Acid Rain Essay Research Paper My first

Acid Rain Essay, Research Paper

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.

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)