Cause and Effect of Acid Rain

                                                  Causes and Effects of Acid Rain

Without rain life wouldn’t be able to sustain on earth considering a majority of land-based life depends on fresh water, which it gets from rain. Rain is a fresh water liquid which is formed from the atmospheric water vapor, but if the atmosphere it forms in is polluted the result would be acidic rain.

Figure 1: This is an image showing the process of how acid
 rain is made and some of the effects it has on its environment 

Acidic rain is mostly caused by a chemical reaction, which occurs when compounds such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) are released into the air and later on rise up to the atmosphere where they will mix/react with water and oxygen forming acid rain as it is seen in Figure 1. There are two main causes when it comes to acidic pollutants. One, is by a natural cause such as a volcanic eruption or decaying vegetation, but the main cause is from pollution which is a man made source. When any type of fossil fuel is burned (coal, oil etc) the air is being polluted with numerous chemicals and some of those chemicals (SO2 and NOx) interact with the droplets or water in the atmosphere creating an acid.  Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide dissolves very easily in water, after it has dissolved it can be carried by the wind and bring on acidic rain even into places that aren’t as polluted. 

Figure 2- In this image a leaf is that has not been exposed
 to acid rain is compared by a leaf that has

Acidic rain has affects most of the living organisms on earth but sometimes it can also effect some of the non-living things such as buildings and sculptures. When acidic rain falls one time there might not be a drastic change (may vary on the amount of acidity it consists of) but over a longer period of time acidic rain can make many irreversible changes. One of the effects is the acidification of soil.  

Figure 3- Image showing the affects that
acid rain has on a stone statue

There are numerous negative effects that the acidic rain has on the earth such as the acidification of lakes, streams and soil.  After rainfall the rain is soaked up by the soil and the acidity of the rain can dissolve nutrients such as magnesium and calcium which is necessary for trees along with other plants to grow. Acidic rain also causes aluminum to be released into the soil, which can prevent the trees to soak up water. Depending on the pH value of the acid rain it is very likely for the rain to dissolve leaves as is seen in figure 2.  In some cases the acid rain doesn’t directly have to be in contact with a part of land for it to have a big effect on it and the living organisms with in it. When it comes to lakes and streams the acidity and the bad chemicals can be passed on by the soil or from different streams that have been in contact with acid rain. Fresh water organisms sometimes aren’t able to survive with the high acidity of the water, which may lead to extinction.  Numerous lakes in Scandinavia have received vast amounts of acid rain over the course of a couple years, which lead to total extinction of the organisms. Acidic pollutants can also ruin buildings and sculptures as the acid can dissolve rock and metal over a longer period of time as seen in figure 3.  Some of the harder rocks (granite) aren’t as easy to dissolve but stones such as sandstone and lime stones are damaged easily. Numerous of the historic buildings that we know of have been affected by acid rain such as: The Statue of Liberty.

It is highly unlikely for pollution to stop altogether, but what we can do is reduce the amount pollution that goes into the air. There are many options on how factories can pollute less but still get what they need. For example coal-burning companies could use coal, which contains less sulfur in it, but they can also install equipment which remove the sulfur dioxide from the gasses before it is released into the atmosphere. According to the “United States Environmental Protection Agency”  There is a law that limits factories to the amount of sulfur dioxide they can release into the air. The most effective way to prevent pollution would be by using other sources of energy such as solar panels, which don’t need coal in order to provide electricity. If we do not take these remedies there the likelihood of extinction when it comes to all living organisms is very high, which is why we need to take action before it is too late.

Bibliography 

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects/index.html

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/beingdone.html

http://www.clean-air-kids.org.uk/acidrain.html

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/bio183de/Black/chemreview/chemreview_reading/acid_rain.html