Man Made Natural Disaster: Acid Rain

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

Substances are released which run off into water bodies and toxic to water life. Acidic materials deposited directly from the atmosphere also have the effect of altering the acid balance in water bodies and this too has an effect on the life they support. Acidic deposition onto sensitive buildings causes decay of stonework and other materials.(Environment Agency: Acid Rain, page 1)

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

Acid rain is a current issue due to the potential danger it could pose to plant life in the case that it is harmful to plants. In this lab, it was determined whether or not acid water was harmful to red radish plants, and in doing so, established the possible effects of acid rain on plants. It was hypothesized that the acid would take all nutrients from the soil, therefore harming the plants. In this lab, three plants--two experimentals and one control--were monitored after receiving either acid water or tap water. After the experiment was conducted, it was plain to see that the plants were affected negatively by the acid water, as the plants to receive the acid water immediately showed symptoms of nutrient deficiencies, therefore proving the hypothesis. As such, acid rain was proved to be a danger to the environment, as it destroys nutrients in the soil, therefore killing the plants. Without efforts to minimize acid rain, it could potentially destroy the ecosystem.

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

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)

When President Richard Nixon was in charge, the whole environmental policies started to properly rise in American. Back in 1989 when President Bush issued what would the following year be called the Clean Air of 1990, the United States was taking notice in world climate. Over the years, the country as a whole has strayed from putting emphasis on these issues. Graphs show us that we did better back in 1990 than we did in 2004. Compared to many other countries such as Germany, Japan, Canada, UK, Italy, France, and Australia, the United States releases an incredible amount of more greenhouse emissions. President Bush wanted to take care of three major issues of the time that would benefit every American, “The President proposed legislation designed to curb three major threats to the nation 's environment and to the health of millions of Americans: acid rain, urban air pollution, and toxic air emissions.” (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). Acid rain is something that harms plants, marine life, and humans, it has high levels of nitrate and sulfur dioxide. Too much of acid rain can begin to kill species because of its toxic chemicals. Professor Pecorella 2015 on a class lecture of public opinion said that,“public opinion reacts to action”,since this is true, then this would validate what EPA does because the majority of people do believe in global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency would help ensure a safer future for America, one that would allow

Outline: Intro: • Define acid deposition and its causes • Introduce the three types of damages caused by acid deposition that will be discussed in the first three body paragraphs. • Introduce the proposed solutions. Thesis Statement: Acid Deposition in the United States has caused damages to the aquatic system, the vegetation and the historical statues. Potential solutions to this problem include switching to energy sources other than fossil fuels and removing sulfur from coal. Body paragraphs: I. Discuss how acid deposition is a problem to the aquatic system as it pollutes surface water and decreases species richness.

Sulfuric acid in polluted precipitation interferes with the fish's ability to take in oxygen, salt, and nutrients. For freshwater fish, maintaining osmoregulation, the ability to maintain a state of balance between salt and minerals in the organism's tissue, is essential to stay alive. As shown in the figure in the next page, acid molecules cause mucus to form in their gills preventing the fish to absorb oxygen well. Furthermore, a low pH level will throw off the balance of salt in the fish's tissue. Calcium levels of some fish cannot be maintained due to the changes in pH level. This causes a problem in reproduction: the eggs are too brittle or weak. Lacking calcium causes weak spines and deformities in bones. Sometimes when acid rainfall runs off the land, it carries fertilizers with it. Fertilizer helps stimulate the growth of algae because of the amount of nitrogen in it. However, because of the increase in the death of fish the decomposition takes up even more oxygen. This takes away from surviving fish. In other terms, acid rain does not help aquatic ecosystems in anyway.

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.

A major contributor to climate change is the increased emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. According to The Independent, a UK newspaper, “Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around Earth.” This layer of insulating gases is called the Ozone Layer. In the stratosphere, where ozone naturally occurs, it benefits the earth by reducing the amount of UV radiation that reaches the earth. When it builds in the troposphere, however, it traps heat and contributes to urban smog and large amounts of

There are four major gases that cause the greenhouse effect.  These chemicals are Chloroflourocarbons (CFC’s), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Methane (CH4).  “CFC’s destroy ozone molecules by the thousands, causing a smaller amount of ozone in the ozone layer.  This allows more UV rays hit the Earth’s surface, causing a slight increase of the Earth’s temperature.  The more ozone molecules destroyed, the more UV rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere, making the temperature even higher”(What Is The Greenhouse Effect).