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Impacts of acid rain on the environment
Effects of acid rain on the environment essay
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Sulfates and nitrates that form in the atmosphere from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions contribute to visibility impairment, meaning we cannot see as far or as clearly through the air. Sulfate particles account for 50 to 70 percent of the visibility reduction in the eastern part of the U.S. Acid rain looks, feels, and tastes just like clean rain. The harm to people from acid rain is not direct. Walking in acid rain, or even swimming in an acid lake, is no more dangerous than walking or swimming in clean water. However, the pollutants that cause acid rain do damage human health. These gases interact in the atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate particles that can be transported long distances by winds and inhaled deep into people …show more content…
It is critical that acid deposition be reduced, not only in the United States and Canada, but also throughout the world to preserve the integrity of natural habitats, as well as to reduce damage to man-made structures. EPA has taken steps to limit the amount of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere because they are the main contributors to acid deposition be reduced, not only in the United States and Canada, but also throughout the world to preserve the integrity of natural habitats, as well as to reduce damage to man-made structures. The EPA collect air and water samples and measure them for various characteristics such as pH and chemical composition, and research the effects of acid deposition on human-made materials such as marble and bronze to understand acid rain’s causes and effects. To solve the acid rain problem, people need to understand how acid rain damages the environment. They also need to understand what changes could be made to the air pollution sources that cause the …show more content…
Coal accounts for most U.S. SO2 emissions and a large portion of NOx emissions. Sulfur is present in coal as an impurity, and it reacts with air when the coal is burned to form SO2. In contrast, NOx is formed when any fossil fuel is burned. There are several options for reducing SO2 emissions, including using coal containing less sulfur, washing the coal, and using devices called “scrubbers” to chemically remove the SO2 from the gases leaving the smokestack. Power plants can also switch fuels. Similar to scrubbers on power plants, catalytic converters reduce NOx emissions from cars. There are other sources of electricity besides fossil
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 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.
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
In order to help, people must first understand what acid rain is. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) help get information out to the public about events that causes damage to the environment, they do through their website, epa.gov. Acid
Before a person can tackle handling the concept of global warming, they first must analyze the true definition of what it is. Climate change periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about as a result of changes in the atmosphere as well as interactions between the atmosphere and various other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic factors within the Earth 's system. (britannica) Since all 196 countries in the world have to share the oxygen and carbon dioxide, we all should take a part in the responsibility of taking care of earth. On November 6, 2012 President Obama said that we want our children to live in a world without the destructive power of a warming planet. The biggest challenge we face is not only saving a warming
Climate change is considered a controversial topic. Although scientists have been studying the issue, there are many citizens that are still not fully educated about it. Therefore, there are people who support scientists in their results, and there are people who deny the scientists’ findings as propaganda or exaggerations. This is the same issue even in politics, where the two main parties, Democrats and Republicans, have opposing perspectives on climate change. One can really tell just by looking at their approach to the issue, especially their tone and diction. The republican candidates doubts climate change, and when the topic is brought up during an interview, the republicans flatly deny it with no further discussion. They do give some
Climate change. The two letter word so feared by scientists, so ignored by the average human being. What is it that makes scientists fear this phrase so much? For the concept of “climate change” has been seen throughout the history of the earths existence. For centuries, our climate has fluctuated through increasing and decreasing amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide and climatic cycles. So what is the big deal? The problem, and the reason why this concept instills fear directly into the core of scientists is the rate at which over the past 1,300 years atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen. This unnatural increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, due to the immense amount of anthropogenic burning of oil and coal, affects the transfer
What’s happening in our planet? When we talk about our planet it’s to talk about climate change, and how it is affecting us, but what about who is provoking the climate change. The climate of our planet has changed in the last decades, and the earth is overheating more every year. The climate change of the planet has taken millions of lives, and the same humans have provoked this devastating change on our planet. We are consuming our own home and the home of other species. Climatic change passes from being a curiosity to a global problem. Climate change has existed from the beginning of the creation of the earth until the last global glaciation, but those changes have been naturally. Nowadays, human are concern more about economic
Water is essential for humanity’s survival, and even though the world is largely covered by water, only a small percentage is only usable for human consumption. Approximately, on average, 120,000 gallons of water are used annually for a single-family household (Galbraith). This alarming number could be reduced dramatically for the efforts of water conserving and lower water bill prices for families and subsequently saving money that could be used for other expenses. Thus, conserving water would prove beneficial and advantageous to not just Texas, but for everyone else as well. Although environmental policies have been not as popular with Congress and the state legislature, it is still an important problem to consider since there are only a limited amount of resources for public use, such as water.
