Acid Rain Essay

Acid deposition can come in two forms, dry and wet. Wet deposition is when the acid falls in the form of fog, snow or other precipitation. Dry deposition is found in dry areas where it does not precipitate often. In these areas the chemicals fall as dust or smoke, and stick to whatever they land on. Acid deposition can be result to both natural and manmade sources. Natural sources of acid deposition include electrical storms, volcanoes, and decaying vegetation. Man-made emissions, from power plants that burn fossil fuels are released into the atmosphere as nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). These elements react to oxygen, water, and other gasses in the atmosphere in order to form acidic compounds. These acidic compounds then fall in either a wet or dry form. Acid rain can have a potentially devastating effects on the ecosystem it falls on. When acid rain hits the ground, it faces a natural buffer in the soil often in the form of limestone and calcium carbonate. The water will then travel into either a stream or a lake, where it affects fish. If the fallen rain has a pH at or below 5 undesirable species invade, often in the form of mosses or plankton. The top layer of water becomes too acidic for the inhabitants reproductive cycle to work properly, slowly killing off the

Acid precipitation is a wide term that incorporates any type of precipitation with acidic parts, for example, sulfuric or nitric acid that tumble to the ground from the climate in wet or dry structures. This can incorporate into rain, snow, haze, hail or even clean that is acidic. Acid rain as numerous natural impacts, yet none is more prominent than its effect on lakes, streams, wetlands, and other amphibian situations.

There are several different pollutants that can lead to acid rain such as SO2, SO3, NO2, and CO2. These pollutants react with water to create acids as shown below.

Through the advancement of technology, the issue of the air surrounding the earth might have been one of the most often matters to be brought up and discussed among scientists and engineers. Acid rain is one of the more serious environmental problems and it is closely related to the air pollution. Nowadays, it has affected large part of US, Europe and Canada. People start to be concerned about acid rain since it is getting worse in the passed years. The effect of the acid rain most often leads to another bad effect. For example, the acid rain will cause the lake and streams to be acidic. Thus, it will also affect the ecosystem inside the water.

Acid rain can hurt the plants in the forest environment because when the plant start drinking the acid rain it makes the plants natural defense weaker. In doing that they are easier to die by diseases because they do not have much natural defense to protect them. It can also cause fires to the environment. Acid rain is known to take the nutrients out of soil killing trees, plants, and crops. With the low nutrients it does damage to the red spruce tree

Acid rain has a large concentration of hydrogen ions mainly coming from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. It could kill living organisms, damage buildings, and monuments.

Another form of industrial waste that contributes to water pollution is acid rain. Acid rain is a product of industries burning coal. The burning of coal produces sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide, and when these chemicals combine with the earth’s atmosphere it forms acid rain The Northeastern part of the United States has the worst acid rain levels in the world. More specific, the states with the highest concentration are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and some boarding parts of Canada and New England area. The falling acid rain can destroy plants and animals in several different ways. The acidification of a lake, river, or stream because of the high acidic levels in the water kills algae. Since algae are the main source of food, for many species of fish, they will also suffer from the high acid levels.

Acid rain damages wildlife and their environments. For example, according to Marian Chertow, he says that acid rain damages lakes, rivers, and streams. Therefore, because the water is polluted with more of the wildlife will die from the acids in the water. In this case, this part is important because if you think about it, many people and animals get food from the water. For example, the fish live in the ponds. But if the acid from the acid rain gets into the water. Then the fish will die and that will be less food for animals and humans. This means that the animal life will die down.For instance, according to Marian Chertow he claims, acid rain can damage forests and soil. Therefore, forests and many areas that contribute to soil are places for animals to live. So this means that they will lose

Acid rain is usually cause by a chemical reaction which begins when compounds like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen for instants which are released in to the atmosphere. The substances can rise very high thousands of feet in to the air. Were the substances mix and react with the water molecules, oxygen and other

Acid rain is a serious and hazardous environmental problem. It affects large parts of the United States and Canada. It causes damage to water sources, such as lakes and streams, as well as plant life and animals that live in the ecosystems.

Acid rain has been a problem dating back to the 1800s, but it was not until the 1960s that attention was finally brought to the forefront of this problem. Acid rain is not just rain, it is also snow, fog, hail, and mist. Rain itself contains acid because it mixes with naturally occurring oxides in the air. According to Fact Sheet, unpolluted rain would have a pH level of between 5 and 6. When the air becomes polluted with nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide the acidity can increase to a pH level of 4 (p. 1). Rain with a pH below 5.6 is called acid rain (Hill & McCreary, p. 208). This low level causes many problems for our environment. Power plants, factories, car exhaust fumes and even natural pollutants all contribute to

Many of the acidic deposits that fall from earth from to the atmosphere can cause the pH of the water to change, making them have a higher acidity than desired. This process was named acid rain from the Scottish chemist, Robert Angus Smith who discovered this in the 19th century (Reed, 2014). Acid rain is commonly known as air pollution today causing many detrimental effects on the environment (Funk & Wagnalls, 2016). Based on the pH of the concentrated rainfall, acid precipitation begins to take place. Acid precipitation begins in the atmosphere since this is where most of the pollutants are being combined to create many of the acids that aid in the acidity of acid rain. Most of the pollutants come from the oxides, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxides (N2O), which later on aid in the acidity of the rain fall (Funk & Wagnalls, 2016). By fully understanding the history and formation of acid rain through inorganic chemistry, scientists can extrapolate the data to help find solutions to decrease the pH concentrations of acid rain.

In latest days, the water in our atmosphere has indication that it is already polluted with nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, both are chemical compounds that develop acid once joint with water. When the water vapor compresses and falls down to the land, it is usually denoted as acid rain, though acid rain likewise falls down as snow or as dried out small particles, blending with water once it touches surfaces on the land.

Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction which is when compounds such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are emitted into the atmosphere. These chemicals are transported by the current of the wind. The SO2 and NO react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain. A small portion of the acid rain is from natural sources-such as volcanoes-most of it is from the burning of the fossil fuels. SO2 and NO very easily dissolve in water and can be carried far by the current of the wind. They can become a part of the, rain, sleet, snow, and even fog that we experience on certain days.

The wet deposition removes a lot of the acid from the universe and puts it back into the earth in a harsher form. Conversely, dry deposition is defined as the movement of the chemicals placing them into dry places like, soil and trees. When the acidic chemicals are blowing into the dry weather, they create dust and smoke and fall into the ground through microscopic dry particles (“What is Acid Rain”). The two forms of acid rain; wet deposition and dry deposition, are harmful to the environment and needs to be addressed immediately.