Sulfur Dioxide Pollution in Sullivan County The environmental issue that I have chosen to talk about is sulfur dioxide pollution, specifically in my community and surrounding communities. “The environmental impact of acid rain is that it is a major contributor to acid rain” (Sulfur Dioxide). Acid rain is just normal rain but with a lower pH, “this slightly more acidic water gets into ponds and streams and can alter the biodiversity of it by making the water not suitable for certain species. Another effect of acid rain is that it can leach aluminum into the soil, aluminum is harmful to plant life and wildlife” (Effects of Acid Rain). “The impact on people is the increased likelihood of someone developing short term or long term respiratory …show more content…
Just saying switch to a sustainable energy source does not say much, there needs to be a plan in place with milestones to reach along the way. Solar would be the most practical of the renewable energy sources for my community because it only requires a small amount of space and the sun. The easiest way to encourage solar energy is going to be to incentivize it, there needs to be some tax deductions for having renewable energy sources. The most effective way to do this is at the state of local government level, by lowering property taxes or cutting taxes for those who have solar panels will greatly incentivize it. This should take anywhere between 5-15 years to get people to switch over to renewable sources of energy. I look at a city not too far from my town Rutland Vermont, they have been slowly converting to solar over the past 5 years and now they have many sizable solar farms that produce power for the city’s residence. So picture something like that in a small town setting where most people have solar panels and power their own homes. There are a few challenges associated with this, people are going to need to spend money on something that will not be making or saving them money until a few years down the road. People will only see the short term high cost of installation and it might dissuade them from converting to a renewable energy source. Another is some people might think that solar panels would be out of their grasp because of the high price tag.
In Chicago, acid rain has been corroding many statues, buildings, and monuments. Acid rain can do more than just burn materials, it can also destroy them. Buildings have been corroding for years on end, which makes them unstable and hazardous. This has become more and more of a problem throughout the years and has not been improving. Acid rain also creates a gypsum coating on materials that is insoluble and remains as a coating on the surface of a material (Allaby, 2003, pgs. 84-95). As a result of acid rain buildings will become uninhabitable and unsafe for people in the buildings and people in the vicinity of the building. Acid rain has very negative effects not only on buildings but to people and nature. The chemical substances in acid rain
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
“North Americans have been smelting ore and burning fossil fuels for generations. In the past, the gases went up ordinary chimneys or small smoke stacks, to descend upon near by areas and pollute them,” states author, Robert Collins. Almost everyone knows what acid rain is and has a vague idea of the consequences that exist as a cause of it. Most people however do not realize the severity of acid rain. The essay “Acid Rain: Scourge from the Skies” by Robert Collins was very effective in showing the true severity of acid rain. By using excellent developmental devices, Robert Collins was able to write an effective essay that is appealing to today’s society, as well as
Acid rain refers to precipitation that is more acidic (having lower pH levels) than average. In more detail, acid rain is a type of precipitation that has mixtures of wet and dry materials coming from the atmosphere, which includes more nitric and sulphuric acids (Conserve Energy Future: Acid Rain). Acid rain can also be written as “Acid Deposition” because the acid rain could come down as other precipitation, for instance, snow. This became a worldwide problem due to the effects it can have on land, aquatic ecosystems, buildings, vegetation and more. The acidity of the acid rain will distort the pH levels and break down the elements to harm whatever this type of precipitation touches.
1. We can change the way we create energy, instead burning fossil fuels we could use some alternative method.
Acid rain is a global phenomenon that has many causes and even more different consequences as a result. The main cause of acid rain is the burning of fossil fuels and motor vehicles. The result of these actions get released into the atmosphere. All of these fuels that are getting burnt and running motor vehicles are releasing multiple acids into the atmosphere that gets collected by the clouds and stores them in their moisture. As a consequence, when it rains, the acids that have been collected by the clouds then transfer to the water and get released with the rain. Hence the term “acid rain”. The acids released into the atmosphere can also be collected by snow and hail. These acid pollutants in the air can be carried by wind current extremely easily, therefore this phenomenon can affect many places far away from the initial site.
Sulphuric acid and nitric acid are the main acidic components of acid rain. Any sort of precipitation such as rain, snow, fog with these acidic components is called acid rain. Acid rain is an issue that has recently become intensified due to the increased burning of fossil fuels. Gaseous emission from vehicles and power plants are also responsible as it also produces sulphur dioxide (SOx) and nitrogen dioxide (NOx). These chemicals get mobility from air and wind currents which then mixes with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. Some might think it is only a problem for the people residing near the sources but wind currents can carry it over long distance which stands as a problem for everyone. Acid rain can occur in two forms, one is wet form which is usually the precipitation, another form is the dry deposition which occurs in the form of acidic dust. If we continue to ignore the effects of acid deposition in Canada, it will lead to detrimental damages on crops and agriculture.
