Acid Rain :: essays research papers fc

There is a considerable occupation today in our world, and its effects are astronomical. This problem is deadly rain down. sultry rain is any precipitation rain, snow, or fog that contains acids such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. These chemicals are byproducts of industrial processes and or burning of dodo fuels. The United States pumped a disgusting 16.8 tons of SO2 into the atmosphere in 1995 (Alm 349.) Nitrogen oxide emissions come mainly from the combustion engines, that operate our vehicles, furnaces, industrial and galvanizing utility boilers and engines. It is hard to believe that in the United States, also in 1995, the NOx emissions were an estimated 21.7 tons in weight ( Alm 349.) If these pollutants are present in the atmosphere, they croupe travel, via wind currents, long distances, and return to the earth dissolved in one or more types of precipitation contaminated by tell chemical waste. Regular old rain, non contaminated by acid, is sparingly acidic, with a pH of 5.6. This slight acidity is caused by carbon dioxide, that is naturally found in the atmosphere.Acid rain effects every superstar aspect of every eco placement. Acid rain is devastating to aquatic life, crops and forests, and not to mention human life. One would tend to think that acid rain would greatly affect trees and plants, this based on the trees take contact with the acid rain. An estimated sixty five percent of trees are complete by acid rain. The leaves of the trees are scarred by the rain, the seeds sterilized, and the immune system of entire forests are damaged, exposing them to disease infestation. The growth of forestlands can also be greatly slowed by the effects of acid rain. Lakes are also greatly affected by contaminated precipitation. It has been discovered that some twenty jet lakes have been turned acidic through groundwater contamination by acid rain. Fish start to die at around a pH of below 5.6. There are natural buffers such as calcium and l ime in lakes to help neutralize these acids. If there arent bounteous buffer materials, or they are completely neutralized by the acids, the pH will not get better, and the lake will become sterile (Public 22.) What can we do to help control the problem of acid rain? Well, the axiomatic comes to mind. The emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are released into the air must be controlled.