Acid rain
Acid rain describes any form of precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids. It can also occur in the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of dry material that settle to Earth.
Rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes release some chemicals that can cause acid rain, but most acid rain falls because of human activities. Air Pollution ultimately leads to Acid Rain as the harmful gases, which are mixed in the air, also get combined with the moisture in the air and form acidic clouds, which lead to Acid Rain. The source of Acid Rain are factories, vehicles, Power Stations and industries; which burn fuels and produce harmful gases, which have Sulfur doixide or Nitrogen oxides.
Normally rain is acidic though weak as the pH level of rain is less than 7 but when the moisture present in the atmosphere and form strong acid like Sulfuric and Nitric Acid.origins
Contents |
[edit] Causes of Acid Rain
The primary causes of acid rain are sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These chemicals are released by certain industrial processes, and as a result, industrialized nations suffer severely from acid rain.
Most sulfur dioxide comes from power plants that use coal as their fuel. These plants emit 100 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 70% of that in the world. Automobiles produce about half of the world's nitrogen oxide. As the number of automobiles in use increases, so does the amount of acid rain. Power plants that burn fossil fuels also contribute significantly to nitrogen oxide emission.
Though human causes are primarily responsible for acid rain, natural causes exist as well. Forests and bush fires, volcanic eruptions, bacterial decomposition, and lightening also greatly increase the amount of nitrogen oxide on the planet. However, even the gigantic explosion of Mt. St. Helens released only about what one coal power plant emits in a year.
[edit] Effects of Acid rain
Acid rain is having harmful effects both on people and on the natural ecosystems of the world. Scientists today are convinced that acid rain is severe in many areas, and that it is having an adverse effect on the environments of those locations.
Acid rain causes the composition of the soil to be altered, which further results in to the deterioration of plant life and also disturbs the the ecological cycle. The existing plant life faces inhibitions to grow healthy since the acid in the rain as they lose the nutrients present in the soil. Harmful elements are further added in the soil that lead to the soil becoming unfit for plantation and cultivation. Acidic water also ruins plant nutrients, hurting plants' ability to survive and to give life to other organisms.
Aquatic life also meets with destruction as the acids and other harmful substances in the rain get dissolved in the water and lead to the death and destruction of aquatic life. If not death it definitely leads to intoxication, which is passed on to the food cycle and leads to the death and disease of many animals in the food chain. There has to be a solution of acid rain and pollution otherwise it would lead to major loss.
Acid rain has many ecological effects, but none is greater than its impact on lakes, streams, wetlands, and other aquatic environments. Acid rain makes waters acidic and causes them to absorb the aluminum that makes its way from soil into lakes and streams. This combination makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish, and other aquatic animals.
Some species can tolerate acidic waters better than others. However, in an interconnected ecosystem, what impacts some species eventually impacts many more throughout the food chain—including non-aquatic species such as birds.
Acid rain also damages forests, especially those at higher elevations. It robs the soil of essential nutrients and releases aluminum in the soil, which makes it hard for trees to take up water. The effects of acid rain, combined with other environmental stressors, leave trees and plants less able to withstand cold temperatures, insects, and disease. The pollutants may also inhibit trees' ability to reproduce. Some soils are better able to neutralize acids than others.
Statues, buildings, vehicles, pipes and cables can all suffer. The worst affected are things made from limestone or sandstone as these types of rock are particularly susceptible and can be affected by air pollution in gaseous form as well as by acid rain.
[edit] Solutions
The only way to fight acid rain is by curbing the release of the pollutants that cause it. This means burning fewer fossil fuels. Many governments have tried to curb emissions by cleaning up industry smokestacks and promoting alternative fuel sources. These efforts have met with mixed results. But even if acid rain could be stopped today, it would still take many years for its harmful effects to disappear.
