Acid can take the form of clouds, fog, rain, snow, hail, mist, and dust particles. Acid precipitation, such as rain, looks like normal rain and tastes like it as well. In small amounts, it is harmless. In other ways, it is anything but. Acid precipitation does not affect people directly, but when it is inhaled, it can cause heart problems and affect the lungs, giving people asthma and bronchitis. Some of the effects that acid precipitation has, is that it has the ability to lower the natural pH of lakes and rivers. Acid precipitation can reduce agriculture yields and it can corrode metals and stone structures. Acid precipitation is detrimental to our ecosystems, destroying trees and lakes and and plants and animals. In 1852, a chemist by the names of Angus Smith “coined the term acid rain to refer to the effect that industrial emissions hod on precipitation in the English Mainlands.” Scientists began to study and research acid rain and the effects that it had on the environment, but it was not until years later, in the late 1970s, that scientist began to recognize the major effects acid raid had. “The damaging effects of acid rain on the environment are believed to be considerable in some areas and imminent in others. The best known effect of acid precipitation is the lowering of pH in thousands of lakes and streams in Scandinavia and eastern America.” There are two different kinds of acid deposition: wet and dry. Wet deposition is a series of chemical reactions,
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
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
The acid rain eventually falls back into our rivers, streams and wells where we intern drink it and this is where the danger begins. The film gave various examples of different places that suffered greatly by contaminated water. The one that stood out most was Lago Titicaca a river found in Bolivia that was contaminated by blood it was devastating to see the people’s main stream in blood red because of the ignorance of the people.
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
Other experiments that could be conducted with acid rain could be the growth rate of a plant that was germinated with pure water, and then once it has germinated, from that point on, water it with acid rain. Additional experiments could pertain to aquatic life and how acid rain affects the animals that live in these bodies of water. Another experiment that could be tested would be the amount of acid rain given to a certain type of seed and how fast those seeds germinate. Overall, acid rain is not good for the environment and should be avoided if
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 rain is any form of precipitation comprising of acidic components such as sulphuric acid, carbonic acid or nitric acid that falls from the atmosphere as rain, snow, fog, fail or dust. When sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere, they are transported by wind and air currents. Hence, the two substances react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to for sulphuric, carbonic and nitric acids. The intense extraction of copper in Queensland is one of the causes of acid rain because the large machines that drill into the ground contributes to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in large masses. The roasting, smelting and converting of copper is another factor that contributes to acid rain. The ores are roasted to remove
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)
Through the advancement of technology, the issue of the air surrounding the earth might have been one of the most often matters to be brought up and discussed among scientists and engineers. Acid rain is one of the more serious environmental problems and it is closely related to the air pollution. Nowadays, it has affected large part of US, Europe and Canada. People start to be concerned about acid rain since it is getting worse in the passed years. The effect of the acid rain most often leads to another bad effect. For example, the acid rain will cause the lake and streams to be acidic. Thus, it will also affect the ecosystem inside the water.
Acid rains as a phenomenon has been identified during the 19th century in Europe, and was attributed the smokes rising from chimneys factories coinciding with the overtime increase of rain acidification especially in Scandinavia. There is a growing interest in acid rains and its destructive effects in the light of the development of global industry especially in the industrialized countries, which consume huge quantities of fuel and release increasing quantities of gases such as sulphur dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen oxides which produce sulfur and nitrogenouns acids upon the interactions with oxygen and water vapour. Acids produced remain in the form of fine mist until dissolved in rainfall once occurs and then precipitates as
Acid rain is created through discharges of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, which reacts with water molecules and creates an acid. Acid rain breaks down rock and soil with contact through the Earth’s atmosphere, which is also known as weathering (Washington University).
The purpose behind this letter to you is to inform you with the big issue that is taking place in our planet, which is the effect of acid rain on lakes and streams (aquatic systems).
To conclude, acid rain includes many elements that make it well known worldwide today and also puts my mind into a new perspective of the effects that are happening in front of my own eyes that I am not noticing. Not to mention, that if I were to pursue the career of becoming an environmental engineer, I would be able to help protect the environment from acidity and become more aware of the solutions to this problem when the environment cannot neutralize the substances on its
Acid Rain and acid deposition are pollutants that are very difficult to escape. It can reach every part of the US and many parts of the world. According to the EPA, Acid Rain is a term that tends to be broad. It’s when precipitation contains Acidic particles such as Sulfuric, or Nitric acid. These acidic particles can get carried all over by different means such as rain, wind, and even fog. Once it hits the ground it is then washed away into water systems. Acid Rain is something that many organizations are trying to have some control over due to the health issues it can cause in people and wildlife.
Acid rain is a form of rain that contains nitric and sulfuric acid, with a pH of less than 7.0. Acid rain can weaken the