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If current agricultural, economic, social, and political practices go unchecked, things will not still run as smoothly as they seem now. Thought history, we have seen many technological and other advances come about when we need improvements in our lives. Time has told us that for things to be as efficient and effective as possible, we will have more advances.

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The most important industrial chemical is Sulfuric Acid. I chose the industrial chemical because we have talked about industrial revolutions in our other units. Sulfuric Acid can be converted into a fertilizer called a superphosphate which helps us grow food.

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The thick liquid used to be called "oil of vitriol," since it was originally made by the distillation of "green vitriol," or iron sulfate as we know it today. It was so corrosive and nasty that the term "vitriolic" entered our vocabulary to describe language that was particularly disagreeable.

Sulfuric acid is the substance that, in movies at least, sizzles through metal, burns skin and dissolves corpses. Although in real life it is not quite as deadly as in works of fiction, it is bad enough. We sometimes use it as a drain cleaner to dissolve all the accumulated guck which includes items ranging from hair to toothpaste tube caps. There is an important point worth noting about using concentrated sulfuric acid as a drain cleaner. It must never be mixed with any of the other commonly available drain cleaners which are based on lye (sodium hydroxide). Combining these two generates a tremendous amount of heat, enough to melt plastic pipes, as well as toxic acid vapors!

So if sulfuric acid is so dangerous, why are their tankers and trains criss-crossing the continent loaded with this liquid? The reason is actually simple. Sulfuric acid is the world's most important industrial chemical! In North America we produce about 50 million tons a year, mostly by burning sulfur to form sulfur dioxide which is then reacted with water. Why do we need all that sulfuric acid? Primarily to produce fertilizer. Sulfuric acid converts insoluble phosphate ore into a valuable fertilizer known as "superphosphate." Without this we could not even contemplate feeding the world. Then there are the detergents, the dyes, the drugs, the explosives, the paints, the metals and the car batteries, all of which require sulfuric acid for production.

Sulfuric acid also occurs in nature. Oil, coal and gasoline all contain small amounts of naturally occurring sulfur compounds. When these burn, their sulfur content is released as sulfur dioxide, a gas that eventually combines with moisture to form sulfuric acid. Presto, we have acid rain! In some areas the rain can be acidic enough to corrode limestone used in building construction. Limestone is calcium carbonate and reacts with sulfuric acid to form carbon dioxide and calcium sulfate that is washed away.

Many years ago during a lecture on acid rain I decided to demonstrate its effects by opening a bottle of the acid and hanging a nylon stocking nearby. The acid vapours soon formed large holes in the stocking. The students were impressed and undoubtedly learned something about acid rain. But I learned something too. I learned about the popularity of nylon underwear! The next day I was confronted by a couple of students who had gone home at night and discovered holes in their finery. Apparently the sulfuric acid vapours had a more wide ranging effect than I had expected. There was some explaining to do in the face of some pretty vitriolic language.
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The Most Important Industrial Chemical in the World...and a Lesson Learned

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The thick liquid used to be called "oil of vitriol," since it was originally made by the distillation of "green vitriol," or iron sulfate as we know it today. It was so corrosive and nasty that the term "vitriolic" entered our vocabulary to describe language that was particularly disagreeable.

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The Third Agricultural Revolution represents the movement from Agrarian to Industrialized society. Mechanized farm implement were replaces by their steam and fossil fuel versions. This made farming techniques more efficient by making better us of lands and significant food production. The technology and productivity during the third revolution led to an increase in urbanization and more complex social stratification.

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The Neolithic (Agricultural) Revolution had many positive and negative impacts. The main impact is that humans no longer had to wonder where their next meal was coming from or when they were going to get it. They went from having to go out and search for food to being able to grow it near them. This ultimately leads to a more complex society where individuals have roles or duties.

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For the biome I feel that is most in danger of ecological change I chose the tundra. Due to climate change and global warming, glaciers, icebergs, and the layers of snow have already been melting. The overall temperature of the Earth will continue rise and it will eventually change what we know as the tundra.

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Common name: Sourwood
Taxonomic name: Oxydendrum arboreum

The Sourwood tree is an Angiosperm that is native to the Southeast United States. Angiosperms are flowering plants that yield seed with flesh or fruit. The flowers can either be imperfect (contains either male or female reproductive structures) or perfect (contains both male and female reproductive structures).

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Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and some organisms use energy from the sun, carbon dioxide, and water to make their own food. I chose this animation because it was detailed and sometimes it helps me to better understand something to visualize it and actually see it happening. Overall

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Plants absorb carbon dioxide in order to produce oxygen to support life on Earth. They also serve as a habitat and food source for animals and humans. This being said, plants support us in many ways and this picture shows a human nurturing a sprout.