What is acid rain and what causes it?
Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants , known as acid rain.
What is acid rain and how does it affect me?
Very strong acids will burn if they touch your skin and can even destroy metals. Acid rain is much, much weaker than this, never acidic enough to burn your skin. Rain is always slightly acidic because it mixes with naturally occurring oxides in the air. Unpolluted rain would have a pH value of between 5 and 6.
What is acid rain and the effects?
The acidity of the rain affects everything it touches. The flora is generally the most impacted since the most exposed: acid rain kills many species, renders others sterile and weakens the last. They thus promote the appearance of diseases in survivors or make them susceptible to attacks by insects and fungi.
What does acid rain do to the world?
Acid rain also causes the corrosion of water pipes, which further results in leaching of heavy metals such as iron, lead and copper into drinking water. It damages the buildings and monuments made up of stones and metals. Real-Life Examples. Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world, is largely affected by acid rain. The city of Agra has ...
What are 3 causes of acid rain?
Causes of acid rain Rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes release some chemicals that can cause acid rain, but most acid rain is a product of human activities. The biggest sources are coal-burning power plants, factories, and automobiles.
What are the 3 types of acid rain?
Acid rain comes in many forms: rain, snow, sleet, hail, and fog (wet deposition), and as acid particles, aerosols, and gases (dry deposition). Acid deposition forms when sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) combine with moisture in the atmosphere to produce sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
How is acid rain classified?
Acid rain is a type of acid deposition, which can appear in many forms. Wet deposition is rain, sleet, snow, or fog that has become more acidic than normal. Dry deposition is another form of acid deposition, and this is when gases and dust particles become acidic.
What is the pH value of acid rain?
4.0Normal, clean rain has a pH value of between 5.0 and 5.5, which is slightly acidic. However, when rain combines with sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides—produced from power plants and automobiles—the rain becomes much more acidic. Typical acid rain has a pH value of 4.0.
What is acid rain and how is it caused?
Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds such as sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen are released into the air. The...
What are the effects of acid rain?
The ecological consequences of acid rain are seen most strongly in marine habitats, such as streams, lakes and marshes where fish and other wildlif...
What will happen if we don’t stop acid rain?
Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are the principal chemicals for acid rain. It can also influence humans since the acid goes into fruits, vegetab...
What is acid rain? What are its harmful effects?
It has been shown that acid rain has detrimental effects on trees, freshwaters and soils, destroys insects and aquatic life-forms, causes paint to...
What are three ways to reduce acid rain?
Alternative energy sources should be used, such as solar and wind power. Renewable sources of energy are helping to reduce acid rain, as they produ...
How does acid rain affect plants?
Acid rain can affect the health of plants. Acid rain changes the pH of the land where the plant is growing, thereby affecting the overall growth of...
What is acid rain made of?
Acid rain comprises highly acidic water droplets due to air emissions, specifically the disproportionate levels of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dio...
What is the primary source of acid rain?
The power plants primarily cause acid rain. It releases most of the sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide while burning fossil fuels. Sulphur dioxid...
Can acid rain damage buildings?
Yes, acid rain harms buildings. It strips away the materials and corrodes the metals of the buildings. Example: Tarnishing of Taj Mahal.
What is the pH of acid rain?
acid rain, also called acid precipitation or acid deposition, precipitation possessing a pH of about 5.2 or below primarily produced from the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO 2) and nitrogen oxides (NO x; the combination of NO and NO 2) from human activities, mostly the combustion of fossil fuels.
When was acid rain invented?
The phrase acid rain was first used in 1852 by Scottish chemist Robert Angus Smith during his investigation of rainwater chemistry near industrial cities in England and Scotland. The phenomenon became an important part of his book Air and Rain: The Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology (1872).
What is the effect of acid rain on soil?
In acid-sensitive areas, acid rain also depletes soil of important plant nutrients and buffers, such as calcium and magnesium, and can release aluminum, bound to soil particles and rock, in its toxic dissolved form. Acid rain contributes to the corrosion of surfaces exposed to air pollution and is responsible for the deterioration ...
How does acid deposition affect biodiversity?
In acid-sensitive landscapes, acid deposition can reduce the pH of surface waters and lower biodiversity. It weakens trees and increases their susceptibility to damage from other stressors, such as drought, extreme cold, and pests.
Is acid rain a global issue?
As a global environmental issue, it is frequently overshadowed by climate change. Although the problem of acid rain has been significantly reduced in some areas, it remains an important environmental issue within and downwind from major industrial and industrial agricultural regions worldwide. Britannica Explores.
