Acid Rain Essays -- essays research papers

     Normal peltingfall is slightly vinegarishulent because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the raindrops to produce hydrogen ions. Yet, convening rainfall is not considered acid rain. Acid rain is a multifariousness of rail line pollution in which airborne acids produced by electric public-service corporation plants and different sources fall to Earth in distant regions. The corrosive disposition of acid rain causes widespread damage to the environment. The problem begins with the production of randomness dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and oil, and from plastered kinds of manufacturing. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water and other chemicals in the air to form sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and other pollutants. These acid pollutants reach amply into the atmosphere, travel with the wind for hundreds of miles, and purgetually return to the ground by personal mann er of rain, snow, or fog, and as invisible dry forms. Damage from acid rain has been widespread in eastern North America and throughout atomic number 63, and in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Acid rain leaches nutrients from soils, slows the growth of trees, and makes lakes uninhabitable for fish and other wildlife. In cities, acid pollutants corrode almost everything they touch, accelerating natural wear and hitch on structures such as buildings and statues. Acids combine with other chemicals to form urban smog, which attacks the lungs, causing illness and premature deaths.The process that leads to acid rain begins with the burning of fossil fuels. Burning, or combustion, is a chemical response in which group O from the air combines with carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and other elements in the substance being burned. The new compounds make are gases called oxides. When sulfur and nitrogen are present in the fuel, their reaction that occurs with oxygen yields sulfur dioxide and va rious nitrogen oxide compounds. In the fall in States, 70 portion of sulfur dioxide pollution comes from power plants, especially those that burn coal. In Canada, industrial activities, including oil refining and metal smelting, account for 61 percent of sulfur dioxide pollution. Nitrogen oxides enter the atmosphere from many sources, with motor vehicles emitting the largest sell43 percent in the United States and 60 percent in Canada. Once in the atmosphere, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides undergo c... ...ts. The targets established in laws and treaties are being met, usually ahead of schedule. Sulfur emissions in Europe decreased by 40 percent from 1980 to 1994. In Norway sulfur dioxide emissions push down by 75 percent during the same period. Since 1980 annual sulfur dioxide emissions in the United States have dropped from 26 million tons to 18.3 million tons. Canada reports sulfur dioxide emissions have been reduced to 2.6 million tons, 18 percent below the proposed tra p of 3.2 million tons. Monitoring stations in several nations report that ruination is actually becoming less acidic. In Europe, lakes and streams are now ripening less acid. However, this does not seem to be the case in the United States and Canada. The reasons are not completely understood, but apparently, controls reducing nitrogen oxide emissions notwithstanding began recently and their effects have yet to make a mark. In addition, soils in some areas have absorbed so much acid that they contain no more neutralizing alkaline chemicals. The weathering of rock leave step by step replace the missing alkaline chemicals, but scientists fear that improvement will be very slow unless pollution controls are made even stricter.