How Does Acid Rain Affect The Environment

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 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

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.

First is the acidification. Chemical reactions involving air pollutants can create acidic compounds. Sometimes, when an air pollutant, such as sulfuric acid combines with the water droplets that make up clouds, the water droplets become acidic, forming acid rain. Acid rain can kill trees and harm animals, fish, and other wildlife. When acid rain gets into soils, it makes the soil become unfit for many living things due to the change of nutrition. Acid rain also changes the chemistry of the water, harming aquatic life and even people’s health.

Acid deposition effects water systems because it lowers the pH in the water, creating adverse effects. More Acidic water will also more readily absorb aluminum leached from soil runoff. The combination of aluminum and acidic water is very harmful to many species. When biomagnification occurs many species will die off resulting in less biodiversity in the water system. Dead or dying trees is a common sight with acid deposition in effect. Acid rain leaches aluminum from the soil, doing so sucking the nutrients from the tree and causing death. At high elevation acidic fog, or clouds can strip the nutrients from the trees foliage’ causing them to lose leaves and die. The trees are also less able to absorb sunlight, and with that will not be able to achieve photosynthesis. As well as rural areas, urban areas also get affected. If buildings are made out of marble or limestone, the stone will begin to peel and chip away over time. This is possible because when the main crust chips away underneath is something composed of gypsum. A mineral that forms from the reaction between calcite, water, and sulfuric acid. This mineral can be slowly eaten away and destroyed by acid

Rain is a major component of the water cycle as it is held responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on Earth. (EPA USA, 2014) It not only provides suitable conditions for various ecosystems, but also provides water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation. (Andrei, 2012) However, since the start of industrialization in the 18th century, humans have been abusing such important features of life and created acid deposition. (The Ledger, 2014)

Acid Rain is a chemical that can pollute and harm our environment. Acid is caused by a couple different gases. Such as, gasoline, smoke, fossil fuel burning, and chemicals. Nutrient Pollution can also pollute and harm our environment. It's caused by sewage treatment plants, home sewage systems, and farm fertilizer runoff. The Nutrient Pollution refers to the inputs of different kinds of nutrients.

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 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.

The acid rain, formed from the pollution, has a very bad effect on the environment. This is because it can kill trees and become groundwater, which would harm the water cycle negatively. The biological agents could even spread diseases if the water is drank, which has caused many deaths worldwide (mostly in children).

Chemical reactions are either villains of society which create problems for human health or the environment; or they can be heroes, used to solve problems of the environment. An example of a chemical reaction that is harmful for humans and the environment would be the burning of fossil fuels that ultimately lead to acid precipitation. This posses large issues to ecosystems in lakes by raising their pH level. One way of solving the issue of acid rain in lakes is to add the base calcium hydroxide. This would be an example of a chemical reaction that is used to solve the problems in our environment. Another chemical hero would be preventing acid rain by converting unhealthy and damaging gases into ones that are harmless to the environment.

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.

Air pollution is the release of carbon dioxide, methane, and many other chemicals that can affect breathing quality. Smog is a common visible form of this. Smog is a fog combined with harmful chemicals. An especially harmful chemical is sulfur dioxide. It is commonly associated with acid rain, as are many chemicals similar to it.

Acidification in the oceans kill the plant/animal life that is trying to strive at thy shore

Unfortunately, these pollutants can be carried in the atmosphere by weather systems. Thus, they can travel for hundreds of miles causing damage as they go. Acid deposits in the soil can have devastating affects in the forest. It gradually causes the loss of plant nutrients, calcium and magnesium. This leads to dying off of trees in the forest. Also, acid deposits in lakes and streams have led to a drop in fish production. Mercury is another source of pollution which can be harmful to humans and wildlife. It comes from the emissions of coal-burning power plants and is deposited into the air and water. This chemical damages the nervous system, and has a detrimental affect on reproduction and prenatal development.