Author Question: Which of the following meteorological settings is most favorable for severe air pollution? A) ... (Read 64 times)

james · **on:** Jul 14, 2018

Which of the following meteorological settings is most favorable for severe air pollution?

A) strong wind; inversion; stable
B) light wind; isothermal; stable
C) light wind; inversion; unstable
D) strong wind; lapse; unstable

Question 2

Describe the important aspects of wind speed and direction on dispersal of air pollution.

What will be an ideal response?

Tabitha_2016 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 14, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Answer: C

Answer to Question 2

Answer: Strong winds aid in the dispersal of pollutants in two ways. First, they rapidly transport emissions from their source and spread them over a wide horizontal extent. Greater wind speeds also lower the pollution concentration indirectly. Recall from Chapter 3 that air does not flow uniformly in a given direction. Instead, it contains small, swirling motions, called eddies, that mix the air vertically. This forced convection increases with wind speed and, as a result, strong winds favor greater vertical dispersion. Short-term variations in wind direction also affect dispersion. If the wind direction varies only slightly through time, pollution will be concentrated within a relatively narrow area downwind of the source. If wind directions are highly variable, the pollutants will spread out over a wider area.