Rain is a major component of the water cycle as it is held responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on Earth. (EPA USA, 2014) It not only provides suitable conditions for various ecosystems, but also provides water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation. (Andrei, 2012) However, since the start of industrialization in the 18th century, humans have been abusing such important features of life and created acid deposition. (The Ledger, 2014)
The pH scale is composed of values starting from zero, the most acidic, to 14.0, the most alkaline. (EPA USA, 2014) While regular rain has a pH value of around 5.6, acid rain has a pH value of around 4.0. The highest level of acidity of rain ever recorded was identical to the acidity of lemon juice, which is enough to irritate the human skin. (Andrei, 2012)
Most acid based chemistry often happens in water because the di hydrogen oxide is capable of being a base, accepting a proton from an acid, or being an acid, giving up a proton. (EPA USA, 2014) Naturally, acid rain is formed by a chemical reaction between sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, mixed with water molecules in the air. (Carr et al, 2010) The solution of acid rain soon reaches the Earth, and sinks into the soil. (National geographic, 2011)
While acid rain is a consequence of natural disasters, human activities such as burning of fossil fuel play a key role in the formation. (U.S. Department of State, 2007) The biggest problem with acid rain is that pollution cannot be contained by mere borders and therefore easily spread into other areas as well. Although nitrogen oxide is naturally present in the atmosphere, burning fossil fuels have been steadily increasing. (EPA, 2010) This resulted the increased comb...
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... Retrieved from: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6231-acid-rain-limits
Sarah Dowdey (2011) How acid rain works- Retrieved from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/acid-rain2.htm
The Ledger (2014) Erosion Fix Would Cost $43.4 Million. Retrieved from: http://www.theledger.com/article/20140415/news/140419502?tc=ar
U.S. Department of State (2007). Projected Greenhouse Gas Emissions. In: Fourth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change . U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, USA. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html
Will Knight (2004) Acid rain limits global warming. Retrieved from: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6231-acid-rain-limits-globwarming.html#.U2v0svldV8l
ZME science (2012). Mihai Andrei Rain, Retreived from: http://www.zmescience.com/tag/rain/#!GANZy
In conclusion, “Acid Rain: Scourge from the Skies” was effective in proving how severe acid rain is and can be. Robert Collins wrote informatively about a notable subject what anyone can comprehend and he used many commendable writing devices which all 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.
Acid gases are produced when fossil fuels like coal and oil are burned in power stations, factories and in our own homes. Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the air. Most of these acid gases are blown into the sky, and when they mix with the clouds it can cause rain - or snow, sleet, fog, mist or hail - to become more acidic. Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the air. Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from power plants and other sources, prevailing winds blow these
Rain occurs nature as part of the water cycle, but sometimes rain can do more harm than good. Acid rain can causes damage to plants, animals, and even structures. Acid rain occurs naturally without human interference, but since humans started to make objects that contribute to the creation of acid rain, it happens more frequently than if humans would not be involved. People not only raised the amount of acid rain that falls, they can also be the ones to bring the amount back down to reasonable levels.
Certainly acid rain has a great deal of negative effects on the geosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. But maybe the most important system for us to observe as scientist is the biosphere.
Some people think that acid rain can burn skin if it lands on them. This however, does not happen. Acid rain can not burn skin, it still can causes damage to plants, animals, and even structures. Acid rain occurs naturally without human interference, but since humans started to make objects that contribute to the creation of acid rain, it happens more frequently than if humans would not be involved. People not only raised the amount of acid rain that falls, they can also be the ones to bring the amount back down to reasonable levels. In order to help, people must first understand what acid rain is.
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.
The term acid rain was established in 1872 by Robert Angus Smith. He created this name when he observed how acid precipitation could damage plants and materials. He however never observed acid rain that fell from the sky. The first time acid rain was observed was in the mid 19th century, when people started to notice that forests that were downwind of large cities showed corrosion. In the 1980’s the U.S. congress passed an Acid Deposition Act. This act started a 1...
Liming will not solve the problem of acid rain, to do that we must cut
Acid rain comes in wet deposition or dry deposition. Wet deposition is any form of precipitation that removes acids from the atmosphere and deposits them on the Earth’s...
We have all heard the terrifying predictions that will arise if our current overpopulated society doesn’t make the life changes that will help improves our lives, but more importantly improve the life of the earth and save all the organismic life it provides for us. Al Gore brought the issue of global warming to our attention in 2006 in the film An Inconvenient Truth that focuses a lot of attention on human-generated greenhouse gases and the obvious affects it has made on the earth. The effects of human-generated greenhouse gases make up a large amount of environmental damage touching on every aspect of water, land, and air. Some of our major contributions are: “3/4 carbon dioxide from deforestation; ‘deforestation is created by the demand for forest products tracks closely with rising per capita consumption in recent decades. Global use of paper and paperboard per person has doubled (or nearly tripled) since 1961’, 14% of methane comes from agriculture being livestock and feed, 8% nitrous oxide which are nitrogen fertilized soil and livestock waste, and lastly 1% fluorinated gases which come from industrial processes” (Miller pg.4). We generate these kinds of percentages b...
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.
Acid rain is a form of acid deposition, and there are many types of acid deposition. Deposition is the process in which a gas turns into a solid matter. Types of wet acid deposition, which involves gases turning into liquids, include acid rain, sleet, snow, fog, and haze. Forms of dry acid deposition include acid gas and dust. Scientists and others use a measure called pH to find the relative acidity of a liquid. If a liquid has a low pH level, it is
One of the impacts Humans have on the atmosphere is acid rain. Pure rainfall is slightly acidic because it absorbs gas in the atmosphere; carbon...