The world we live in today has become a nest for pollution, toxic waste and environmental deterioration. In order to improve our planet, acid rain is a main factor to be considered and must be controlled before the damage worsens. In order to understand what acid rain is, we must first understand the term “acidity”. Acidic is a way to describe chemical compounds and it is measured on the pH scale, a logarithmic measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in precipitation (1). This scale is numbered 0 to 14, where substances with values below 7 are considered acidic and the ones above 7 are basic. Pure rain has a pH between 5.6 and 5.7; therefore, any acid precipitation with a pH below 5.6 presents concerns (3). Rain itself …show more content…
Both forms are carried by wind and can ultimately contaminate our air, our plants, our animals, and our water (2) (See Appendix A). This paper will mainly focus on the effects of acid on various aspects of the planet. These effects include surface waters and aquatic animals, forests, automotive coatings, materials (metals, limestone, etc…), visibility and human health. This paper will also discuss the societal changes and actions one may take to reduce the danger of acid rain. Effects of Acid Rain Acid rain affects many facets of the earth including surface waters, aquatic animals, forests, automotive coatings, several materials (metals, paint, limestone, etc…), visibility and human health. Surface waters and aquatic animals It is important to note that acid rain’s effects on lakes and aquatic organisms vary widely. In some regions lakes may have an excessive amount of sensitivity when exposed to acidic deposition, thus, the ecosystem and species will eventually be destroyed. However, in other regions, some lakes may have a higher threshold to acid rain and therefore, little effect on the organisms (4). The presence of limestone rock contributes to the lakes’ ability in neutralizing acid (5). A lake’s ability to absorb acidity while maintaining its species’ life depends on the amount of bicarbonate (HCO3) present in the water. The bicarbonate is produced in the watershed when
Acid rain can weaken a tree or plant’s natural defenses. It harms the soil and all organisms that need it to survive because it takes away important soil nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. When a tree’s defenses are down, it makes them more susceptible to diseases and pests. Acid rain can also deposit nitrates. Nitrogen runoff can cause eutrophication. Eutrophication is when runoff nitrogen goes into an ocean ecosystem and causes algae to grow quicker. This is called an algal bloom and it blocks sunlight from getting to the plants causing a “dead zone.” This means no organisms will be able to live there anymore. Finally, acid rain can cause the wearing away or deterioration of buildings and many other things built of stone. It does not affect humans directly. It does however harm them because of the two main chemicals involved, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. When inhaled, they have been shown to cause some illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Some organisms are more damaged by acid rain than others, but most organisms are harmed when there are high concentrations of acid rain in the area/ecosystem they live in. Acid rain can harm an environment and humans negatively and has several effects on the Earth. Many places around the world have been affected by acid rain. 3 main places are eastern Europe and eastern United States along with some areas of China and Taiwan. In many places where there have been great effects
However, the more basic solution (sodium bicarbonate) also had a negative impact on the germination of the radish seeds. Thus, a better a hypothesis would have been that a solution that is too basic or too acidic would have a negative impact on the germination of radish seeds. The data shows how specific plants have specific pH ranges in which they can flourish. This means that the radish seeds cannot flourish in a pH range that is too basic or too acidic. These results give an inside look on the effect acid rain is having on our environment. According to Woodfall (2017), acid rain impacts lakes, wetlands, other aquatic environments and forests. The acidic rain causes waters to become acidic which in turn impacts the animals living within the water. Even though some of the aquatic animals may be able to cope with the changes in acidity this does not mean that the animals that feed on them will. The effect of the acid rain slowly works its way up the food chain impacting more than just the aquatic animals. Also, acid rain affects forests. It robs soil of nutrients and releases aluminum into the soil thus making it hard for the trees to take in the water they need to stay alive. Acid rain leaves trees unable to protect themselves from temperature changes, its ability to reproduce, insects and
Acidity of an ecosystem, measured in pH, is a crucial factor to the survival of a species in an ecosystem. Altering it can have result in dramatically negative effects, in spite of the fact that pH of an ecosystem has been dramatically changed over a relatively short period of time due to various human activities. For example, acid rain is a major environmental problem that is caused by human-made pollution. When fossil fuels are burnt to get energy, pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides get mixed into the rainwater and eventually are evaporated into the atmosphere. These gases enter the atmosphere, and mix with water in the water cycle to form an acidic mixture of water and gases. This water falls in the form of acid rain, which
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