What is acid rain made of?
Acid rain is made up of highly acidic water droplets due to air emissions, most specifically the disproportionate levels of sulphur and nitrogen emitted by vehicles and manufacturing processes. Often called acid rain as this concept contains many types of acidic precipitation. The acidic deposition takes place in two ways: wet, and dry.
What happens when acid rains?
Acid rain also causes the corrosion of water pipes. Which further results in leaching of heavy metals such as iron, lead and copper into drinking water. It damages the buildings and monuments made up of stones and metals.
What is the impact of acid rain on Taj Mahal?
The city of Agra has many industries which emit the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen in the atmosphere. People continue to use low-quality coal and firewood as a domestic fuel, adding to this problem. Acid rain has the following reaction with the marble ( calcium carbonate ):
How can we prevent acid rain?
Prevention of Acid Rain 1 The only precaution that we can take against acid rain is having a check at the emission of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur. 2 We have so far seen the details of acid rain and its harmful effect on animals, plants and the monuments. 3 Being responsible citizens, one should be aware of the harmful effects they cause and of the industries which give out nitrogen and sulphur compound wastes unethically.
How does acid rain affect agriculture?
Acid rain affects agriculture by the way how it alters the composition of the soil. It causes respiratory issues in animals and humans. When acid rain falls down and flows into the rivers and ponds it affects the aquatic ecosystem. As it alters the chemical composition of the water, to a form which is actually harmful to ...
What are the best ways to reduce acid rain?
Renewable sources of energy are helping to reduce acid rain, as they produce much fewer emissions. There are other electricity sources as well, such as nuclear power, hydropower, and geothermal energy. Among these, the most extensive use is among nuclear and hydropower. Read more:
Can acid rain cause sickness?
It can also influence humans since the acid goes into fruits, vegetables and animals. In other words, we can get really sick if acid rain doesn’t stop, and we eat those things. In general, the acid rain affects men, but not directly.
What is acid rain?
Definition. "Acid rain" is a popular term referring to the deposition of a mixture from wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew) and dry (acidifying particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH of 7.
What causes acid rain?
Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Some governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere with positive results.
How much acid rain causes acidity in lakes?
The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) website states: "Of the lakes and streams surveyed, acid rain caused acidity in 75% of the acidic lakes and about 50% of the acidic streams".
How much acid deposition occurs in the absence of precipitation?
Acid deposition also occurs via dry deposition in the absence of precipitation. This can be responsible for as much as 20 to 60% of total acid deposition. This occurs when particles and gases stick to the ground, plants or other surfaces.
What is the pH of distilled water?
"Acid rain" is a popular term referring to the deposition of a mixture from wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew) and dry (acidifying particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. "Clean" or unpolluted rain has an acidic pH, but usually no lower than 5.7, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form carbonic acid, a weak acid according to the following reaction:
How does acid rain affect humans?
Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, and soils, killing insect and aquatic life-forms, causing paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and statues as well as having impacts on human health.
Where did acid rain originate?
The earliest report about acid rain in the United States was from the chemical evidence from Hubbard Brook Valley. In 1972, a group of scientists including Gene Likens discovered the rain that was deposited at White Mountains of New Hampshire was acidic. The pH of the sample was measured to be 4.03 at Hubbard Brook.
What is the pH of acid rain?
Acid rain describes any form of precipitation that contains high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids. It can also occur in the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of dry material that settle to Earth. Normal rain is slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.6, while acid rain generally has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4.
How does acid rain affect aquatic life?
Acid rain has many ecological effects, especially on lakes, streams, wetlands, and other aquatic environments. Acid rain makes such waters more acidic, which results in more aluminum absorption from soil, which is carried into lakes and streams. That combination makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish, and other aquatic animals.
What is the Clean Air Act?
This means burning fewer fossil fuels and setting air-quality standards. In the U.S., the Clean Air Act of 1990 targeted acid rain, putting in place pollution limits that helped cut sulfur dioxide emissions 88 percent between 1990 and 2017. Air-quality standards have also driven U.S. emissions of nitrogen dioxide down 50 percent in ...
How does acid rain affect trees?
The pollutants may also inhibit trees' ability to reproduce. Some soils are better able to neutralize acids than others.
Why are trees hard to take up water?
The acid deposits rob the soil of essential nutrients such as calcium and cause aluminum to be released in the soil, which makes it hard for trees to take up water. Trees' leaves and needles are also harmed by acids. The effects of acid rain, combined with other environmental stressors, leave trees and plants less healthy, ...
