Acid Deposition
Acid deposition is a huge problem in our world today. It contaminates our waters causing the deaths of plants, trees, and fish as well as other animals. This is not a problem that only affects wildlife, as humans, we depend on this wildlife for our own sources of food and shelter. It is a problem we must face together in order to solve it. However, acid rain by itself is not the biggest problem. It causes many other deadly problems such as aluminum poisoning.
What is acid deposition? Acid deposition, also known as acid rain, is all the rain, snow, mist, etc. that falls from the sky onto the Earth that contains unnatural acids. It is not to be concerned with uncontaminated rain that falls, even though all rain is naturally slightly acidic. Acid rain is caused by contaminates emitted by today's industries as well as by automobiles. These poisons are released into our atmosphere because of the difficulty and cost of properly disposing of them. Therefore, the sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides reach our atmosphere virtually untreated. "Eventually, raindrops that fall through heavily-polluted air scavenge a load of airborne materials, and included in their load are acid gases and acid particles.
Discovery:
Acid deposition was first considered to be a serious threat around 20 years ago when scientists in Norway and Sweden first believed that acidic rain might be causing great ecological damage to the planet. This was a monumental discovery. However, it was discovered too late. Detecting acidic lakes is often quite difficult. A lake does not become acidic overnight. It happens over a period of many years, or even over decades of deposition. The changes are usually too gradual for them to be det...
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...t; we can drive cleaner burning cars, or just simply drive less. The point is, acid deposition is a potentially deadly situation that can potentially be solved with hard work and time. The question is, do we have time or have we sat and stared at the clock for too long.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Acid Deposition. Washington, D.C. : National Academy
Press, 1983.
Howells, Gwyneth. Acid Rain and Acid Water. London: Ellis Horwood,
1989.
Luoma, Jon. Troubled Skies, Troubled Waters. New York: The Viking Press,
1984.
Gibbons, John. National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Biennial
Report to Congress: An Integrated Assessment. National Science and
Technology Council, 1998. http://www.nnic.noaa.gov/CENR/NAPAP/_96.htm.
Pearce, Fred. Acid Rain, What is it and What is it doing to us? New York:
Penguin Publishing House, 1987.
Most of the acid rain pollution in our area comes from traffic, the creation of power, and manufacturing. Sometimes, fumes from manufacturing and power plants are created in the west and are blown eastward because
... removing and/or stopping the pollution that is emitted into the air from large refineries or factories. In fact, the essay claims that “Of several techniques to remove pollution during industrial coal combustion, perhaps the most effective is ‘scrubbing,’ in which gases are washed in a desulphurizing bath before going into the atmosphere.” This is informative because it shows that there is a way control acid rain. Similarly, the essay stated many different ways in which everyday people could help control the amount of pollution that is discharged into the air. A solution like carpooling so that the amount of pollutants that are emitted into the air are lowered is just one of the many ways discussed in the essay for society to lower the pollution in the air. The informative way in which Robert Collins presented his idea’s added to the effectiveness of the essay.
Acid rain has been proven to have damage forests, fresh waters and soils, killing insect and aquatic life-forms. It also causes damage to buildings and impacts on human health. Many people do not know what acid rain actually is. Acid rain is any form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, low pH levels, higher than normal amounts of sulfuric and nitric acid, occurs naturally and from man made sources. Forms when gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals (what is acid rain?). The only water that will not have some amount of acidity is pure water. Pure water has a pH of 7 which is neutral; regular, unpolluted rain water has a pH of around 5.6. The acidity in rain water comes from the presence of Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, and Sulfur Dioxide. CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid. Nitrogen and water react during lightning storms, forming Nitric Oxide. NO is then oxidized to form N02. The NO2 reacts with water to form nitric acid. Due to this, the pH is lowered to be slightly acidic (Acid Rain). Acid rain can occur naturally in the environment, but the problem occurs when human interaction is the cause of the acidic levels.
Acid gases are produced when fossil fuels like coal and oil are burned in power stations, factories and in our own homes. Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the air. Most of these acid gases are blown into the sky, and when they mix with the clouds it can cause rain - or snow, sleet, fog, mist or hail - to become more acidic. Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the air. Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from power plants and other sources, prevailing winds blow these
When a motor vehicle runs, it produces nitrogen oxide which then mixes with the sulfur dioxide from power plants and other places. Together the two gasses then interact with molecules in the atmosphere. This interaction makes the molecules acidic and from there either falls as a form of wet deposition or dry deposition. Every day when people get into their form of motorized transportation they all contribute to the creation of acid deposition. In another article written by the EPA they tell of the causes of acid rain. Before humans started pumping these gasses into the air the environment could handle the naturally acidic precipitation, but now the precipitation has become too acidic for nature to be able to counteract the acidity: “ Over time, these neutralizing materials can be washed away by acid rain. Damage to crops, trees, lakes, rivers, and animals can result.”(What Causes Acid Rain? 1) Acid rain can cause damage to many different objects, living, or nonliving acid rain can still
Formed high in the clouds where sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides combine with oxygen and water, acid rain has a devastating ability to kill off aquatic systems, vegetation, animals, etc. The definition of acid rain is the deposition of acidic components in rain, fog, snow, and sleet. Regular rain has a pH that is slightly acidic at 5.6, but what makes one worry are the places like Washington, D.C., which possesses rain readings of 4.2 to 4.4 on the pH scale. Acid rain is mainly composed of Sulfuric Oxide (SO2) and Nitrous Oxide, which are common air pollutants from big industries, 70% of which are electric utility plants. If one views the amount pH levels of various areas around the nation it is easy to see that there is a problem, especially when a 4.0 pH level can drive many fish to die.