From the precise moment, man first polluted the world, from burning fossil fuels to urbanization, many people were uneducated about the threatening long-term effects that came along with these massive innovations. One of the many serious threats is acid rain and a lot of people don’t notice the effects of this worldwide dilemma. It is now apparent that acid rain will now affect our everyday lives. Acid precipitation impacts the environment, the people, many animals, and industries in the world. When we burn fossil fuels nitrous and sulfuric gases are released into the atmosphere and these gases react with water and oxygen, therefore, making acid rain.(National Geographic,2017) Acid rain comes in many forms like snow, hail, and dust particles too. (Environmental Protection Agency, N.d) Acid rain destroys many habitats, ecosystems, wear down buildings and statues, and can contaminate many bodies of water in Canada. Acid rain is prevalent near the eastern side of Canada and has also made a huge impact in a city named Sudbury. Acid precipitation was very common in the mid 19 century due to industrialization and lack of technology and knowledge of pollution. We need to find new ways of producing electricity we burn too many fossil fuels, therefore, creating carbon emissions that are extremely harmful to the world and people around us and triggering the acid rain effect. Acid rain is a giant problem for the world and especially Canada it affects the environment around us and
Acidification of the surface of the water is a major problem in areas of the northeastern United States, in eastern Canada, and in southern Scandinavia, it also occurs in other parts of the world as well (Baker & Schofield, 1982). The acidification on the surface of water causes many fish populations to decline in soft-water aquatic environments, that are exposed to acid precipitation (Neville & Campell, 1988). This acidification of the surface water is caused by acid rain. Acid rain or otherwise known as acid deposition is a term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that comes down from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. These forms include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that can be acidic.
In common parlance, acid rain is just what the words man – rainfall that is acidic in nature. However, in scientific terms it has a winder connotation. So, what is acid rain? Any way by which acid falls out of the atmosphere is considered to be acid rain. It can be dry or wet. Acidic gases or particles are referred to as dry deposition, whereas acid rain, snow and fog constitute the wet deposition. Be it particles, snow or gases, they can be termed as acidic if only they have a higher concentration of hydrogen ions (i.e. pH of less than 4) than usual. But what causes acid rain ad what are its effects on our planet? Let’s consider this environmental issue that has become a serious concern for environmentalists the world over.
Acid rain is caused by a corrosion responses that starts when mixes like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are discharged into the air. These substances can ascend high into the atmosphere, where they blend and respond with water, oxygen, and different chemicals to frame more acidic contaminations, known as acid rain. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides break up effortlessly in water and can be transported extremely far by the wind. Acid rain, or acid deposition, is a term that incorporates any type of precipitation with acidic segments, for example, sulphuric or nitric acid that drop to the ground from the air in wet or dry structures. Therefore, the two mixes can travel a long way separated where they combine with the rain, hail, snow, dust and haze that we encounter on certain days.
From the precise moment, we first polluted the world, from burning fossil fuels to urbanization many people were uneducated about the threatening long-term effects that came along with these massive innovations. One of the many serious threats is acid rain a lot of people don’t notice the effects of this worldwide dilemma. When we burn fossil fuels nitrous gases are released into the atmosphere and these gases react with water and oxygen, therefore, making it rain filled with many sulfuric acids and chemicals.(National Geographic,2017) Acid rain destroys many habitats, ecosystems, wear down buildings and statues, and can contaminate many of the streams of water in Canada. Thousands of trees will we wiped out due to acid rain, therefore, damaging our huge exports of lumber. Our sources of water will now be contaminated and would not be accessible or safe to drink or use. Our water would have to go through many filters before it will be safe to drink. Now we realize the detrimental effects that come with acid rain from the dwindling surplus of trees to the harmful chemicals polluting our ecosystem it's time to stand and take action to this worldwide crisis.
Acid rain refers to precipitation that is more acidic (having lower pH levels) than average. In more detail, acid rain is a type of precipitation that has mixtures of wet and dry materials coming from the atmosphere, which includes more nitric and sulfuric acids (Conserve Energy Future: Acid Rain). Acid rain can also be written as “Acid Deposition” because the acid rain could come down as other precipitation, for instance, snow. This became a worldwide problem due to the effects it can have on land, aquatic ecosystems, buildings, vegetation and more. The acidity of the acid rain will distort the pH levels and break down elements to harm whatever this type of precipitation touches.
Acid rain, simply put, is a mixture of rainwater and a few specific chemicals that are emitted both naturally and non-naturally. The process occurs in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere. When compounds such as sulfuric dioxide(SO2) and nitrogen oxides(NO, NO2), are transported to this layer and react with the other parts of the troposphere(water, oxygen, carbon dioxide). Acid rain was first discovered in Sweden in 1872, but has been seen as a more prevalent problem in modern times. Although research had been conducted for many years on acid rain, it did not become an issue for society until around the 1980’s. Acid rain’s effects were vast, harming natural environments, architecture, and even the public’s health. Regulation of chemical emissions have lessened the threat of acid rain, yet it remains a problem to this day. A
Acid rain is the general term that includes any form of precipitation composed of sulfuric or nitric acid. When sulfur and nitrogen oxides are emitted into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels and vehicles, they are transported by wind currents; reacting with water, oxygen, and other elements to form acids. As a result, these acids mix with water and fall to the ground, polluting soil or various bodies of water. Although this cycle is unseen, acid rain dramatically affects the environment, especially crop growth and health.