FREE ESSAY ON ACID RAIN

ACID RAIN

Acid Rain
(The Environmental Effects)
My first question is , "What is Acid Rain?" You hear about it all the time in the news
and it is very important to the earth's ecosystem. In simple terms, acid rain is rain
that is more acidic than normal. All objects in nature have a certain level of acicicity
but acid rain has too much acid in it. Acid rain is a complicated problem, caused by air
pollution. Acid rain's spread and damage involves weather, chemistry, soil, and the life
cycles of plants and animals on the land and from acid rain in the water.
Acidity is measured using a pH scale, with the number 7 being neutral. Therefore, a body
with a pH value of less than 7 is acidic. On the other hand, a value greater than 7 is
basic. The pH of 5.6 has been used as the baseline in identifying acid rain, although
this value is controversial, therefore, acid ran is any rainfall that has an acidity
level above what is expected in non-polluted rainfall. Any precipitation that has a pH
value of less than 5.6 is considered to be acid precipitation. 
Readings of pH 2.4--as acidic as vinegar--were recorded during storms in New England.
During one particularly acid summer storm, rain falling on a lime-green automobile
leached away the yellow in the green paint, leaving blue raindrop shaped spots on the
car.
Scientists have found that pollution in the air from the burning of fossil fuels is the
main cause of acid rain. The major chemicals in air that help to create acid rain are
sulfur dioxide, known as (SO2), and nitrogen oxides, known as (NOx). Acid rain is formed
high in the clouds where sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water, oxygen, and
oxidants. This lethal mixture creates a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
Sunlight often increases the speed at which the reaction occur. Rainwater, snow, fog, and
other forms of precipitation containing these new solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids
fall to earth as acid rain.
Acid rain does not make up all of the acidity that falls back to earth from pollutants.
Only half of the acidity in the air falls back to earth through dry deposition as gases
and dry particles. The wind blows and then these acidic grains are blown onto buildings,
cars, homes, and trees. In some cases, these particles can eat away the objects which
they land on. Dry deposited gases are sometimes washed from trees and other surfaces by
rainstorms. When this occurs, the runoff water adds the new acids to the acid rain,
making a more acidic combination than the falling rain by itself. 
One of the main causes of acid rain is the sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is one of the
main ingredients which make up the deadly combination that forms acid rain. Some of the
natural sources that emit this gas are rotting vegetation, volcanoes, plankton, rotting
animals and sea spray. However, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, do not
help the situation and are largely to blame for approximately half of the emissions of
this gas in the world. 
Water moves through living plants, animal, streams, lakes, and oceans in the hydrologic
cycle. In that cycle, water evaporates from the land and sea into the atmosphere. Water
in the atmosphere then condenses to form clouds. Clouds release the water back to the
earth as rain, snow, or fog. When water droplets form and fall to the earth, they pick up
particles and chemicals that float in the air. Even clean, unpolluted air has some
particles such as dust or pollen. Clean air also contains naturally occurring gases such
as carbon dioxide. The interaction between the water droplets and the carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere gives rain a pH of 5.6, making even clean rain slightly acidic. Other
natural sources of acids and bases in the atmosphere may lower or raise the pH of
unpolluted rain. However, when rain contains pollutants, especially sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides, the rain water can become very acidic. 
This problem is a problem of natures balance being tampered with. If not polluted, normal
precipitation would react with chemicals that are derived from bedrock in the air, soil,
lakes, and streams and this rain would be neutralized. Since the precipitation is highly
acidic, these natural buffering chemicals will be destroyed. When this occurs, the
natural buffering effect does not occur, and nature won't keep it's balance
Acid rain has been a big problem for a long time. Research on acid rain is just starting
to make progress. In the past, little was known about the causes and effects of acid
rain.
Lakes, rivers, oceans, and other aquatic ecosystems are largely affected by acid rain.
The reason why acid rain has such a large affect on aquatic ecosystems is because there
as so many routes in which acidic chemicals can enter the water. Chemical substances
enter the water in different ways. Some of the ways acidic chemicals enter waterways are
as dry particles. These chemicals can also get into the water in forms such as rain,
hail, dew, fog and snow. Another way that acids enter the lakes is called spring acid
shock. An example of spring acid shock is when snow melts in the spring rapidly as a
result of a sudden temperature change. The acids in the snow are then put into the soil.
The melted snow in return runs off to smaller water sources, and gradually make their way
into the larger water ecosystems. This causes a sudden drastic change in the pH level.
The aquatic ecosystem doesn't have time to adjust to the drastic change. This is also
very dangerous because in the springtime many aquatic species are reproducing. Some of
these species lay their eggs in the water to hatch. The sudden pH change can cause
serious deformities in their young or even kill off the whole species since the young
spend a lot of their crucial primary life cycle in the water. 
