Environmental Issues
We focus on a different environmental issue each month.
Acid Raid
January 2007Acid rain...
Rain is naturally acidic because carbon dioxide, found normally in the earth's atmosphere, reacts with water to form carbonic acid.
The acid in ‘acid rain’ comes from two kinds of air pollutants-- sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These are emitted primarily from utility and smelter "smokestacks" and car, lorry and bus exhausts, however they also come from burning wood.
When these pollutants reach the atmosphere they combine with gaseous water in clouds and change to acids--sulphuric acid and nitric acid. Then, rain and snow wash these acids from the air.
Acid rain affects lakes, streams, rivers, bays, ponds and other bodies of water by increasing their acidity until fish and other aquatic creatures can no longer live.
Acid rain harms more than aquatic life. It also harms vegetation. Forests across Western Europe are believed to be dying because of acid rain. Scientists believe that acid rain damages the protective waxy coating of leaves and allows acids to diffuse into them, which interrupts the evaporation of water and gas exchange so that the plant no longer can breathe. This stops the plant's conversion of nutrients and water into a form useful for plant growth and affects crop yields.
Recent studies into economic losses resulting from acid rain report that the costs run into hundreds of millions each day. The only cost-effective solution to the problem, according is to reduce emissions at their point of origin.
