This combination makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish, and other aquatic animals. It also affects the food sources of herbivores and insects. How does acid rain affect the environment? Acid rain has a hand in global warming as well which is rapidly changing climates around the world. With the climate changes many plants and animals are having to relocate or are dying because they are not fit for the changes in their surroundings.
ACID RAIN 1.) Define Acid Precipitation: Acid precipitation is a term used to describe any precipitation (rain, snow, fog) that has become acidic from reacting with compounds in the atmosphere. Acid precipitation forms when certain pollutants, most importantly sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, combine with water in the atmosphere before falling to earth. Acid precipitation has a pH less than 5.6 which is the normal pH of rain. 2.)
The process of acid rain includes: natural or man-made sources, gases and particles in the atmosphere, dry deposition and wet deposition. Sources Rain water that has been contaminated with chemicals introduced into the atmosphere is acid rain. There are two sources that release chemicals into the air causing acid rain. One source is natural cause such as rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes. The other source is man-made activities.
With the depletion of the forest that converts the carbon dioxide into oxygen it has monumental negative effects on the planet as a whole. “Eleven developing countries recently linked to 82 percent of the carbon dioxide buildup due to deforestation will likely come under the greatest pressure for change: Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Cote D’Ivoire, Thailand, Laos, Nigeria, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar (Formally Burma) and India”. (“cooper”) One of the major locations deforestation is in the south Asian country Thailand. “Located wholly within the tropics, Thailand encompasses diverse ecosystem, including the hilly forested areas of the northern frontier, the fertile rice fields of the central plains, the broad plateau of the northeast, and the rugged coast along the narrow peninsula.”(“Thailand”). Since the formation of the country Thailand
A global average temperature rise of only 1C could have serious implications. Possible consequences include melting of polar ice caps; an increase in sea level; and increases in precipitation and severe weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, floods, and droughts. Indirect effects include increases in infectious disease, weather-related deaths, and food and water shortages. All these effects put a stress on ecosystems and agriculture, and threaten our planet as a whole. (Colborn, Kwiatkowski, Schiltz, and Bachran.,
Absorbency of Pollutants in Different Soils Environmental Science Mrs. Gupta Class F December 15, 2007 ABSTRACT The problem that was experimented is “Does the type of soil have a direct effect on the absorbency of liquid pollutants?” This leads to the hypothesis “If the soil has greater porosity (space between the particles), then it will absorb more pollution than a soil that has lesser porosity because it has more space to absorb these pollutants.” The procedure for the experiment is first to gather the necessary soils and pollutants. Then, use a graduated cylinder to measure a precise set amount of solution to run through the soil. Then measure a constant amount of soil to use in the experiment. Next, add the measured amount of soil into a coffee filtered mounted inside of the bottomless cup. After, pour the exact amount of pollutants into the soil in the cup.
Acid rain as a result of industrialization has had many negative effects on the New England region in particular. The Adirondack Mountains are of special interest due to their soil composition that does not allow for the seizure of the two primary particles in acid rain. This has caused issues pertaining to the water reservoirs in the area that now are sometimes unable to support life do to the high acidity. Acid deposition as it is more formally called is typically composed of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. These two components are naturally occurring from sources like volcanoes but the industrial revolution has exponentially increased the amount of these chemicals in the air.
Since acid rain has very high emission rates, some attempts have been made to try to reduce the pollution from the rain. Coal that has high sulfur levels gets washed before it’s burned to make electricity, and the sulfur dioxide that’s made when coal burns is sometimes removed during the burning of the coal, by adding powdered limestone to the combustion chamber. This removes about half of the sulfur dioxide from the coal. The rest is removed by “scrubbing” the reaction gas with Lime (CaO) and water. When acid rain falls, it sometimes raises the levels of acids in certain soils, removing nutrients from the soil that helps plants grow.
High concentrations of sulfur dioxide can result in breathing problems with asthmatic children and adults who are active outdoors. With longer term exposure could include respiratory illness, alterations in the lungs defenses, and aggravation of existing cardiovascular disease. Sulfur dioxide is a precursor of acid rain, which has acidified soils, lakes and streams, accelerated corrosion of buildings and monuments, and reduced visibility which effect the environment. Nitrogen oxide is a group of gases made up of different oxygen and nitrogen. Major sources of nitrogen oxide include fuel combustion in power plants and automobiles and processes used in chemical plants.
They lose their habitat and forced to move to new location; besides, many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. It is undeniable that deforestation itself has extreme effect on Global warming and hurts the air. Global warming means that air and ocean temperature is increasing. Greenhouse gases exist primarily because of human activity. Unfortunately, humans are the most polluting species on the planet.