Sitting in your room late at night, you listen to the gentle pittter-patter of the rain on your window. Ahh, so soothing and relaxing. Have you ever really wondered what the rain is really made of? Is that just water or is it acid slowly streaming down out there? That rain you hear just might be acid rain, it could change the way you live your life.
The commonly used terms “acid rain” and “acid precipitation” describe specific forms of a type of pollution described generally as “acid deposition.” Harmful gases that rise into the air mix with cloud moisture, sunlight, and oxidants. There they chemically combine into dilute sulfuric and nitric acids, which fall back to the earth. This is acid deposition. The major contributing pollutants are sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide (Morgan, 5).
“Acid rain” is basically rainwater with a pH level lower than 5.6 (Morgan, 3). The term pH means “potential hydrogen”. When a substance has a pH level of 7, it is completely neutral with the same number of hydroxyl and hydrogen ions (Pringle, 6). Acidity in the atmosphere can be changed by many natural things. When a volcano erupts, sulfur dioxide is spewed out. Droughts produce unusually dry soil conditions allowing dust particles to be carried upward into the air, neutralizing the acids that may be present at the time (Pringle, 4). Acid Rain can come in concentrations sometimes more acidic than lemon juice. These pollutants reach the earth in rain, snow, hail, sleet, or fog. The rain at the beginning of a shower is usually more acidic than the rain that follows. Dry acidic particles can also fall from the atmosphere. Because wind can carry gases and moisture for hundreds of miles, even areas far away from the source bear the effects of acid deposition (Durham, 10). There are of course, many things that we as humans do everyday to promote and support the continuation of acid rain. Not intentionally, of course.
When the fossil fuel, (i.e. coal) is used, the sulfur in it mixes with Oxygen in the air to form sulfur dioxide. The sulfur dioxide is eventually turned into acid over a matter of days. Coal-fired power plants are the single greatest cause of acid rain in the United States. They account for two-thirds of all sulfur dioxide emissions in the US (Pringle 16; Morgan 75). In the mid-1980’s, the United states alon...
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...ain can aggravate a person's ability to breathe and may increase disease, which could lead to death (Bennet)
In conclusion, any rain with a pH level lower than 5.6 are classified as acid rain. Acid rain is made when sulfur dioxides mix with nitrogen oxides to form acids. The acids then can come back down out of the atmosphere in either a dry or a wet form. Both of these have proven devastating to both aquatic animals and forests. Billions of dollars have been spent to correct and try to fix what acid rain had done to buildings and monuments. Acid rain also has its toll on the health of us humans. The food you eat could be contaminated with toxins due to acid rain, you’d never know it either.
Sources:
Bennet, Mark. “Acid Rain” 2-25-00. Online. Internet. 1-17-96 Available WWW: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~engenvir/enviroment/air/acid.home.html
Durham, Jack. Acid Rain: A Student’s First Sourcebook. Diane Publishing Co.: 1994.
Morgan, Sally. Acid Rain. Franklin Watts, Incorporated 1999.
Phamornsuwana, Sam. “Effects of Acid Rain” 2-24-00. Online. Internet. 1-5-99 Available WWW: http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects.html
Pringle, Laurence. Rain of Troubles. Macmillan Publishing Co.: 1988.
Fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, are Carbon rich compounds, the combustion of which produces Carbon Dioxide, a pollutant and a greenhouse gas. A large amount of energy is released during this process, which is why the pollutants off products are tolerated. This process occurs constantly throughout the world, in power stations, vehicles and cooking ovens, leading to an immense volume of CO2 being released every second, 50% of which is absorbed by oceans (Oce...
A precipitation reaction can occur when two ionic compounds react and produce an insoluble solid. A precipitate is the result of this reaction. This experiment demonstrates how different compounds, react with each other; specifically relating to the solubility of the compounds involved. The independent variable, will be the changing of the various chemical solutions that were mixed in order to produce different results. Conversely the dependent variable will be the result of the independent variable, these include the precipitates formed, and the changes that can be observed after the experiment has been conducted. The controlled variable will be the measurement of ten droplets per test tube.
