Acid Rain
Acid rain is a great problem in our world. It causes fish and plants to die in our waters. It causes harm to our own race as well because we eat these fish, drink this water and, eat these plants.
About 20 years ago scientists first believed that acid rain was due to entirely air pollution. They were partially right. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England, pollution had been affecting all the trees, soil and rivers in Europe and North America. The use of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, are largely to be blamed for almost half of the emissions of sulfur dioxide in the world. However, there is another cause. The other cause is naturally occurring sulfur dioxide. Natural sources which release this gas are volcanoes, sea spray, rotting vegetation and plankton.
The EPA {Environmental Protection Agency} has an acid rain program. This program is working to significantly reduce utilities’ emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the pollutants responsible for acid deposition.
Across Europe there is a project going on in the schools, whose main goal is to educate young people about the changing nature of acid rain and the response of environmental systems to these changes, called “Acid Rain 2000”. Schools are being invited to join the project from across continental Europe as well as the UK. Already the project has participants in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland and Denmark.
People can get more involved with wanting to solve this problem by becoming more aware of acid rain and spreading awareness as well. Awareness should start in the schools. Students should be given the right perspective about acidic rain. Some people are under the impression that acidic lakes are grimy and gross, when really they have a captivating beauty. Granted the reason the lakes are so clear and beautiful are for the wrong reasons, people should know what to look out for. Students should be taught to conserve fossil fuels at a very young age, for the fossil fuels will be gone one day. When conserving the fossil fuels, the students will also be limiting the amount of sulfur emitted into the air, which in turn lessens the amount of acidity in the rain.
“North Americans have been smelting ore and burning fossil fuels for generations. In the past, the gases went up ordinary chimneys or small smoke stacks, to descend upon near by areas and pollute them,” states author, Robert Collins. Almost everyone knows what acid rain is and has a vague idea of the consequences that exist as a cause of it. Most people however do not realize the severity of acid rain. The essay “Acid Rain: Scourge from the Skies” by Robert Collins was very effective in showing the true severity of acid rain. By using excellent developmental devices, Robert Collins was able to write an effective essay that is appealing to today’s society, as well as informative especially for today’s constantly changing world.
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
Rain occurs nature as part of the water cycle, but sometimes rain can do more harm than good. Acid rain can causes damage to plants, animals, and even structures. Acid rain occurs naturally without human interference, but since humans started to make objects that contribute to the creation of acid rain, it happens more frequently than if humans would not be involved. People not only raised the amount of acid rain that falls, they can also be the ones to bring the amount back down to reasonable levels.
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.
Some people think that acid rain can burn skin if it lands on them. This however, does not happen. Acid rain can not burn skin, it still can causes damage to plants, animals, and even structures. Acid rain occurs naturally without human interference, but since humans started to make objects that contribute to the creation of acid rain, it happens more frequently than if humans would not be involved. People not only raised the amount of acid rain that falls, they can also be the ones to bring the amount back down to reasonable levels. In order to help, people must first understand what acid rain is.
Acid Deposition One of the biggest environmental problems that needs to be dealt with in society today is acid deposition. It is largely caused by humans, and causes much pollution to the environment and harms people and buildings as well. Although there are minimal positive sides to this issue, the negatives far outweigh it and call on people around the world to take action to reduce and even solve this problem. Coming in both wet and dry forms, acid deposition consists of acidic pollutants including nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides that have been deposited from the atmosphere to the surface of the earth. There are both wet and dry forms of acid deposition, wet forms being referred to as acid precipitation.
to as rain, which has been made more acidic than it should be due to
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?
Liming will not solve the problem of acid rain, to do that we must cut
Acid rain has a harmful impact on the environment which is a serious environmental problem that affects large parts of the United States and Canada. Acid rain is particularly damaging to lakes, streams, forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems. Acid rain is referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. They are oxidized in the air until they are converted to sulfuric and nitric acids. These acids are then captured by raindrops which fall to the earth as acid precipitation. This process is called deposition. We know this as acid rain, but we can have acidic snow or hail and even acidic dust particles falling from the sky. It can occur in natural resources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man-made sources, primarily of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides resulting from fossil fuel combustion.
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...
Have you ever wondered about the lack of fish in lakes and streams? Or maybe you wondered about the paint peeling off of a brand new motorcycle after it was sitting out in the rain. These effects are often caused by acid rain. Acid rain poses dangers to the environment, animals, and more.
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.
The different gaseous pollutants, like nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide will react with water droplets formed in clouds which will produce sulphuric and nitric acid. When it starts to rain, the clouds will release acidic water droplets. Luckily, the water droplets are weak in acidity, similar to lemon juice. Acid rain cannot burn us like strong acids do, they can only irritate the skin. Even though, acid rain cannot hurt us health wise, we must be aware of what it does to our environment. According to Washington University, acid rain effects bigger bodies of waters like lakes and ponds, therefore the living organisms like fish end up dying. Forests are also effected when acid rain reaches the soil which allow the trees to grow healthy and strong. The material of buildings can also erode at a faster rate, especially if buildings or landmarks are made of materials like limestone and sandstone. Acid rain exists purely because of the air pollutants that exist. Therefore, it is important to find a way to reduce pollutants to better improve our air quality (What Is Acid