How Acid Rain Affects the Aquatic Ecosystem
Abstract
This paper shows that acid rain is a reality. It is destroying our freshwater ecosystems and must be stopped in order to save them. If the problem is not fixed soon the aquatic ecosystems will be destroyed.
Table of Contents
1. What is acid rain?
2. Acidification of Freshwater
3. Effects of Freshwater Acidification
4. Where is Affected the most?
5. What is being done to fix it?
6. Conclusion
7. References
What is acid rain?
Acid rain is polluted rain, snow, or fog. The burning of fossil fuels, base metal smelting, and fuel combustion in vehicles emits sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) (FAQ Acid Rain). These gases enter the atmosphere and transform into sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3), which then acidify the water vapor. The acidified water vapor will then fall to the earth as acid rain, snow, or fog (Acid Rain and the Aquatic). This is called ìwet depositionî. There is also ìdry depositionî which falls to the ground in particulate form (FAQ Acid Rain).
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Acidification of Freshwater
The acidification of freshwater lakes and streams is not a new problem. Fish stocks probably died out in many lakes in Norway as early as the turn of the century. In the 1950ís and 1960ís this was finally associated to acid rain. Yet, it wasn't generally accepted by scientists until the 1970ís (Rivers and Lakes).
Acid rain either falls directly onto the lake or enters through the catchment (Buchdahl). A very small percentage enters directly so the majority enters through the catchment. The alkaline rich catchments can neutralize the rain. However, not all types of bedrock have the same capability of neu...
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...Available http://kola.dcu.ie/~enfo/bs/bs14.htm, October 27, 1998.
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Buchdahl, Joe. Freshwater Acidification. [Online] Available http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/freshwat.html, October 28, 1998.
Effects of Acid Rain on Water. [Online] Available http://epa.gov/acidrain/student/water.html, October 27, 1998.
FAQ Acid Rain. [Online] Available http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/stugeon/acfacts.htm, October, 28, 1998.
Krabbenhoft, D.P. and D.A. Rickert. Mercury Contamination of Aquatic Ecosystems. [Online] Available http://wwwdwimdn.er.usgs.gov/pubs/FS-216-95/index.html, October 27, 1998.
Rivers and Lakes are Dying. [Online] Available http://odin.dep.no/html/nofovalt/depter/md/publ/acid/Rivers.html, October 27, 1998.
The bubbling pool of acid: Acidification most disastrous event in the history of our planet
...oceans. Anthropogenic systems such as the combustion of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution have greatly increased the rate of acidification to levels where negative impacts ensue. Negative impacts occur both to marine organisms that rely on certain water conditions to maintain vital functions and the environment which is damaged by highly acidic waters. There is great variation in the acidity of each of the oceans, differences caused by the chemical composition of the ocean and biogeography. Understanding of the potential impacts of ocean acidification is relatively new to the scientific community and therefore little is known on how to counteract anthropogenic influences. Although reducing the amount of carbon dioxide produced will in turn reduce the lowering of the oceans acidity levels and reduce negative impacts on the environment and marine organisms.
According to the Worldwatch Institute the rapid industrialization has polluted many lakes and streams resulting in chemical pollution and increased algae blooms leaving the water undrinkable. These combined issues are then causing knock on effects to the aquatic life by staving them of oxygen. Many areas are also suffering with an increase in dust storms; these have been a cause of over agricultural use. These increased storms would not cause many problems but now they can ...
Methylmercury becomes deadly to the environment through the process of biomagnefication. To achieve biomagnefication, the mercury must be consumed by microorganisms nd work its way up the food chain increasing in concentration as it enters large...
This silent killer is destroying these beautiful lakes and their surrounding watersheds. Acid rain has an adverse effect on the lakes, and their surrounding watersheds, of the Adirondacks in New York State.Acid rain is defined as chemically polluted rainfall. It's causes are: coal burning plants, industrial factories, smelters, and car emissions. It's formed by water molecules combining with the sulfur dioxide emitted by the burning of coal and with nitrogen oxide from auto emissions.
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.
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.
Ocean acidity will spoil marine ecosystems if it remains persistent. Preserving sustainable fishing industries will become unmanageable if the carbon dioxide absorbed by the world’s oceans is not considerably abridged.
The outcomes due to acid rain is most obvious in aquatic habitats. As the acidity in lakes increase, the water becomes clearer and the lives of fish and other water animals decrease. The acidity of the water does not just affect species directly, it also causes toxic substances like aluminum to be released into the water from the soil, harming fish and other aquatic animals. Lakes, rivers and marshes each have their own fragile ecosystem with many different species of plants and animals all depending on one another to survive. If a species of fish disappears, the animals which feed on it will gradually disappear too. If the extinct fish used to feed on a particular species of large insect, that insect population will start to grow, this in turn will affect the smaller insects or plankton on which the larger insect
When there is a lage amount of acid rain that falls in an area over a period of time, it can hurt the environment for all of the creatures living there. Acid rain can make a lake acidic which will most likely kill off a majority of the animals living in that lake.(McCormick 16) This happens all over the world. Michael Hopkin a reporter, and the author of “Acid rain still hurting Canada” states that, “Lakes and waterways in North America are struggling to recover from the effects of acid rain, despite reduced emissions of the pollutants that cause it. Without further cuts, it could be millennia before the worst-affected sites recover, say environmentalists.” It can also kill the animals that depend on the lake for food. When a food source that animals in an area dependon to survive gets diminished or even eliminated altogether. The animals that depended on it will either die off which will cause an even bigger problem for that area 's ecosystem, or they will need to find a new food source.If the new food that the animal found is already a food source for another animal then that causes competition for food, this may reduce the numbers of one or maybe even both animals. This all can come about because of acid rain and what it can do to the environment. On the EPA student site they have an article that shows how acid rain can affect an ecosystem 's food web. “This process continues up the entire food web. So,
Le Quesne, Will,J.F., and John K. Pinnegar. "The Potential Impacts of Ocean Acidification: Scaling from Physiology to Fisheries*." Fish and Fisheries 13.3 (2012): 333-44. ProQuest. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Latham, A., Wright, E., & Tsang, A. (n.d.). Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section5group1/introduction_and_background
The study was done to see the zebra mussel mercury concentrations by comparing a lake with indirect atmospheric mercury concentrations and a lake that had mercury discharges. The difference in the seasons caused a higher result of Zebra Mussel THg concentrations. The connection of water column THg to zebra mussel THg prove that zebra mussels are a good source of measurement for the mercury concentrations of aquatic life. It can also be used as a successful bioindicator for contaminations of mercury in marine ecosystems. They continue to grow and develop in very polluted area, which makes them a great measurement of biological contaminated in areas that are polluted.
Oroian, Viman Oana I. "Damaging Effects of Overall Water Pollution." BioFlux (2010): 113-15. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.