Did you know that around fifty thousand lakes in the United States and Canada have a pH which is considered to be more acidic than normal? Hundreds of these lakes cannot even support aquatic life. Most people do not understand the danger that acid rain poses to our environment. It is time for everyone to open their eyes and not only see the terrible effects of acid rain, but to take steps to eliminate acid rain. Acid rain is a detrimental issue that needs to be stopped before it causes more damage to our environment.
Acid rain is caused by carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide mixing with the water molecules in the atmosphere, which can form mild solutions similar to carbonic, sulfuric, and nitric acid [4]. Carbon dioxide is the highest cause of acid rain from natural causes due to it being environmentally present in higher concentrations than the others. Water will react with carbon dioxide in the air to form carbonic acid. The acid can then readily dissociate to give a positive hydrogen ion and a hydronium carbonate ion, therefore being able to lower the pH of rainwater, however not dangerously. When it comes to unnatural acidity in rain, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide have a much stronger effect than carbon dioxide. Nitrogen oxide causes around one fourth of acid rain, while sulfuric acid causes most of the other seventy five percent. Nitrogen oxide, which is produced from car engines and power plants, will oxidize in air to form nitrogen dioxide, which then reacts with water to form nitric acid and nitrogen oxide. This acid can then yield hydrogen ions and nitrate ions, and can dangerously lower pH. The burning of fossils fuels combines sulfur with oxygen, creating sulfur dioxide and then sulfuric acid when wat...
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...il fuels is useful in decreasing the emission of gases that form acid rain. Overall, it would be a big help for individuals to all take steps in slowing the acid rain problem. Any way to use less energy or reduce car emissions should be regularly practiced. All in all, everyone should know the dangers of acid rain and how they can help stop it.
Acid rain needs to be stopped before it can further detrimentally damage our environment. Steps must be taken by everyone to eliminate the acid rain problem. Once everyone understands the dangers of acid rain, it will be clear that it is a problem that needs to be fixed. Trees, lakes, rivers, aquatic animals, statues, buildings, and even people can be affected by acid rain in one way or another. It is time for us to stop letting acid rain affect us and our environment, and decide to end the acid rain problem once and for all.
... 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.
The outcomes due to acid rain is most obvious in aquatic habitats. As the acidity in lakes increase, the water becomes clearer and the lives of fish and other water animals decrease. The acidity of the water does not just affect species directly, it also causes toxic substances like aluminum to be released into the water from the soil, harming fish and other aquatic animals. Lakes, rivers and marshes each have their own fragile ecosystem with many different species of plants and animals all depending on one another to survive. If a species of fish disappears, the animals which feed on it will gradually disappear too. If the extinct fish used to feed on a particular species of large insect, that insect population will start to grow, this in turn will affect the smaller insects or plankton on which the larger insect
In order to help, people must first understand what acid rain is. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) help get information out to the public about events that causes damage to the environment, they do through their website, epa.gov. Acid
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
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, be it a car, truck, motorcycle, etcetera, they all contribute to the creation of acid deposition. Before humans started pumping these gasses into the air the environment could handle the naturally acidic precipitation, but now thanks to their involvement 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?) Acid rain can cause damage to many different objects, living or nonliving acid rain can still
One of the biggest environmental problems that needs dealing 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 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. Acid precipitation is the result of sulfur and nitrogen oxides reacting in the atmosphere with water vapor. This returns to the earth as acid rain or snow. Dry deposition occurs when these oxides react without water and they settle out of the atmosphere onto the earth. Acid deposition can come from a number of different sources such as smokestacks, trucks and cars. More than 90% of the sulfur in the atmosphere comes from humans. Coal burning, the smelting of metal sulfide ores, and automobile exhaust are major human contributions to sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. Similarly, 95% of the increased nitrogen oxide levels in the atmosphere are a result of the activities of humans. The activity that contributes the most to these elevated levels is the combustion of oil, coal, and gas. Attention was first drawn to acid deposition in the 17th century when the bad effects of industry and acidic pollution on both vegetation and people were noticed. In the 1960s, it became an international problem when fishermen noticed declines in fish numbers and diversity in lakes across North America and Europe. Acid deposition causes many problems such as these worldwide, and is clearly a problem that needs to be properly dealt with.
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?
Liming will not solve the problem of acid rain, to do that we must cut
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.
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.
Ocean acidification will have harsh outcomes for shelled organisms and coral reefs. But don’t you wonder what type of effect it will have on you! People have a misconception that if the ocean turns into acid that it’ll be hazardous to get in the water. Ocean acidification isn't gonna harm humans directly. As you all know though humans are inextricably linked to the health of the ocean. Ever since i can remember humans have depended on the sea for more things then land. The ocean provides resources like food, recreation, transportation, and medicines. People need to realize they need the ocean for more things then they can imagine. Not to mention the guilt you’d feel if the ocean was extinct and you didn't do anything to help prevent it.