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Acid rain and its ecological consequences anita singh and madhoolika agrawal
Acid rain effects on aquatic ecosystems
Acid rain and its ecological consequences anita singh and madhoolika agrawal
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Modern society is becoming overwhelmed with great amounts of pollution from cars, factories, and an overabundance of garbage. The immense amounts of sulphur dioxide emitted into the air causes high levels of acid in the atmosphere. When this sulphuric acid is absorbed into moisture in the air, poignant rainfalls can be damaging to the external environment. Acid rain is a serious problem with disastrous effects. Each day this serious problem increases. Many people believe that this issue is too small to deal with right now, but this issue should be met head on and solved before it is too late.
Acid rain is defined as any rainfall that has an acidity level beyond what is expected in non-polluted rainfall. Any precipitation that has a pH value of less than 5.6 is considered to be acid precipitation.
One of the main causes of acid rain is sulfur dioxide. Natural sources that emit this gas are volcanoes, sea spray, rotting vegetation, and plankton. However, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, are largely to be blamed for approximately half of the emissions of this gas in the world.
Nitric oxide and nitric dioxide are also components of acid rain. Its sources are mainly from power stations and exhaust fumes. Like sulfur dioxide, these nitrogen oxides rise into the atmosphere and are oxidized in clouds to form nitric acid.
Acid rain has drastic effects on our environment. It causes lakes and rivers to become acidic, killing off fish. Short-term increases in acid levels kill lots of fish, but the greatest threat is from long-term increases, which stop the fish reproducing. Plants and algae in lakes also suffer from increased acid levels. When the pH gets down to 4.5, virtually everything is dead.
How does acid rain affect humans? Among one of the serious side effects of acid pollution on humans are respiratory problems. The SO2 and NO2 emissions give rise to respiratory problems such as asthma, dry coughs, headaches, eye, nose, and throat irritations.
The best approach to acid rain is to reduce the amount of Nitrogen Oxides and Sulfur dioxides being released into the atmosphere. Fitting a catalytic converter to a car can reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides by up to 90 percent, but they are very expensive, and cause more carbon dioxide to be released, which contributes to the greenhouse effect.
Sulfur Dioxide emissions from power stations can be reduced before, during, or after combustion.
The Industrial Revolution was not only a turning point in the progress of human history, but the start of a great change in the Earth’s environment. Technological advances in industry and mass migration into urban areas led to a rising demand for energy sources, a demand met by fossil fuels. Casper, J. (2010) describes coal as ‘symbolic of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution’, the increased combustion of these ‘dirty’ fossil fuels further polluted the air and enhanced the volume of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Changes in land use attributed to population rise, reduced the amount of photosynthesising biomass on Earth, diminished an important ‘carbon sink’ and concluded to enhance the Greenhouse Effect.
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
This silent killer is destroying these beautiful lakes and their surrounding watersheds. Acid rain has an adverse effect on the lakes, and their surrounding watersheds, of the Adirondacks in New York State.Acid rain is defined as chemically polluted rainfall. It's causes are: coal burning plants, industrial factories, smelters, and car emissions. It's formed by water molecules combining with the sulfur dioxide emitted by the burning of coal and with nitrogen oxide from auto emissions.
In conclusion, “Acid Rain: Scourge from the Skies” was effective in proving how severe acid rain is and can be. Robert Collins wrote informatively about a notable subject what anyone can comprehend and he used many commendable writing devices which all added to the effectiveness of the essay.
Rain is naturally acidic, due to the CO2 dissolved in it, however when sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen react with the rain water they form sulphuric, and nitric acids which make the rain strongly acidic. SO2 + ½O2 + H2O → H2SO4 It may also take the form of snow or fog. The sulphur dioxides and oxides of nitrogen come mainly from industry. Acid rain is currently a subject of great controversy because of widespread environmental damage for which it has been blamed, including eroding structures, injuring crops and forests, and threatening or depleting life in freshwater lakes.
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 rain affects many things in our world greatly. Acid rain is precipitation that has been released into the atmosphere and is very harmful and can do lots of damage.
Some kinds can accept acidic waters more than others. polluting of the environment impacts many species ultimately impacts additional through the entire organic phenomenon combined with non-aquatic kinds like parrots. The penalties of smog, combined together with different ecological stressors, depart trees in addition to plants unripe to be able to confront to be able to cold conditions, insects, in addition to illness. The pollutants could on top of that inhibit trees ability to breed. Some soil square gauge higher capable of neutralize acids than others. In areas the spot that the soil streaming capability will be low, this harmful outcomes of smog square gauge plenty added.
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
Acid rain is rain polluted by gasses released into the air by the burning of fossil fuels, like coal or oil. It has affected many European countries but the most one out of all of them was Germany. Acid rain has many effects, but none is greater than its impact on lakes, streams, wetlands, and other aquatic environments. Acid rain makes waters acidic, and causes them to absorb the aluminum that makes its way from soil into lakes and streams. “Experts estimate that more than one-half of Germany’s trees have been damaged or killed by acid rain.”
Acid rain removes nutrients from soil, so plants can not get to them, so this eventually kills surrounding soil. It can also get into lakes and rivers, which can kill fish. The same is true for acidic snow, as it kills fish in rivers and lakes. Rates of reactions:. This is how quick a reaction is, you can find out the rate of a reaction by seeing how much of it is used up in a particular amount of time.
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?
Acid rain is when chemicals like nitrogen and sulphur-dioxide are released into the atmosphere and react with the water vapour, and acid pours in form of rain. This is very dangerous because it destroys infrastructures and some buildings, and also dissolves the human