What Is Acid Rain?
In common parlance, acid rain is just what the words man – rainfall that is acidic in nature. However, in scientific terms it has a winder connotation. So, what is acid rain? Any way by which acid falls out of the atmosphere is considered to be acid rain. It can be dry or wet. Acidic gases or particles are referred to as dry deposition, whereas acid rain, snow and fog constitute the wet deposition. Be it particles, snow or gases, they can be termed as acidic if only they have a higher concentration of hydrogen ions (i.e. pH of less than 4) than usual. But what causes acid rain ad what are its effects on our planet? Let’s consider this environmental issue that has become a serious concern for environmentalists the world over.
What Causes Acid Rain?
Sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen are the gases that cause acid rain to form. These gases can rise high above into the atmosphere. Here they combine with water vapor, oxygen and other chemicals to form acid rain.
Human activity is the main cause of acid rain. Burning of fossil fuels is the primary source of these gases. With increase in industrialization and number of vehicles running on the roads, fumes that contain these gases are being added to the atmosphere at such a rate that the excess of these gases can’t be neutralized by natural process. For example, combustion of fossil fuel in vehicles and industries like iron and steel, processing of crude oil and utility factories contribute to more than 70%
Acid rain is precipitation containing harmful amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. (Environmental Effects) A few acid rain examples are rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew. “Toxic pollutants in the air or deposited on soils or surface waters, can impact wildlife in a number of ways. Greenhouse gases a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, such as, carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons. Methane, water vapor, fluorinated gases, ozone, sulfur hexafluoride, Carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide.(OTHER GREENHOUSE
Acidity of an ecosystem, measured in pH, is a crucial factor to the survival of a species in an ecosystem. Altering it can have result in dramatically negative effects, in spite of the fact that pH of an ecosystem has been dramatically changed over a relatively short period of time due to various human activities. For example, acid rain is a major environmental problem that is caused by human-made pollution. When fossil fuels are burnt to get energy, pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides get mixed into the rainwater and eventually are evaporated into the atmosphere. These gases enter the atmosphere, and mix with water in the water cycle to form an acidic mixture of water and gases. This water falls in the form of acid rain, which
The subset of air pollutants that cause smog and acid rain (sometimes referred to as Criteria Air Contaminants or CACs) include: According to the most recent environmental indicators, 5.5 per cent of cardiopulmonary (heart and lung disease related) deaths can be attributed to ground-level ozone exposure, which has increased over the past decade.
Acid rain is any form of precipitation comprising of acidic components such as sulphuric acid, carbonic acid or nitric acid that falls from the atmosphere as rain, snow, fog, fail or dust. When sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere, they are transported by wind and air currents. Hence, the two substances react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to for sulphuric, carbonic and nitric acids. The intense extraction of copper in Queensland is one of the causes of acid rain because the large machines that drill into the ground contributes to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in large masses. The roasting, smelting and converting of copper is another factor that contributes to acid rain. The ores are roasted to remove
When fossil fuels are burned to create electricity pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. They then mix with oxygen and water in the air to form acid rain. These chemicals can travel long distances in the rain before being deposited. (Epa.gov)
“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
Rain drops that then fall through, or come in contact with, the acid will then increase their acidity. This is known as acid rain. This is a very large environmental issue because fossil fuels are burned to produce useful energy that is needed by society. But acid rain can reduce growth and even kill plants, trees and crops. It not only effects the part of the plant that is above ground, but drains the soil of its nutrients. The acidity of the rain will also lower the pH of water in lakes, killing the fish which live in it. Not only can the burning of fossil fuels ultimately lead to acid rain, but sulfur dioxide can also be the cause of many respiratory diseases like asthma and
Though acid rain is a big issue, there are ways it can be prevented. One of the biggest ways acid rain can be stopped is by lowering your energy consumption. Now you might think, ‘what does energy have to do with acid rain’? It actually has a big affect. By switching off the lights when you leave a room, turning off your computers & televisions when they aren’t being used. Closing the air conditioner/heaters when you leave your home can make a big difference, because when less electricity is used, the pollution from power plants decreases. Power plants also known as power station is an electric generating station
Acid rain affects thousands of people worldwide and is produced by factories and car fumes. It is the product of humanity and should not happen if we were careful of our carbon emissions. This phenomenon has contributed to many ruined water sources around the world. If acid rain was never a problem then places like Canada would have more forests and trees in Ontario. Also not as much coral would be dying in the ocean. Acid rain is a serious problem that needs to be addressed with caution and must be effectively dealt with before it is too
Well if you already know that acid precipitation breaks down almost everything in it’s way that’s great but if you didn’t all give you a short explanation on what is. Some examples of acid precipitation are rain, sleet, or snow that contains a higher concentration of acid then normal. The things that make acid precipitation is when Air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, also produces these chemical compounds. In conclusion compounds combine with water in the atmosphere to form acids.
Acid rain deposits are found in fossil fuels emitted from utility and industrial sources. The power plants that were built before the 1977 Clean Air Act did not have to comply because they were supposed to be phased out eventually. Many are still operating today, releasing much more pollution than modern plants. 97 percent of the acid rain and haze-causing sulfur dioxide, 85 percent of the ozone smog-causing nitrogen oxide, and 99 percent of the toxic mercury pollution come from the utility sector.
The sulfur dioxide was regarded as the acknowledged toxic gas, and is also one of main factors for acid rain. Due to its severe toxicity, the major pollution incidents have even happened in human beings’ history. During 1st December and 15th December 1930, the toxic gases including the sulfur dioxide caused great loss for Meuse Valley in Belgium. The toxic gases led to thousands of people in the industrial zone of Meuse Valley were catched with respiratory diseases, and “nearly 63 people were dead within a week”. ( Benery B, HoetPH, Nemmar A. 2001) Additionally, many livestocks also could not survived and died of the toxic gases. In the incident, the mixture of SO2 and SO3 were the main dioxide smog.
oxides (NOx) that are responsible for the production of ‘acid rain’ and ‘ground level ozone’. Acid
There are many factors of pollution that lead to acid rain. There are natural pollutants in acid rain including emissions from volcanic and decaying vegetation, but the majority of the pollutants are man-made. Emissions from sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NO) are the main causes of acid rain; both of these are a result of electric power generation and fossil fuel combustion. Burning coal, driving vehicles, CFCs, HAPs,
One hundred twenty years ago the British scientific August Smith, just focus his studies on air in Manchester, England, he created a network of monitoring the quality of rain in northern Europe, where he recognized acid rain. During the last ten years, acid rain have been an important cause of concern because it continues to pollute large areas of our planet. Acid rain occurs (following the direction of the link) in the areas of important industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).