Unit 6 is arguably the most important unit covered in this class as it comprises about 25-30% of the AP exam. Not surprisingly the bulk of the textbook is dedicated to concepts in pollution. In this unit we will discuss the variety of forms pollution can take and what impacts they have on human health.
Water Resource Concepts:
Water Availability
Cones of Depression
Saltwater Intrusion
Aquifers
Aqueducts, Levees, Dams, Dams and Dikes
Distillation, Desalinization and Reverse Osmosis
Water Ownership and Use
Forms of Pollution Concepts
Point vs. Nonpoint Sources
Eutrophication
Biological Oxygen Demand
Heavy Metals
Polychlorinated biphenyls
Thermal Pollution
Clean Water Act
Safe Drinking Water Act
Maximum Contaminant Level
Particulate Matter
Photochemical vs. Sulfurous Smog
Tropospheric vs. Stratospheric Ozone
Volatile Organic Compound
Primary vs. Secondary Pollutants
Thermal Inversion
Sulfur and Nitrogen Oxides
Sick Building Syndromev
Waste Generation and Disposal Concepts:
Municipal Solid Waste
Waste Stream
E-Waste
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Composting
Closed and Open-Loop Recycling
Landfills and Incinerators
Leachate
CERCLA Superfund Act
Integrated Waste Management
Brownfields
Human Health Concepts:
Acute vs. Chronic Disease
Epidemic vs. Pandemic
Human Diseases
Mutagens, Teratogens, Carcinogens and Endocrine Disruptors
Synergistic Interaction
Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification
Risk Analysis
Innocent-Until-Proven-Guilty Principle
Precautionary Principle
Stockholm Convention