2. I. What is Acid Rain?
- Acid rain is rainfall that has been acidified. Rain is
acidified by oxides of sulfur and nitrogen. Acid rain usually has a
pH of less than 5.6. Acid rain is formed when pollutants called
oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, contained in power plant smoke,
factory smoke, and car exhaust, react with the moisture in the
atmosphere. Dry deposition, such as soot and ash, sleet, hail,
snow, smog and low level ozone are forms that acid rain can take,
despite its name.
3. II. Causes
- Acid rain can be caused by many things. Industrial emissions
from factories and power plants that burn fuels such as natural
gas, coal or oil, emit smoke that gives off oxides of sulfur and
nitrogen is one cause. Another cause is vehicles (e.g. cars, buses)
that burn gasoline and diesel. The exhaust emitted by burning these
fuels contains sulfur dioxide, an oxide of sulfur. Also, vehicles
that have gas engines will produce oxides of nitrogen, another
cause of acid rain. One other cause is home fires giving off smoke
that contains sulfur dioxide. Some fairly minor causes are natural
causes which are volcanoes, swamps and rotting plants giving off
sulfur dioxide. Natural causes only account for 10% of the
pollution causing acid rain.
4. III. Effects and Problems
- There are many problems and effects caused by acid rain. Acid
rain can cause buildings, statues and bridges to deteriorate faster
than usual. Another problem is it harms thousands of lakes, rivers,
and streams worldwide. It disrupts lake ecosystems and kill
wildlife in affected lakes, rivers and streams. Acid rain also
damages soil and the tree roots in it. When soil is acidified, tree
roots are damaged, leaving them not able to draw in enough
nutrients to support the tree. When acid rain falls on trees, it
makes their leaves turn brownish-yellow and the tree can no longer
carry out photosynthesis properly. Another problem is it will harm
people when they breathe in smog, acid rain in one of its many
forms. Acid rain can also harm people indirectly. This happens when
people eat fish caught in affected lakes or rivers. Also, if the
water source is acidic enough, it will react with copper or lead
pipes to harm humans. It also washes aluminum into the water
supply. Birds can be harmed if they live in affected waters or feed
on fish living in affected waters.
5. IV. Areas Affected
- There are several places around the world affected by acid rain
and here are the main ones. The Northeastern section of the United
States where acid rain is caused by high numbers of factories and
power plants is one affected area. Also in that same region, the
Southeastern section of Canada is affected and the main cause is
factories in the Toronto-Hamilton area and possibly large numbers
of automobiles. Central Europe (Black Triangle of Lower Silesia in
Poland, Southern Saxony in Germany and Northern Bohemia in Czech
Republic) and Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway and Finland) are also
affected, here being the British and other European factories doing
the damage. One more main area that is affected is parts of Asia,
specifically India and China, where acid rain is caused by large
numbers of factories.
6. V. The History of the Acid Rain Problem
- Here is a little bit on the history of the acid rain problem.
The problem of acid rain probably originated during the 1730's, at
the height of the industrial revolution. It was discovered in the
1950's and started being noticed in the 1960's. Since the 1960's,
the problem has gotten worse in rural areas because the tall
chimneys on factories allow the wind to transport pollutants far
away from their sources. In 1984 it was reported that almost half
of the trees in the famous black forest in Germany had been damaged
by acid rain. In 1988, as part of the United Nations-sponsored Long
Range Transboundary Air Pollution Agreement, the U.S.A. and 24
other nations agreed to some rules limiting nitrogen oxide
emissions to 1987 levels.1990 changes to the Clean Air Act set
rules to cut down the release of sulfur dioxide from power plants
down to 10 million tonnes by January 1, 2000.
7. VI. What Acid Rain Has Done
- There are many bad things that have happened because of acid
rain and here are some. In Sweden, drinking water once contained
enough water to make people's hair turn green. In the Czech
Republic, many trees lost all their leaves as a result of acid
rain. The Taj Mahal in India, one of the ten wonders of the world,
is being constantly threatened by acid rain. Some famous statues,
such as the Lincoln Memorial and Michaelangelo's statue of Marcus
Aurelius, have started deteriorating because of acid rain. In
London in 1952, very thick acid smog killed 4,000 people.
8. VII. Possible Solutions
- There are many possible solutions to the acid rain problem. One
is to use fuels that burn more cleanly. Another solution is to burn
coal more efficiently. Power plant and factory chimneys can be
fitted with scrubbers that release 90-95% sulfur free smoke and
also produces sludge from which gypsum, a building material, can be
produced. This problem can also be solved by enforcing tight
emission standards on vehicles that burn gas and diesel. One other
solution is fitting devices such as a catalytic converter into car
exhaust pipes to minimize the amount of sulfur dioxide in car
exhaust.
9. VIII. What We Can Do?
- We can do things to help solve the acid rain problem. We can
cut back on car use by walking, cycling, using public transit or
carpooling. We can also help by turning off electrical devices not
in use such as lights and computers.Avoidburning fires. Recycle and
reuse as much as possible.