The bubbling pool of acid: Acidification most disastrous event in the history of our planet
There are different negative affects of acid deposition to different environments on the earth. In soils where a possible buffer of basic material isn’t as great, plant nutrients are often lost, the germination of seeds and the growth of young seedlings are hurt, and plants may become over-fertilized by nitrogen. The plants in this instance often experience reduction in growth rates, flowering ability, and overall yield. This makes the plants more vulnerable to disease, insects, drought, and frost. Trees are also affected by acid deposition.
Our Earth consists of many of many different components, such as land, animals, air, etc. and lately a lot of our attention has been brought to pollution and the state in which our Earth and atmosphere is in. Our ocean covers seventy one percent of the earth’s total surface area and plays a major role in our Earth’s atmosphere. (Hoegh-Guldberg, 2010) Acidification has been one of the many components that has been leading to the destruction of our surrounding oceans. (Doney, 2008)
In some countries acid rain is a big deal. It can harm humans, wildlife, and our natural resources. Most people wont even know when acid rain occurs, it looks feels, and tastes like regular rain. Walking and swimming in acid rain is no more harmful than walking or swimming in clean water. The thing that is harmful about acid rain is the chemicals it produces. Acid rain does sound like something you would hear of in a movie, but, no it is not pure acid, it is just regular rain that has a few chemicals in it. The big concern that scientist and people have about acid rain are, what causes it and how harmful is it?
To begin with, acid rain, the product of such accidents fall onto the environment affecting it in various ways. Lakes and streams are the most affected by acidification. A survey investigated what effects acidity had on over one-thousand lakes larger than ten acres and in thousands of miles of streams. “Of the lakes and streams surveyed, acid rain caused acidity in seventy-five percent of acidic lakes and about fifty percent of the acidic streams.” (EPA) Most aquatic organisms are not competent to such acidity, therefore die and decrease biodiversity. With the decrease of biodiversity the food chain is also affected and partially lost. Water ecosystems are not the only affected, acidification also accelerates the decaying of materials. Acid rain and dry deposition of acidic particles contribute to the corrosion of metals and the deterioration of paint and stone. Such effects can reduce the value of buildings, bridges, cars, an...
Acid rain is relevant in today’s society more than ever because ever since the Industrial Revolution we are burning fuel that contain nitrogen and sulphur compounds. Nature produces some nitrogen dioxide and some sulphur dioxide but that does not compare to how much power stations, motor vehicles and blast furnaces produce. The acid rain is killing off wildlife, corroding buildings and reacting with nutrients in the soil. The acid rain can get into our waterways and poison the water, we can also breathe it in and the acid would irritate our upper respiratory tract. Our environment is degrading and acid rain is a big catalyst.
Acid rain is a form of acid deposition, and there are many types of acid deposition. Deposition is the process in which a gas turns into a solid matter. Types of wet acid deposition, which involves gases turning into liquids, include acid rain, sleet, snow, fog, and haze. Forms of dry acid deposition include acid gas and dust. Scientists and others use a measure called pH to find the relative acidity of a liquid. If a liquid has a low pH level, it is
Acid rain is caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The gases are mainly produced by burning fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. In the US, 2/3 of all SO¬2 and 1/4 of NOx are produced by fossil fuel combustion. The other amount is naturally produced by decaying plants, volcanos. Very small amounts of nitrogen oxides are also caused by lightning strikes. Once in the atmosphere, acid rain is separated into two categories: wet deposition and dry deposition. Wet deposition means that the gases dissolve in the condensed water in clouds and raise the number of hydrogen ions in the water drops. Dry deposition means that the gases are brought back to the ground either by dust or smoke from the combustion. The particles stick to buildings, cars or trees. The particles will be washed away by rain water, in which the gases dissolve and the number of hydrogen ions increases again.
It is critical that acid deposition be reduced, not only in the United States and Canada, but also throughout the world to preserve the integrity of natural habitats, as well as to reduce damage to man-made structures. EPA has taken steps to limit the amount of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere because they are the main contributors to acid deposition be reduced, not only in the United States and Canada, but also throughout the world to preserve the integrity of natural habitats, as well as to reduce damage to man-made structures. The EPA collect air and water samples and measure them for various characteristics such as pH and chemical composition, and research the effects of acid deposition on human-made materials such as marble and bronze to understand acid rain’s causes and effects. To solve the acid rain problem, people need to understand how acid rain damages the environment. They also need to understand what changes could be made to the air pollution sources that cause the