Acid Rain Speech

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Point 1: Why I choose acid rain:

I choose acid rain for my project because I wanted to understand better how the rain becomes to an acid and why it is such a big issue for nature.

Point 2: What causes acid rain:

Acid rain is caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The gases are mainly produced by burning fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. In the US, 2/3 of all SO¬2 and 1/4 of NOx are produced by fossil fuel combustion. The other amount is naturally produced by decaying plants, volcanos. Very small amounts of nitrogen oxides are also caused by lightning strikes. Once in the atmosphere, acid rain is separated into two categories: wet deposition and dry deposition. Wet deposition means that the gases dissolve in the condensed water in clouds and raise the number of hydrogen ions in the water drops. Dry deposition means that the gases are brought back to the ground either by dust or smoke from the combustion. The particles stick to buildings, cars or trees. The particles will be washed away by rain water, in which the gases dissolve and the number of hydrogen ions increases again.

Source: http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what/index.html

Point 3: Sulfur dioxide:

Sulfur dioxide is a toxic gas with a rotten smell. The molecular shape is bent due to the lone electron pair at the sulfur atom. There are two resonant structures for sulfur dioxide. That means that the double bond between sulfur and oxygen can occur at both bonds. The 3 in the blue diamond of the chemical labels indicates that sulfur dioxide can cause serious or permanent injuries. The zeros in the red and yellow diamonds indicate that sulfur dioxide will not burn under typical fire conditions and is normally stable.

Sources: http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/ch...

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... it. The only real way to reduce acid rain is to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides produced. This can be achieved by using alternative energy sources. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) created policies about sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides to reduce effects of acid rain.

Sources: http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects/index.html

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/reducing/index.html

Point 8: Interesting facts

Since 1998, Harvard University warps every winter their bronze and marble statues in waterproof covers to protect them from the acid rain. The term acid rain describes all kinds of acidic precipitation, for example fog, hail, or snow. Acid rain and acid air pollution is liked to lung problems of children and people who have asthma.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain

http://acidrain2004.tripod.com/id11.html

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