ACID RAIN
By Riley Morgan
What is Acid Rain?
Acid rain is wet and dry deposition containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. Causes of this are decay of plants, volcanoes, and man made sources, like emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are results of fossil fuel combustion. Acid rain forms when these substances/gases react with oxygen, water and other chemicals. The outcome of this mixture is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. If these acidic chemicals are blown into areas where the weather is wet, the acids can fall on the ground in forms of rain, snow, fog or mist. If this acid water flows through the ground, plant life and wildlife get affected negatively. In areas that are dry, the acid might be incorporated into dust or smoke. This form can stick to homes, buildings, cars and trees.
What are the Effects of Acid Rain Enviormentaly
Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes and can damage some types of trees at high elevation, and forest soils. Acid rain also accelerates the amount of time it takes for a buildings materials to decay such as paint, statues and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage.These acidic gases can harm public health.
How can We Reduce and Prevent the Effects of Acid Rain?
To stop acid rain, people need to know what acid rain does to the enviorment. A cause of acid rain is air pollution. We can reduce or eliminate the amount of acid rain and decrease the deadlyness of it is to clean up smoke stacks and exaust pipes. Most of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil. Sulfur also causes the toxins in acid rain to intensify. We can reduce this by cleaning the coal/sulfur. Another thing we can do to reduce or eliminate acid rain it to use natural gas instead of burning fossil fuels. We can also use necular power hydro power, coal (if clean and with little sulfur), wind energy, geothermal energy, and solar energy to power our needs. Necular and hydro power are the most used in the U.S. There are also other alternatives like natural gas, batteries, and fuel cells to help power vehicles in a healther and cleaner way. Ways that individuals can help is by Turning off lights and computers etc., using energy efficent appliances, and using these only when you need them. Dont have your house too hot or too cold. Insulate your home as best as you can. Carpool or use public transportation whenever possible. And lastly, know whats going on and be informed and inform other people of ways to reduce the effects/occurnce of acid rain.
How Acid Rain Effects Human Health
Acid rain is basically just like regular rain, it tastes the same, looks the same and feels the same, but can have very bad effects on your body. When you inhale the water/air, they can cause many problems like asthma, and bronchitis.
How Acid Rain Effects Visibility
The chemicals in acid rain contribute to visibility impairment. Because of this, we can not enjoy many things like national parks. Other than that, it doesn't affect visibility