Cause And Effects Of Acid Rain
What is acid rain and where does it come from? Before answering this question, it is important to understand what acidity is and how it is measured. Acidity is measured using a pH scale, with the number 7 being neutral. A substance with a value of less than 7 is acidic, and one of greater value is basic. Generally, a pH of 5.6 is the pH baseline used in identifying acid rain. Therefore, acid rain is any rainfall that has an acidity level of less than 5.6. Acid rain has become a major ecological concern since its damaging effects have been discovered.
One of the main causes of acid rain is sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide can be found in gases emitted from volcanoes, sea spray, rotting vegetables and plankton. Unfortunately not all sulfur dioxide is natural but man-made, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, produce more than half of sulfur dioxide in the world. When sulfur reaches the atmosphere, it oxidizes to first form a sulphate ion. It becomes sulfuric acid when it joins with hydrogen atoms in the air and falls back down to earth. Oxidation occurs in clouds and especially in heavily polluted air where other compounds such as ammonia and ozone help to convert sulfur dioxide into sulfuric acid. Other components of acid rain are nitric oxide and nitric dioxide. They come principally from power stations and exhaust fumes. Like sulfur dioxide, these nitrogen oxides go into the atmosphere and are oxidized in clouds to form nitric acid. This also occurs in heavily polluted areas where iron, manganese, ammonia and hydrogen peroxide are present. "Large areas of the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and Europe are experiencing mildly acidified rain, due in part, to the increased emission of sulfur and nitrogen oxides from coal and oil-fired power plants, smelters, automobile exhaust, and other industrial sources" (News Releases).
Although not all scientists agree with the effects of the acid rain on the world,...
View Full Essay