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So what is Acid Rain?

Acid rain is caused when sulfur dioxides or nitrogen oxides are released into the earths atmosphere. This has really started happening more and more since the industrial revolution. The main cause of these chemicles in the air, are big companies acting as big poluters. People buy vehicles with high gas emissions and have no concern for what they are doing to their air. A natural contribter to the acid rain problem are volcanoes. They emit sulfur gasses after eruptung which can polute miles of the sky Acid rain was first discovered in 1952 but was only really studied starting in the 1960's.


A substances acidity is measured by it pH level. The pH levels range from 0 to 14. A pH level of 7 is considered neutral. Anything over 7 is considered "basic", and the closer you get to 0 the more acidic a substance is. Because of the natural chemicals in the air, normal rain has a pH level af about 6, putting acid rain at around 2-3 pH.

Effects on Plants, Animals, and Humans

Acid rain can be carried great distances in the atmosphere, not just between countries but also from continent to continent. The acid can also take the form of snow, mists and dry dusts. The rain sometimes falls many miles from the source of pollution but wherever it falls it can have a serious effect on soil, trees, buildings and water.


Effects on Plants- As acid rain falls on a forest it trickles through the leaves of the trees and runs down into the soil below. Acid rain washes away the nutrients in the soil that help the trees to grow. It wears away the waxy protective coating of leaves, damaging them and preventing them from being able to photosynthesise properly. It cause the release of harmful substances such as aluminium into the soil. A combination of these effects weakens the trees which means that they can be more easily attacked by diseases and insects or injured by bad weather.


Effects on Animals- Acid rain runs off the land and ends up in streams and lakes which kills animals living and drinking from these lakes. Freshwater shrimps, snails, mussels are the most quickly affected by acidification. Followed by fish such as minnows, and salmon. The roe and fry (eggs and young) of the fish are the worst affected, the acidity of the water can cause deformity in young fish and can prevent eggs from hatching properly. Animals that live in the forests affected by acid rain, are also effected because of the loss of their habitat. Even though acid rain usually only effects smaller animals, at the bottom of their food web, the top of the food web is still affected due to bioamplification.


Effects on Humans- Acid rain has been shown to cause illnesses and even premature deaths. It also is known to cause types of cancer and other diseases. One way in which acid rain affects us, is how it speeds up the erosion process on the buildings we live and work in. Another way it effects us is by killing the plants and livestock that we eat and depend on every day.

How can we Fix it?

There are three main strategies that we can use to reduce the amounts of acid rain released into the atmosphere. These three methods are are; Reducing emissions, Finding alternative sources of energy, and conserving resources. Here are some ways we can do this.


Reducing our Emissions- Burning fossil fuels is still one of the cheapest ways to produce electricity.Governments need to spend more money on pollution control even if it does mean an increase in the price of electricity.Sulphur can also be washed out of smoke by spraying a mixture of water and powdered limestone into the smokestack. This is because limestone decreases the acidic value, and raises the pH level of a substance.


Alternative sources of energy- Governments need to invest in researching different ways to produce energy. Two other sources that are currently used are hydroelectric and wind power. These are clean in terms of acid rain. There are many other energy types, but they all have their benifits and drawbacks.


Conserving Resources- Our governments need to invest more money into puplic transportation to reduce the individual carbon footprint. Walking, cycling and sharing cars all reduce the pollution from vehicles. When we are not using the, we should be turning of lights and using energy efficient(energh star) appliances. People should also be puying low emission vehicles such as Hybrid cars.

What can be seen in the Future?

If we do not start to do something to solve this problem now, it could get much worse. more and more people will get sick and die from the effects of acid rain. If the amount of pollution continues to raise, most of the water bodies will get worse and worse to be around. And with livestock dying from drinking these waters, we will have to start spending large amounts of money just so that we can clean up the food and water we use every day.


Pouring enormous amounts of limestone into lakes and rivers is one way that people can neutralize the acidity from the lakebeds. Using limestone to clean the acid rain from the water in called "liming". This procces would cost the governments a lot of money, and it would only be temporary. Doing this would make the lakes 100% free of acid rain, but to keep them that way we would have to stop polluting all together. So the only real way that we can stop the problem of acid rain is to stop polluting our atmosphere with cars, large corporations and, factories. If we don't do that the problem will rever be resolved.