For a water system that had become far to acidic and nothing is living. A process called freshwater de-acidification will spring the the water into becoming healthy again. The process starts with add the lime directly to the water body. However in the cases of certain lakes where the turnaround is very quick, the lime is added to the body of water. This has disadvantages though, the main one being that the lime can have an adverse effect on wetland species of plants The advantages, however, are that the effects are longer lasting and metals are prevented from leaching into the lake water from the soil. The alkalinity of the limed lake is increased, the pH increased and heavy metal concentrations decrease back to within safe limits for fish life. The number of species of fish, animals and plankton increases as does biomass production. The chemical equation for liming water is CaCO3(s) + H2SO4(aq) ⇨ CaSO4*2H2O + CO2(g). If your soil or forest becomes too acidic a process called liming will help. Soil pH is a measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity in soils. It is a fundamental chemical property because it influences the availability of nutrients and the solubility of elements like aluminum and manganese, which are detrimental to crop
In the following figure 1, the amount of lakes were present in the summer of of 1975 shows that many lakes existed before the pH level was non existent. As soon the pH level increased, the fish disappeared as well as the lakes. In spite of the fact that there are few spikes once in awhile; it is conceivable that the fish attempted
Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the air and has low pH levels that can harm the environment. It is a type of acid deposition that can appear in many forms such as, wet deposition, which can be rain, sleet snow or fog that is more acidic than normal, and dry deposition, where gases and dust particles become acidic. (Epa.gov) Acid deposition in wet and dry forms, falls on buildings, cars and trees and makes lakes acidic, which then leads to the danger of plant and animal life. Dry acid deposition though, can be inhaled by humans, which can then cause health problems. (Epa.gov)
Farmers, livestock breeders or anyone else who is constantly working with the land would be interested in this essay because acid rain is a very significant subject for them. If the effects of acid rain worsen, their jobs and lives could change considerably. Furthermore, scientists and biologists who are trying to find ways of preventing acid rain would find this essay appealing. The essay
Acid rains as a phenomenon has been identified during the 19th century in Europe, and was attributed the smokes rising from chimneys factories coinciding with the overtime increase of rain acidification especially in Scandinavia. There is a growing interest in acid rains and its destructive effects in the light of the development of global industry especially in the industrialized countries, which consume huge quantities of fuel and release increasing quantities of gases such as sulphur dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen oxides which produce sulfur and nitrogenouns acids upon the interactions with oxygen and water vapour. Acids produced remain in the form of fine mist until dissolved in rainfall once occurs and then precipitates as
The purpose behind this letter to you is to inform you with the big issue that is taking place in our planet, which is the effect of acid rain on lakes and streams (aquatic systems).
Acid rain has proved to take a huge toll on Ontario’s ecosystem. However, in this section of the textbook, factors such as effects of acid rain, assessing the effects on soil and water, acidity levels and others, contribute to the main topic of acid rain in an ecosystem. To begin, the downpour of acid rain is due to the emissions from human activities that contain different pollutants/invisible gases that can be very harmful to the environment. In other words, substances containing nitrogen and Sulphur are released into the atmosphere from factories, industries, transportation and so on, where it then goes through a chemical transformation (nitric and sulphuric acid) where it either has a dry fallout, or condensation occurs and the acid descends
This is very important because is all of the ecosystems get destroyed, then none of the animals will have a place to live and be safe. So, therefore, it will be hard for the animals to live and be safe. To conclude, acid rain has many effects on aquatic animals and their
Acid rain is a form of rain that contains nitric and sulfuric acid, with a pH of less than 7.0. Acid rain can weaken the
Acid rain lead to numerous upsetting consequences on the natural environment. Once it combines with the water in surface, it will acidify streams and lakes, eradicating fish and some other marine life. It soaks into waters in ground, initiating the heavy metals to seep out of
Acid rain is also a strong destructive force against man made structures, reacting with marble, plastics and rubber. The problem of acid rain is derived mostly from northern countries such as the united States, Canada, and many countries of Eastern and Western Europe including Japan. The consequences of the acid precipitation have been most apparent in Norway, Sweden, and Canada, however, due to tall smokestacks many pollutants rise high into the atmosphere where air currents can pick them up and carry them as far as into an entirely different country. This cross-border issue is causing global concerns as it is no longer simply one country’s problem. This concern has been well identified in North America where pollution emissions from Canada and the U.S. are crossing into each others territory.