Sulfuric acid in water can affect the fish in the water in two ways: directly and
indirectly. Sulfuric acid directly interferes with the fish's ability to take in salt,
oxygen and nutrients crucial for daily life. Osmoregulation is the process of maintaining
the delicate balance of salts and minerals in their tissues. For freshwater fish,
maintaining osmoregulation is key in their survival. Acid molecules, which are a result
of acid rain in the water, cause mucus to form in the fish's gills. This in return
prevents the fish from absorbing oxygen. If the fish are unable to absorb oxygen, the
consequence could be the eventual suffocation of fish and the low pH could throw off the
balance of salts in the fish tissue. Salt levels such, as the calcium (Ca+2), levels of
some fish cannot be maintained due to pH change. This can results in poor reproduction.
The fish's eggs produced would be damaged, they could either be too brittle or too weak.
The decreased Ca+2 levels also result in weak spines and deformities. Acid Rain is very
tragic when it come to the life of fish, but when nitrogen-containing fertilizers are
washed off into the lakes, the nitrogen stimulates the growth of algae, which logically
would mean an increase in oxygen production, thus benefiting the fish. This can be
beneficial, but because of increased deaths in the fish population due to acid rain, the
decomposition process uses up a lot of the oxygen, which leaves less for the surviving
fish to take in. 
Indirectly, sulfuric acid releases heavy metals present in soils to be dissociated and
released. For example, aluminum (Al+2) is harmless as part of a compound, but because
acid rain causes Al+2 to be released into the soils and gradually into the lakes, it
becomes lethal to the health of the fish in the lakes on its life forms. 
Some of the pH level effects are ; At pH level six basic forms of food die off for fish.
The food sources cannot survive at this pH level. At a pH level of 5.5 there are more
deformed adult fish due to lack of nutrients. The fish cannot reproduce. The young have
difficulty staying alive, and eventually the older fish will die of suffocation. At pH
level 5.0 the whole fish population will die off. At pH level 4.0 all life forms will
die.
Fish, being one of the most important members of the food chain, provide nourishment for
other creators. Since acid rain is affecting fish, this makes it dangerous for other
creators including humans to eat the fish. Other sea dwellers such as amphibians are also
affected by acid ran. The amphibian embryos have membranes that are too tough because of
the acids, such that they are unable to break through at the proper time. So, they
continue to grow, only to have deformed spines.
The affects on water forms are the greatest and most tragic of all of the things that
acid rain affects. Acid rain affects all that eat seafood or any other water dwelling
life form. 
Another things impacted by acid rain are forests and soil. When acid rain falls onto the
earth's surface it causes a lot of damage. The soil is robbed of some vital things.
Aluminum that is always present in the soil is freed, and the toxic element is absorbed
by the roots of trees. The trees in turn are starved and deprived of vital nutrients such
as calcium and magnesium. Sulfuric acid returns to earth. When the sulfuric acid returns,
it clogs up the stomata in the leaves, stopping photosynthesis. In addition, severe
frosts may also further aggravate this situation. With sulfur dioxide, ammonia and ozone
present in the air, the frost-hardiness of trees are reduced. Ammonia mixes with sulfur
dioxide and forms ammonium sulfate. This product forms on the surface of the trees. When
ammonium sulfate reaches the soils, it reacts to form both sulfuric and nitric acid. Such
conditions also stimulate the growth of fungi and pests like the ambrosia beetle. When
trees are under such stress, they release chemicals such as terpenes which attract the
ambrosia beetle. 
Acid rain also affects the atmosphere. The affects on the atmosphere are mostly due to
dry deposition that was mentioned earlier. The floating particles can contribute to haze,
which affects visibility. This makes navigation especially hard for air pilots. The acid
haze also inhibits the flow of sunlight from the sun to the earth and back. 
Acid rain also affects architecture. Architecture is affected by both dry precipitation
and wet precipitation. When these particles land on building they eat into the concrete
eventually destroying them. This is a potential danger because the infrastructure of the
buildings can be destroyed, thus hurting people occupying the building
Acid Rain also has a direct affect on you and I. The SO2 and NO2 emissions give rise to
respiratory problems such as asthma, dry coughs, headaches, eye, nose and throat
irritations. The indirect affect of acid rain are on the food that we eat. Acid rain is
absorbed in fruits, and in the tissues of animals. Although these toxic metals do not
directly affect the animals, they have serious affects on humans when they are being
consumed. 
Acid rain is a huge problem which affects every person living in the world in some sort
of way. Acid rain is a problem that can be reduced but not stopped completely due to the
needs of our modern society. Some ways that we could help to reduce acid rain is by
recycling, carpooling, and reducing. Acid rain is a problem that can be controlled but it
is up to the people of earth to control the problem. 
Bibliography
1. Heij, G.J. and J.W. Erisman (Editors). Acid Rain Research: Do we have enough answers?
New York: Elsevier, 1995.
2.Comptons New Media Encyclopedia 1996
3. White, James C. (Editor). Acid Rain: The Relationship between Sources and Receptors.
New York: Elsevier, 1988.
4.FAQ on Acid Rain(http://ns.doe.ca/aeb/ssd/acid/acidFAQ.html)