My parents grew up in small town in Mexico. There was a little river that went through part of the town when they were growing up. Every weekend or so they would go out and would go swimming with their families, it almost became a tradition to go swimming there until they noticed that the river 's water level was becoming smaller and smaller. Today there is no river anymore, instead it 's a road that travels through the town. Every time I visit my family in Mexico it would alway be nice and warm up until this year when I went in December. I remember waking up and getting ready to go to my aunt 's house in clothes for warm weather. As I open the door, the cold air punch me and I saw snowflakes falling down. It 's not supposed to snow in that
Even if the reason of climate change may be the natural cycles, we humans are the major determinant to it. The huge amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing the climate change and this amount is rising day by day, as a result of our actions. Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, generally absorb and emit the heat in the atmosphere to keep the Earth’s climate habitable. However, as we continue to burn fossil fuels, this habitable Earth’s temperature will blow up, and as a result, some species will die out due to various problems which are caused by climate change. According to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the most obvious consequence of climate change is the rising sea levels, which will cause some seashore habitats to become unavailable to live to its species.
Climate change has been active since the first days of Earth. Under definition climate change means “a long-term change in the earth's climate, especially a change due to an increase in the average atmospheric temperature.” (Dictionary). Climate change can be seen making an impact all over the world. There are many theories and beliefs as to why the climate is currently changing, but there is no hard evidence that makes the real cause of climate change clear. There are many possible causes to the changes in climate that we see, but none are known for sure. These possible causes include global warming, such as burning fossil fuels, and even solar related issues such as the position of earth and our sun. We know climate change is occurring because of unusual changes that are currently happening on our planet right in front of our eyes. Drought, polar ice caps melting, the extinction of animals, floods, and food and water shortages, are just a few of these abnormal changes. Majority of average day people do not take climate change seriously, they just don't see it as a grave issue. We should really start seeing it as one, or these brutal and possibly fatal surges of odd weather will continue to get worse.
Acid rain is when chemicals like nitrogen and sulphur-dioxide are released into the atmosphere and react with the water vapour, and acid pours in form of rain. This is very dangerous because it destroys infrastructures and some buildings, and also dissolves the human
As nations continue to develop and populations continue to soar, the demand for energy and food has grown exponentially. Energy and food production, however, produces various types of pollution that have numerous undesirable effects on our environment. A large portion of these pollutants are released into the atmosphere from factories worldwide. When considering all of the consequences of modern day pollution, acid rain is undoubtedly one of the major concerns. Because acid rain is capable of harming a wide range of both living and nonliving things, studying its various effects and the corresponding mechanisms can yield pertinent information, which can be used to combat its effects.
Our planet is suffering from severe pollution, which ranges from contaminated air, water and soil as well. Humans are doing nothing to reduce the amount of pollution that is harming our earth. To understand how pollution works first you must understand that there are different types of pollution. The most common types of pollution and the ones that I will be focusing on which are the ones doing the most harm to our planet are air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and littering. In order to help out and reduce pollution in our planet people need to be more aware of what these problems are and about the severe damages that they are causing our planet. Before industrialization really jumped into place and had an effect on large cities, nature had its own way of cleaning up its own air and itself. Wind scattered gases, rain washed many substances and the rest dissolved into the ground; while plants absorbed carbon dioxide and made it into oxygen. With big cities growing more every time and with more towns that were becoming more industrialized a lot of more waste began to be released into the environment and the atmosphere and soon this was more than enough for nature to handle. In order to stop and reduce pollution people need to understand the damage that it is causing our environment and our planet as well. People need to be more aware of how they can help out and do their part in reducing these problems that are causing our planet to die slowly with people not even noticing it.