Scientists have been studying the chemistry of the rain and they've discovered that while the deposition of sulfuric acid has decreased in the last two years, the deposition of nitric acid has increased. This means that the acidity of the rainfall hasn't really changed.
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.
Redemption is the act of being saved by from sin, error, or evil. Redemption is a major theme in all writings, short-stories, novels, poems, plays, etc. Many people in their lives look to achieve redemption by the time they kick the bucket, however sometimes redemption is achieved with death. In Christianity I am reminded of the significance of the death of Christ on the cross to relate to the theme of redemption in death. In this paper I hope to accomplish a contrast of the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines and the play of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, by using the theme of redemption in death, and also ultimately explaining
The topic of this paper is acid deposition, also known as acid Rain. Acid rain is precipitation, as rain, snow or sleet containing relatively high concentration of acid forming chemicals. As the pollutants from coal, smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combine with water vapor, the harmful deposition is created (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acid+rain). Acid rain affects many things greatly.
Each year about 3,000 nonsmoking adults die of lung cancer as a result breathing the sm...
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
"Thailand: Trafficking In Women And Children." Women 's International Network News 29.4 (2003): 53. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 3 Nov.
The effects of inhalant use are many. Almost all the abused products offer effects similar to those of anesthetics, which are slowing down the body functions. Depending upon the dosage, the user may feel a slight stimulation, less inhibition, or lose consciousness altogether. There is also something called Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome. This means that the user can die after one inhalant use or after many. Immediate effects inhalants offer are nausea, sneezing, coughing, nosebleeds, feeling/looking tired, bad breath, lack of coordination, and loss of appetite. There is considerable damage to ones heart, kidney, brain, liver, bone marrow, and other organs. Mothers who use inhalants during their pregnancy will leave their baby to suffer similar results of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. There are many long terms effects as well. Permanent brain damage can occur. A person doesn’t even have to be doing it for very long before the brain starts to get clogged. Loss of memory is one of the first signs of brain damage.
dangerous for the body, and can many times lead to being very ill or death.
Over the last two centuries, humanity has become increasingly reliant on fossil fuels. Over that time, the consequences of constantly burning fossil fuels have accumulated into a threat to industrialized cities. The burning of fossil fuels causes acid rain to shower on cities and ecosystems around the world, tormenting their inhabitants. The increasingly deadly pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels has caused the deaths of many people around the world by causing respiratory problems. Not only has the pollution worsened, but the supply of fossil fuels is not limitless – as humanity’s reliance increases the supply decreases, and that is all the more reason to break humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels should be replaced with cleaner alternatives because fossil fuels cause environmental hazards, are non-renewable, and are detrimental to human health.
Most people see children as being innocent, precious beings. Some believe that they are angelic, though put in the wrong situations, they can become savage beings. The innocence leaves their bodies and they are no longer precious or angelic. The need for survival of the fittest kicks in and they become savages thirsting for blood. Jacks tribe has a feast, Ralph and his tribe are also present and they are apart of the tribal dance that includes saying, "Kill the beast, cut its throat, spill its blood".(Golding 152) While all of that was happening Simon wanders off and talks to the Lord of the Flies. He tries to tell the boys of his new discovery 's, but the boys are so caught up in their chant that when Simon tries to come out of the bushes the kill him, mistaking him as the beast. “The water rose further and dressed Simon 's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble." (Golding 154) This
causes many respiratory diseases (http://www.thetruth.com/issues/tbtc/behind.cfm).
Fuels like coal, and oil that once were a fine innovation in creating energy are now rapidly deleting and one day will be gone forever; energy that won’t last is often referred to as non-renewable energy. Besides being set up to fail and become inefficient in the future, fossil fuel energy is not clean to use and poses several environmental complications. Coal, for instance is “the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. Coal combustion not only produces sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain and snow, it generates millions of tons of particulates that cause asthma and other respiratory diseases.” As with all usage of fossil fuels, it creates enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, which contributes to greenhouse gas. Not only are fossil fuels dirty, they also pose as a security risk and unforgiving on the American wallet. (Saini)