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Environmental Impact of the
Industrial Revolution
Progress
Production, Profit, Pollution
Industrial Revolution
Production and Profit
• Massive increase in energy use from burning
fossil fuels.
• Agrarian to industry-based economy
• Rapid and large increase in production of goods
• Sustained population growth with movement
from farm to urban centers
• Improvements in transportation, agriculture
• Increase the standard of living
http://www.ecology.com/features/ind
ustrial_revolution/index.html
Industrial Revolution
Pollution
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Air pollution
Water pollution
Global warming
Acid rain
Deforestation
Ecosystem destruction
Overview
• THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION by Craig Benjamin
• www.muskegonisd.org/downloads/dept/envir
o_impact_of_ir.ppt
Air Pollution
• Particulates from burning fuel and from volcanoes
[today also: power plants, auto emissions]
• Gas emissions from burning fuel and from volcanoes
[today also: power plants, auto emissions, industry]
– CO2: from combustion of fossil fuels by motor vehicles,
power plants
– SO2: from burning fossil fuels, esp coal (90%), volcanoes,
wildfires
– NO, NO2: from burning fossil fuels, esp coal
– [CFC (chlorofluorocarbons): now mostly banned]
Detrimental Impact of Air Pollution
• Production of acid rain
• Respiratory problems and disease in humans
(1952 great London smog killed 4000)
• Chemical corrosion of buildings and statues
• Stresses plants (smog reduces sunlight and
therefore photosynthesis) and animals
Acid and pH
• Acids donate H+(aq) ions in water. The more
H+(aq) ions present, the more acidic.
• pH is a measure on the strength of the acid.
The pH range is 1-14 with pH 7 being neutral.
• Unpolluted rain has pH 5.2-5.3 (slightly acidic;
the pH of coffee is @4.8) due to the presence
of CO2.
• The pH of acid rain has been measured as low
as 2.4.
Acid Rain
• Precipitation (rain, snow) that contains acids
formed from the reaction of human generated
air pollutants, oxygen and water.
– SO2 (g) + ½ O2 (g) + H2O(g)  H2SO4
– 2NO2 (g) + ½ O2 (g) + H2O(g)  2HNO3
– 2NO (g) + 3/2 O2 (g) + H2O(g)  2HNO3
• Note that CO2 is naturally present in the atm.
– 2CO2 (g) + 2H2O(g)  2H2CO3
Detrimental Impact of Acid Rain
• Vegetation suffers due to an increase in
mineral leaching at higher acid levels
• Microbes in the soil are killed
• Insects suffer evolutionary changes; higher
food chain members are affected
• Aquatic species populations are stressed as
oceans become more acidic
• Buildings and statues are chemically corroded
Acidification of the Lakes, Streams and
Oceans
• Healthy lakes have pH 6.5; at pH 4, the lake is
dead.
• Healthy oceans have pH 8.2; current pH 8
• The presence of excess H+(aq) causes
– Dissolving/deterioration of seashells
– Fish eggs that do not hatch (< pH 5)
– Increase in [Al+(aq)]  decrease in fish
– Decrease in biodiversity
Global Warming
• The increase in the average temperature of
the earth’s oceans, land and surrounding air.
• Also called climate change.
• Depends on incoming and outgoing solar
radiation, wind and water currents,
atmospheric gases, clouds, volcanic gases and
human activities.
• Car example
Greenhouse Effect
• Solar radiation
– 30% reflected by atmosphere, clouds, dust
– 25% absorbed by atmosphere
– 45% absorbed by land and oceans
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Some heats the land and oceans
Some is radiated back into the atm as IR radiation
19% escapes out of earth’s atm
81% is absorbed by greenhouse gases and re-emited,
thus warming the earth’s surface even more. Enhanced
greenhouse effect is the problem
http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidenc
e/greenhouse_effect_img.shtml
• Animation from the BBC
Greenhouse Gases
GWP: Global Warming Potential: effectiveness
in absorbing IR radiation; measure of
contribution to Global Warming
Chemistry in Context, 2006, Am. Chem. Soc
Increase 1750-2000
Persistence
GWP
CO2
33%
5-200 yr
1
CH4
160%
12
23
N2O
10%
114
296
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenho
use_effect
Detrimental Impact of Global Warming
• More precipitation in some areas  flooding
• Less precipitation in others  spread of
deserts, change in crops
• Melting of ice caps  rise of sea level
• Spread of diseases
• Changes in ecosystems (e.g. Ocean warming)
• Weather pattern alterations
• Reduced biodiversity
Water Pollution
• Water covers 70% of the earth.
• Much water is held in aquifers – ground water
• Sources: industrial waste (heavy metals,
phosphates, asbestos, nitrates, solvents,
petrochemicals), fertilizers and pesticides,
untreated sewage, oil spills, dumping in
oceans, acid rain, underground storage
leakage.
• http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/
Detrimental Impact of Water Pollution
• Developmental problems (heavy metals, toxic
compounds)
• Disease (cholera and typhoid from
microorganisms, also organic solvents,
asbestos)
• Death (see above, also algae blooms and
microorganism growth which deplete oxygen
in lakes
Industrial Revolution
• Major turning point in earth’s ecology and the
relationship between humans and
environment.
• The next revolution: Sustainability, a Green
Industrial Revolution ?
Other Resources
• http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/esd/Earth/Industr
ial_Revolution.html
• http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/vi
ew.php?id=94546