Can birds survive acidic water?
Some species can tolerate acidic waters better than others. However, in an interconnected ecosystem, what affects some species eventually affects many more throughout the food chain, including non-aquatic species such as birds. Acid rain and fog also damage forests, especially those at higher elevations.
Can acid precipitation cause eye irritation?
Acid deposits damage physical structures such as limestone buildings and cars. And when it takes the form of inhalable fog, acid precipitation can cause health problems including eye irritation and asthma.
What is acid rain?
Acid rain is the result of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) being emitted into the atmosphere and transported by wind and air, making it a problem for all, not just those who live near the sources of the pollution.
Where does acid rain come from?
While a small portion of the SO2 and NOX that cause acid rain comes from natural sources such as volcanoes and rotting vegetation, most of it comes from human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, through electricity generation, oil refineries and vehicles.
What is acid deposition?
As stated, acid deposition can occur in wet and dry forms. When wet, it is what we most commonly think of as acid rain. This falls as rain, snow, fog or hail. Dry deposition occurs when acidic particles and gases may deposit on surfaces (water bodies, vegetation, buildings) quickly or may react during atmospheric transport to form larger particles ...
What is the effect of acid rain on water?
Acid rain makes waters more acidic, posing a risk to lakes, streams, wetlands and other aquatic environments. Increasing a body of water’s acidity results in more aluminium absorption from soil, which is then transported to lakes and streams. This makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish and other aquatic animals.
Is acid rain a neutral pH?
Acid rain is measured using a pH scale for which 7.0 is neutral. The lower a substance’s pH (less than 7), the more acidic it is; the higher it is (greater than 7), the more alkaline it is. Normally, rain has a pH of about 5.6, making it slightly acidic because CO2 dissolves into it, forming a weak carbonic acid.
What is acid rain?
noun. rain that contains a high concentration of pollutants, chiefly sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal or oil.
What is the meaning of "hazardous"?
noun. precipitation, as rain, snow, or sleet, containing relatively high concentrations of acid-forming chemicals, as the pollutants from coal smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combined with water vapor: harmful to the environment .
What is acid fast bacilli?
There are a number of bacilli, called acid-fast bacilli, which stain in the same way as the tubercle bacillus. The riches of the unjust shall be dried up like a river, and shall pass away with a noise like a great thunder in rain. The amount of the other purin bodies together is about one-tenth that of uric acid.
Overview
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average. The more acidic the acid rain is, the lower its pH is. Acid rain can have harmful effects on plant…
Definition
"Acid rain" is a popular term referring to the deposition of a mixture from wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew) and dry (acidifying particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. "Clean" or unpolluted rain has an acidic pH, but usually no lower than 5.7, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form carbonic …
History
Acid rain was first systematically studied in Europe, in the 1960s, and in the United States and Canada, the following decade.
The corrosive effect of polluted, acidic city air on limestone and marble was noted in the 17th century by John Evelyn, who remarked upon the poor condition of the Arundel marbles. Since the Industrial Revolution, emissions of sulfur diox…
Emissions of chemicals leading to acidification
The most important gas which leads to acidification is sulfur dioxide. Emissions of nitrogen oxides which are oxidized to form nitric acid are of increasing importance due to stricter controls on emissions of sulfur compounds. 70 Tg(S) per year in the form of SO2 comes from fossil fuel combustion and industry, 2.8 Tg(S) from wildfires, and 7–8 Tg(S) per year from volcanoes.
Chemical processes
Combustion of fuels produces sulfur dioxide and nitric oxides. They are converted into sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
In the gas phase sulfur dioxide is oxidized by reaction with the hydroxyl radical via an intermolecular reaction:
SO2 + OH· → HOSO2·
Acid deposition
Wet deposition of acids occurs when any form of precipitation (rain, snow, and so on) removes acids from the atmosphere and delivers it to the Earth's surface. This can result from the deposition of acids produced in the raindrops (see aqueous phase chemistry above) or by the precipitation removing the acids either in clouds or below clouds. Wet removal of both gases and aerosols are both of importance for wet deposition.
Adverse effects
Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters and soils, killing insect and aquatic life-forms as well as causing damage to buildings and having impacts on human health.
Both the lower pH and higher aluminium concentrations in surface water that occur as a result of acid rain can cause damage to fish and other aquatic anim…
Affected areas
Places significantly impacted by acid rain around the globe include most of eastern Europe from Poland northward into Scandinavia, the eastern third of the United States, and southeastern Canada. Other affected areas include the southeastern coast of China and Taiwan.