Acid Rain Paper
Acid Rain is classified as rain with a pH lower than 5.7. The pH of normal rainfall is around 5.6; the acidity in this is natural and due to the CO2 and carbonic acid that is present in the atmosphere. Acid rain contains higher amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids compared to normal rainfall. There are many factors of pollution that lead to acid rain. There are natural pollutants in acid rain including emissions from volcanic and decaying vegetation, but the majority of the pollutants are man-made. Emissions from sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NO) are the main causes of acid rain; both of these are a result of electric power generation and fossil fuel combustion. Burning coal, driving vehicles, CFCs, HAPs,
…show more content…
All sources of energy have environmental benefits as well as environmental costs. Many of these energies are more efficient but more expensive to produce, which decides who is able to afford them. But I am sure that as time goes on these alternative sources of energy are becoming more and more cost effective. Acid rain majorly affects any environment and it is sometimes impossible to restore the environment back to the condition it was before the introduction of acid rain. Limestone is one way to shorten the healing process for acidic lakes, but while used extensively in Norway and Sweden it is a very expensive and tedious process and only considered a short-term remedy, but does allow the environment to return to health much quicker. There is no cure-all for the damages caused by acid rain. Time and a restoration of a healthy environment with a normal pH level is the only solution known to modern day technology at this time. Because of the harmful affects of acid rain, the distance it can travel and how pricey it is to try and reverse, it has become the reason for more than a few lawsuits. The basis for many of these lawsuits is that a factory in location A is causing a major (harmful) effect on the environment in location B. Acid rain occurs in clouds and these clouds may travel hundreds of miles; this is what the lawsuits are based on. The result of these lawsuits is that 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.
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)
In general, acid rain affects lakes and streams in two ways, which are chronic and episodic.
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
If the acid pollution in the air continuously adds up the acidity in the rainwater will increase slowly, but surely.
Acid rain also soaks into ground and dissolves nutrients from the soil. When the plants call upon these nutrients to grow, the absence kills the vegetation. Over a short period of time plants begin
Acid rain is created through discharges of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, which reacts with water molecules and creates an acid. Acid rain breaks down rock and soil with contact through the Earth’s atmosphere, which is also known as weathering (Washington University).
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 affects thousands of people worldwide and is produced by factories and car fumes. It is the product of humanity and should not happen if we were careful of our carbon emissions. This phenomenon has contributed to many ruined water sources around the world. If acid rain was never a problem then places like Canada would have more forests and trees in Ontario. Also not as much coral would be dying in the ocean. Acid rain is a serious problem that needs to be addressed with caution and must be effectively dealt with before it is too
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
Acid Rain and acid deposition are pollutants that are very difficult to escape. It can reach every part of the US and many parts of the world. According to the EPA, Acid Rain is a term that tends to be broad. It’s when precipitation contains Acidic particles such as Sulfuric, or Nitric acid. These acidic particles can get carried all over by different means such as rain, wind, and even fog. Once it hits the ground it is then washed away into water systems. Acid Rain is something that many organizations are trying to have some control over due to the health issues it can cause in people and wildlife.
Acid rain is usually acidic, meaning that it will process elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It can have bad effects on buildings, plants, or even animals. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which will react with water molecules in the atmosphere which produce acids and causes acid rain.
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
This is where the ecological effects of acid rain are most clearly seen. Acid rain flows into streams, lakes, and marshes after falling on forests, fields, buildings, and roads. Acid rain also falls directly on aquatic habitats. Most lakes and streams have a pH between 6 and 8, although some lakes are naturally acidic even without the effects of acid rain. Lakes and streams become acidic when water and surrounding soil cannot neutralize the acidic content. In areas where buffering capacity is low, acid rain releases aluminum from soils into lakes and streams; aluminum is highly toxic to many species of aquatic organisms. So, as pH in a lake or stream decreases, aluminum levels increase. Both low pH and increased aluminum levels are directly toxic to fish. In addition, low pH and increased aluminum levels cause chronic stress that may not kill individual fish, but leads to lower body weight and smaller size and makes fish less able to compete for food and habitat. However, the effects of acid rain can be detrimental to our forests as
Acid rain is commonly measured in pH units. This is the negative logarithmic values of the concentrations of hydrogen ions in solution which aid in measuring the acidity of acid rain (Berner, 2016). Pure water or distilled water always have a pH of 7 since it is neutral (Berner, 2016). This comes from the principle that any solution that has a pH greater than 7 would be called basic or alkaline, but when compared with a pH less than 7 it would