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Acid Rain
The topic of this paper is acid deposition, also known as acid Rain. Acid rain is precipitation, as rain, snow or sleet containing relatively high concentration of acid forming chemicals. As the pollutants from coal, smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combine with water vapor, the harmful deposition is created (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acid+rain). Acid rain affects many things greatly.
Acid rain affects many different things and is very harmful to the environment. One aspect of the environment that is greatly affected by acid rain is soil. Acidic rain makes its way into the soil by rain falling off the branches and leaves to the soil below. Water runs through the soil on its way to different bodies of water. A process called buffering is used to neutralize acids using the base nutrients (including calcium and magnesium) found in soil (Tyson, 1992). This process helps soil resist the effects of acid rain.
Thinner soils that have fewer nutrients are more vulnerable to the effects of acid rain. Thicker soils are more affective at buffering acid rain. Over many years soils that aren’t the best at buffering out acid rain can become increasingly acidic. This leads to a decrease in the ability to support healthy plant life. Over time soils may become so acidic that aluminum dissolves and is carried by rain water into bodies of water. Aluminum that is dissolved is very toxic and harmful to all aquatic life.
Areas of higher elevation, such as high mountain areas, are more sensitive to the effects of acid rain. The soils are thinner and therefore are unable to buffer acid rain as well as thicker soil at lower elevations (Tyson, 1992). At high ele...

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...ns use in their homes, the fewer chemicals that power plants use the fewer that will have to be emitted in to the air. Today there are laws on how much pollution is allowed to be put out in the air these laws have made significant changes. Catalytic converters in cars help reduce emissions. There has been reduction in the amount of acid rain causing pollutant to the air by humans. Eastern Canada set a cap of 2.3 million tons of sulphur dioxide to be met by 1994 and maintained until 2000. In Canada several sulphur dioxide reduction targets for provinces to the east of Manitoba-Saskatchewan to meet this cap. Roughly halve of the sulphur dioxide emissions were intended to be cut by this reduction.
Acid rain affects many things in our world greatly. Acid rain is precipitation that has been released into the atmosphere and is very harmful and can do lots of damage.

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