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Khattab
Presented to: Dr. Sayed Shalaby
Content:
1. Introduction
deposition
5. Conclusion
6. Reference
1. Introduction
Acid rain is the term used to describe the deposition of acidic air pollution.
Although some air pollutants fall directly back to Earth, a lot of it returns in rain,
snow, sleet, hail, mist or fog, hence the term "acid rain".
When power stations, factories, houses and cars emit pollution into the air, it
contains chemicals known as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These
chemicals may either fall directly back to the Earth due to gravity, or they may
mix with water (moisture) in the air to form acids. Once acids have formed, they
can be transported long distances by the wind before being deposited in rain,
snow or hail. This is what we commonly call acid rain.
Acid rain can have harmful impacts on the environment. It affects freshwater
lakes and the wildlife that depend upon them. It also affects trees by harming
leaves and soil, and it damages buildings made of limestone and marble.
During the 1970 and 1980s acid rain become a worldwide problem. In countries
such as Britain and America, there are many power stations and factories that
produce a large amount of pollution. This pollution is released several hundred
feet up through tall chimneys to keep the air at ground level cleaner. It is then
blown by the wind and deposited as acid rain in countries such as Canada,
Norway, Sweden and Finland, which lie hundreds of miles downwind from the
source of the pollution.
Once governments became aware of the problem of acid rain, they introduced
international laws to clean up pollution from power stations and factories. Clean
technology was used to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
gases being released into the air.
We can all help reduce air pollution that causes acid rain. Some of the things we
can do include using our car less for short journeys and walking or cycling
instead, and saving more energy that we use at home, for heating, lighting and
cooking.
Acid rain is a result of air pollution. When any type of fuel is burnt, lots of different chemicals
are produced. The smoke that comes from a fire or the fumes that come out of a car exhaust
don't just contain the sooty grey particles that you can see - they also contains lots of invisible
gases that can be even more harmful to our environment.
Power stations, factories and cars all burn fuels and therefore they all produce polluting gases.
Some of these gases (especially nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide) react with the tiny
droplets of water in clouds to form sulphuric and nitric acids. The rain from these clouds then
falls as very weak acid - which is why it is known as "acid rain".
“Acid rain” is a broad term used to describe several ways that acids fall out of
the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid deposition, which has two parts:
wet and dry.
Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. As this acidic water flows
over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and animals. The
strength of the effects depend on many factors, including how acidic the water
is, the chemistry and buffering capacity of the soils involved, and the types of
fish, trees, and other living things that rely on the water.
Dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles. About half of the acidity in
the atmosphere falls back to Earth through dry deposition. The wind blows
these acidic particles and gases onto buildings, cars, homes, and trees. Dry
deposited gases and particles can also be washed from trees and other
surfaces by rainstorms. When that happens, the runoff water adds those acids
to the acid rain, making the combination more acidic than the falling rain
alone.
Prevailing winds blow the compounds that cause both wet and dry acid
deposition across state and national borders, and sometimes over hundreds
of miles. Scientists discovered, and have confirmed, that sulfur dioxide (SO 2)
and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the primary causes of acid rain. Almost all of
SO2 and some NOx come from electric power generation that relies on
burning fossil fuels like coal.
Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water,
oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. Sunlight
increases the rate of most of these reactions. The result is a mild solution of
sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
Acid rain is measured using a scale called pH. The lower a substance's pH,
the more acidic it is. Pure water has a pH of 7.0, which is neutral. Normal rain
is slightly acidic because carbon dioxide dissolves into it, so it has a pH of
about 5.5. In the year 2000, the most acidic rain falling in North America had a pH of
about 4.3.
Effects on materials and buildings: Acid rain and the dry deposition of
acidic particles contribute to the corrosion of metals (such as bronze) and the
deterioration of paint and stone (such as marble and limestone). These effects
seriously reduce the value to society of buildings, bridges, cultural objects
(such as statues, monuments, and tombstones), and cars. Dry deposition of
acidic compounds can also dirty buildings and other structures, leading to
increased maintenance costs.
