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Acid Rain
A chemical leprosy, commonly known as acid rain, is eating its way into the face of North America and Europe (Boyle & Boyle, 1983). ... Now more than ever, the problems concerning acid rain and the solutions involving its reduction, are being looked into for further study and examination.
The causes and effects of acid rain were not always well known or well received. In 1872 the British chemist Robert Angus Smith studied the heavily polluted air of London and coined the term "acid rain". He observed that acid rain was caused almost entirely from sulfuric acid which caused the fading of colors in dyed goods, the rotting of blinds, and the rusting of metals. He also noted that acid rain eroded the stones in buildings, particularly where rainwater had accumulated. ... It wasn’t until 1961, when Swedish scientist Svante Oden found a connection between the increase of acidity in lakes and the mass death of fish, that acid rain became a problem for the first time. Oden also raised issues about the possible effects of acid rain on soils, forest trees, and other plants. Fish of all kinds were being killed, especially in Norway and Sweden, that the Swedish government began its own study of acid precipitation. The United States and Canada didn’t begin studying acid precipitation until the mid-1970’s (Pringle, 1988).
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The various studies done have proved the danger and harm of acid rain. ... But when the gas mixes with the water and forms
an acid, the rain continues the cycle and brings only hurt to the ground and environment. The chemistry of acid rain involves mainly the two elements, nitrogen and sulfur, and a little bit of carbon. ... One molecule of carbon dioxide will join with one molecule of water to form the weakly ionized acid called carbonic acid. Carbonic acid ionizes in two stages. ... When the nitrogen oxides combine chemically with water, either in the atmosphere or in soil, nitric acid is formed (Kahan, 1986). ... In the presence of sunlight, sulfur dioxide combines readily with water to form sulfuric acid (Kahan, 1986). ... In the atmosphere, nitrogen
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oxides usually change to nitric acid within hours, whereas the conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid will take up to several days longer. ... Acid can combine with water to reach the ground, or it can fall in the form of dry deposition. ...
There are three main sources of pollution that allow the process of acid rain to form. All of them give off some amount of sulfur dioxide, which triggers the whole process of acid rain. ... Some of these are absorbed by the moisture in the atmosphere and fall as acid rain, but their impact is usually only short-lived. Natural sources make up only a small percentage of the production of acid rain (Morgan, 1999).
A second is through air pollution, where the highest rate (ninety percent) of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere to form acid rain. ... As these fossil fuels burn, they let out sulfur and nitrogen, the two most important ingredients of acid rain. Sulfur and nitrogen are unwanted byproducts from the burning of fuels, and so they are discharged directly into the atmosphere where they can begin to form acid rain (Baines, 1989). ...
With natural and artificial sources giving off pollutant gases, acid rain makes its way around the world. ... Nine-tenths of acid rain that falls on Norway comes
from other countries. In North America, remote regions of Canada get acid rain produced by industry in the United States (Morgan, 1999).
Acid rain, whether traveling abroad or staying at home, has extremely harmful effects on the environment around it. The damage to soil is the most serious effect of acid rain.
Approximate Word count = 3113
Approximate Pages = 12.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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