Introduction
Yesterday I watched a documentary that opened my eyes to the affects of pollution. I already knew about how pollution happens, and all about global warming, but I never thought that acid rain would be as big of a threat as it is. After watching this documentary I have found out that acid rain is just as important, if not WORSE then global warming.
Yesterday I watched a documentary that opened my eyes to the affects of pollution. I already knew about how pollution happens, and all about global warming, but I never thought that acid rain would be as big of a threat as it is. After watching this documentary I have found out that acid rain is just as important, if not WORSE then global warming.
So what is acid rain you may ask?
Acid rain is pretty self explanatory, its acidic rain, but not melt your face off acidic, Acid rain is still harmful though. It contains acids which harm anything that drinks it or something that ate something that drank it. It kills vegetation because its acidic and bad for plants, see Fig 1, and kills animals because it poisons the plants they eat and the water they drink. Although, these affects do happen, its not through a single raindrop, its over time through much rain. The danger is still very real though. Its not only plants and animals though, it also affects buildings and other man made things, it affects mountains and pretty much everything, by either killing them or slowly melting them away. It has the worst affect on oceans though, killing off whole coral reefs, see Fig 2, which are vital to the survival and the ecosystem of many things in the ocean, from fish to plants and even sharks.
Fig 1; A forest where acid rain has killed the trees.
Fig 2: A coral reef over a 3 year period affected by acid rain.
An even bigger question is: How is acid rain created?
Well this is our big problem. Acid rain is made by two causes, natural causes such as volcanoes, and human causes such as factories and cars. This does not mean that cars and volcanoes and factories all make rain that is is acidic, that would be wrong. They make CO2, SO2 and NO2, all of them are bad gases for any living thing and very acidic. Which is then released into the atmosphere with the clouds mixing together, creating acidic rain, for an example see Fig 3, Then the rain falls and hurts our planet and us.
Fig 3: The cycle of acid rain.
What can we do about acid rain?
Well lets start at the base of the problem, where it comes from. We know we can't stop anything natural from making acid rain, that's just part of the ecosystem doing its thing. So that leaves us with human causes, like emissions from cars and factories. We can control that, but its very hard. If we wanted to stop making acid rain we would have to put much stronger emission laws into effect and change our life style. We would have to stop relying on products made in factories so much, and not drive everywhere, but instead walk or even bike, Doing anything that can help cut down on emissions can help us save the ocean. We can even use complete different power sources like solar and wind power. Another idea is that we can use Bases. Bases are the opposite of acids. So a plan would be to unacidify, or neutralize, the ocean is to drop bases into the ocean in attempt to balance it out. The The way Acids and bases work is that there is something called the PH scale. Its a scale that goes for 1 to 14, with number 1 being very acidic and number 14 very basic. Its used to help us understand how basic or acidic something is. 7 is neutral and most substances are neutral, see Fig 4. You can use litmus paper to find out if something is Acidic or not. The biggest thing about using bases to counteract acids bases too can be harmful, they are in most cleaning products and if you touch most cleaning products they will harm your skin.
Fig 4: The PH Scale.
Whats so bad about acid rain?
Acid rain is a huge danger to the environment. It kills ecosystems, wiping out thousands of plant lives and animal lives. It hurts humans a lot too. It makes the fish and animals bad to eat, and makes them rarer and rarer. It kills plants which feed the animals so the animals starve so we have less animals to eat, it also directly kills animals. Acid rain may not be nuclear toxic waste acid most people think, but it sure is deadly to humans and the ecosystem. We need to do something about it quick, before it becomes too late and we resort to methods that are unfavorable.
Fig 5: Fish affected by acid rain, they are also unable to be eaten.
Information sources:
Acid rain is pretty self explanatory, its acidic rain, but not melt your face off acidic, Acid rain is still harmful though. It contains acids which harm anything that drinks it or something that ate something that drank it. It kills vegetation because its acidic and bad for plants, see Fig 1, and kills animals because it poisons the plants they eat and the water they drink. Although, these affects do happen, its not through a single raindrop, its over time through much rain. The danger is still very real though. Its not only plants and animals though, it also affects buildings and other man made things, it affects mountains and pretty much everything, by either killing them or slowly melting them away. It has the worst affect on oceans though, killing off whole coral reefs, see Fig 2, which are vital to the survival and the ecosystem of many things in the ocean, from fish to plants and even sharks.
Fig 1; A forest where acid rain has killed the trees.
Fig 2: A coral reef over a 3 year period affected by acid rain.
An even bigger question is: How is acid rain created?
Well this is our big problem. Acid rain is made by two causes, natural causes such as volcanoes, and human causes such as factories and cars. This does not mean that cars and volcanoes and factories all make rain that is is acidic, that would be wrong. They make CO2, SO2 and NO2, all of them are bad gases for any living thing and very acidic. Which is then released into the atmosphere with the clouds mixing together, creating acidic rain, for an example see Fig 3, Then the rain falls and hurts our planet and us.
Fig 3: The cycle of acid rain.
What can we do about acid rain?
Well lets start at the base of the problem, where it comes from. We know we can't stop anything natural from making acid rain, that's just part of the ecosystem doing its thing. So that leaves us with human causes, like emissions from cars and factories. We can control that, but its very hard. If we wanted to stop making acid rain we would have to put much stronger emission laws into effect and change our life style. We would have to stop relying on products made in factories so much, and not drive everywhere, but instead walk or even bike, Doing anything that can help cut down on emissions can help us save the ocean. We can even use complete different power sources like solar and wind power. Another idea is that we can use Bases. Bases are the opposite of acids. So a plan would be to unacidify, or neutralize, the ocean is to drop bases into the ocean in attempt to balance it out. The The way Acids and bases work is that there is something called the PH scale. Its a scale that goes for 1 to 14, with number 1 being very acidic and number 14 very basic. Its used to help us understand how basic or acidic something is. 7 is neutral and most substances are neutral, see Fig 4. You can use litmus paper to find out if something is Acidic or not. The biggest thing about using bases to counteract acids bases too can be harmful, they are in most cleaning products and if you touch most cleaning products they will harm your skin.
Fig 4: The PH Scale.
Whats so bad about acid rain?
Acid rain is a huge danger to the environment. It kills ecosystems, wiping out thousands of plant lives and animal lives. It hurts humans a lot too. It makes the fish and animals bad to eat, and makes them rarer and rarer. It kills plants which feed the animals so the animals starve so we have less animals to eat, it also directly kills animals. Acid rain may not be nuclear toxic waste acid most people think, but it sure is deadly to humans and the ecosystem. We need to do something about it quick, before it becomes too late and we resort to methods that are unfavorable.
Fig 5: Fish affected by acid rain, they are also unable to be eaten.
Information sources:
A quick video showing acid rain
Wikipedia page about acid rain (taken with a grain of salt)
A blog about the dangers of Acid rain and how to stop by Alex Fortin
Wikipedia page about acid rain (taken with a grain of salt)
A blog about the dangers of Acid rain and how to stop by Alex Fortin
Good blog Alex but you should have done it over the weekend. Yes I saw you working on it in the library this morning.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog, very informative on the subject, contains all of what is needed
ReplyDeleteWWW- Overall good. Information is well worded and very clear. I like the part where you were talking about acidity and said "but not melt your face off acidic"
ReplyDeleteEBI- More of your sources were in the text. I see them at the bottom but it should have been incorporated into the blog.