Effects on water bodies:
The ecological effects of acid rain are most clearly
seen in the aquatic or water environments such as streams, lakes, and
marshes. Acid rain flows into streams, lakes, and marshes after falling on
forests, fields, buildings, and roads. Acid rain also falls directly on aquatic
habitats. Most lakes and streams have a pH between 6 and 8, although some
lakes are naturally acidic even without the effects of acid rain. Acid rain
primarily affects sensitive bodies of water, which are located in watersheds
whose soils have a limited ability to neutralize acidic compounds (called
"buffering capacity"). Lakes and streams become acidic (pH value goes down)
when the water itself and its surrounding soil cannot buffer the acid rain
enough to neutralize it. In areas where buffering capacity is low, acid rain also
releases aluminum from soils into lakes and streams.
Many lakes and streams examined in developed countries suffer from chronic
acidity, a condition in which water has a constant low pH level. Streams
flowing over soil with low buffering capacity are as susceptible to damage
from acid rain as lakes. The acidification problem grows in magnitude if
"episodic acidification" is taken into account. Episodic acidification refers to
brief periods during which pH levels decrease due to runoff from melting snow
or heavy downpours. Lakes and streams in many areas are sensitive to
episodic acidification. A lot more lakes and streams become temporarily acidic
during storms and spring snowmelt.
Effects on forest floors: A spring shower in the forest washes leaves and
falls through the trees to the forest floor below. Some trickles over the ground
and runs into a stream, river, or lake, and some of the water soaks into the
soil. That soil may neutralize some or all of the acidity of the acid rainwater.
This ability is called buffering capacity, and without it, soils become more
acidic. Differences in soil buffering capacity are an important reason why
some areas that receive acid rain show a lot of damage, while other areas
that receive about the same amount of acid rain do not appear to be harmed
at all. The ability of forest soils to resist, or buffer, acidity depends on the
thickness and composition of the soil, as well as the type of bedrock beneath
the forest floor.
Effects on plants and trees: Acid rain does not usually kill plants and trees
directly. Instead, it is more likely to weaken them by damaging their leaves,
limiting the nutrients available to them, or exposing them to toxic substances
slowly released from the soil. Quite often, injury or death of trees is a result of
these effects of acid rain in combination with one or more additional threats.
Scientists know that acidic water dissolves the nutrients and helpful minerals
in the soil and then washes them away before trees and other plants can use
them to grow. At the same time, acid rain causes the release of substances
that are toxic to trees and plants, such as aluminum, into the soil. Scientists
believe that this combination of loss of soil nutrients and increase of toxic
aluminum may be one way that acid rain harms plants and trees. Such
substances also wash away in the runoff and are carried into streams, rivers,
and lakes. More of these substances are released from the soil when the
rainfall is more acidic.
However, trees can be damaged by acid rain even if the soil is well buffered.
Forests in high mountain regions often are exposed to greater amounts of
acid than other forests because they tend to be surrounded by acidic clouds
and fog that are more acidic than rainfall. Scientists believe that when leaves
are frequently bathed in this acid fog, essential nutrients in their leaves and
needles are stripped away. This loss of nutrients in their foliage makes trees
more susceptible to damage by other environmental factors, particularly cold
winter weather.
5. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the two primary sources of acid rain is sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
Automobiles are the main source of nitrogen oxide emissions, and utility factories are the
main source for sulfur dioxide emissions. These gases evaporate into the atmosphere
and then oxidized in clouds to form nitric or nitrous acid and sulfuric acid. When these
acids fall back to the earth they do not cause damage to just the environment but also to
human health. Acid rain kills plant life and destroys life in lakes and ponds. The
pollutants in acid rain causes problem in human respiratory systems. The pollutants
attack humans indirectly through the foods they consumed. They effected human health
directly when humans inhale the pollutants. Governments have passed laws to reduce
emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, but it is no use unless people start to work
together in stopping the release of these pollutants. If the acid rain destroys our
environment, eventually it will destroy us as well.
6. Reference
http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/acidrain/index.html
http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/acid_rain.shtml