Acid Rain and Its Effects on the Biosphere

Acid Rain and Its Effects on the Biosphere

Introduction:

Acid Rain: whenever I conjure up images of acid rain I always allude to huge, boiling-red raindrops falling from mean purple clouds on a path destined for destruction. I can see them spiraling down uncontrollably in fireballs of rage to the earth; it becomes very apparent. Perhaps my imagination has gotten the better of me here, but acid rain is definitely no sweetheart. Actually, acid rain looks like any other rain. Believe it or not, it does not have flaming tales on the end of it, but it can produce some serious risks to the world as we know it.

These are pH testers.

Formed high in the clouds where sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides combine with oxygen and water, acid rain has a devastating ability to kill off aquatic systems, vegetation, animals, etc. The definition of acid rain is the deposition of acidic components in rain, fog, snow, and sleet. Regular rain has a pH that is slightly acidic at 5.6, but what makes one worry are the places like Washington, D.C., which possesses rain readings of 4.2 to 4.4 on the pH scale. Acid rain is mainly composed of Sulfuric Oxide (SO2) and Nitrous Oxide, which are common air pollutants from big industries, 70% of which are electric utility plants. If one views the amount pH levels of various areas around the nation it is easy to see that there is a problem, especially when a 4.0 pH level can drive many fish to die.

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.

The biosphere with out a doubt is the most visible of the systems on our planet. The reason it is so easy to monitor is because it is all around us. We see trees and their growth, animals running around, and fields of grass with cows grazing. We are the biosphere and therefore we can and will see the changes. If there is something wrong and we don’t have a pH scale to measure, we will sense it through the living environment around us.

Trees and Vegetation:

One of the most serious effects of acid rain can be traced to trees and the soil they grow from.