deadly fog in 1930 that lasted five days. London had killer fogs in 1948, 1952 and 1956 and at least 5,000 people are thought to have died as a result. During those same years, Los Angeles, California had inversion layers that resulted in deaths.

Before the 1950’s there were few laws regulating air pollution, but after the mid-century disasters governments began to study the effects of air pollution and to find solutions to the problem. In the United States, the federal government at the time determined that the problem was local and that individual states and towns were responsible for addressing their own air pollution problems.

Today, weather satellites circle the globe and provide hourly air quality information. That information is changing our attitudes about who is responsible for our air quality.

1. Visit this web site.

a) Scroll down to Figure 3: Asthma Distribution Map of California. Which counties have the highest occurrence of asthma?

b) Scroll down to Figure 6: Particulate Matter Map of California. Which counties have the highest parts per million of particulates?

c) What can you say about the distribution of particulates and the occurrence of asthma in California? (You can open another window in your browser to look at both figures at the same time.)

2. Visit this web site. Look at the data maps for California by selecting a month and year. Make sure that the box in front of particles is selected. During which months are the particulate air pollutants highest in:

a) Los Angeles?

b) San Diego?

c) Compare different years. Does there seem to be a pattern in the high pollution months?

d) Compare the days when air particulates are highest for Los Angeles with the days when the atmospheric particulates in San Diego are highest. Do you think there is a connection between Los Angeles’ atmospheric aerosols and San Diego’s?

3. Some people think that San Diego’s particulates originate in Los Angeles. The people in Los Angeles think other areas donate it to them.

a) Can you determine what is true from this data?

b) What would you need to know to make that determination? (Hint: Think about the movie and the Study Guide information. How do scientists study particulates?)

4. Open a new window and look at the map of the wind directions on the coast of Southern California.

(Note: If that link becomes archived go to: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/. Click on the map in the area of San Diego. Then on the next map, on the page that comes up, click on San Diego again. On the next page that comes up scroll down to Additional Forecasts and Information and click on the words: Observation Map.)

The odd looking flags are Wind Barbs and they mean:

a) Which way do you think the atmospheric aerosols that originate in Los Angeles go?

b) Which way do you think the atmospheric aerosols that originate in San Diego go?

5. Visit this web site. (Note: This animation may take a while to load.)

Watch the satellite video of air masses moving over Southern California.

a) Do the winds ever blow a different way?

b) Go back to the Study Guide and look at the picture of the smoke from the California Fires in 2003. Which way was the wind blowing at the time the picture was taken?

6. Visit this web site. Look at particulate air pollution in other parts of the United States. The people in Europe think that some of their air pollution originates in the United States. Open a new window and look at the following animated air circulation map the Eastern U.S.. (This animation may take a while to load.)

What do you think? Is the U.S. possibly sending the Europeans some atmospheric aerosols?

7. Visit this web site. Baja California Norte is a state in Mexico just south of San Diego.

a) Does it look like the air in San Diego is going to Baja or the reverse?

b) Do we share the same air with Mexico?

c) Do you think we might be sharing atmospheric aerosols?

d) Do you know anything about the environmental laws in Mexico? What would you want to know about their laws?

8. If you met a student in Mexico who was concerned about the pollution emitted by factories in San Diego, what would you say that would suggest to them that you would be willing to work on this problem together to find common solutions?

9. Write an opinion piece (500-600 words) that explains why controlling anthropogenic (man-made) aerosol emissions is essential, and calling on cooperation between the relevant stakeholders in your region (e.g. local and state government officials, businesses, consumers, air quality management boards or other relevant regulatory agencies). Look at the Op-Eds (opinion pieces) in your local paper to get an idea how to structure your arguments to make a good opinion piece.

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