Acid Rain Phenomenon..!
Acid Rain is a phenomenon that occurs when rain has higher acidity levels than normal. This is mainly the result of human activities such as vehicles/heavy equipment, nuclear power plants, and a variety of industries (oil refineries, manufacturing, etc), all circulating around the burning of fossil fuels. These ventures emit chemicals, the most common example being sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). When they react with water, they form acids, which mix with other components before falling to the ground. Truly, the term Acid Rain is a casual and popular expression for the proper term Acid Deposition, which refers to precipitation with higher acid content than usual, so it can come in other forms. These include hail, sleet, snow and fog. Acid Rain is highly dangerous to your health and to the environment in many ways, and only a small portion of SO2 and NOx is emitted from natural places like Volcanoes – the rest is largely caused by anthropogenic affairs.
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So what danger is Acid Rain to us? It doesn’t incinerate everything it touches, and it’s not harmful to swim in, but what does affect humans is the particles in the air that are present while Acid Rain occurs. These particles of SO2 and NOx can be very harmful to our respiratory systems, and can result in the gaining of respiratory diseases or the worsening of preexisting ones. Other physical impacts include dental erosion, where the acid wears down the enamel on your teeth, irritation of the skin, eyes and mucus membranes, and fluid in your lungs (pulmonary edema).
What impacts do Acid Rain make to the animals and ecosystems of Earth? The effects of Acid Rain threaten the health and safety of aquatic animals, food chains, plants, and forests. Some aquatic life are sensitive to water with a low pH, unable to survive in the conditions after Acid Rain has occurred. And while most adult aquatic animals such as fish can survive this, their children and eggs cannot. These circumstances can lead to a loss of diversity in the bodies of water that are home to many species, which can cause ripples in respective food chains and ecosystems. Water-based habitats aren’t the only places in danger when it comes to Acid Rain, though. Forests, home to many plants and animals, can be sapped of crucial nutrients like calcium and magnesium.
Thankfully, actions taken by the Government in America has helped with their emissions issues, greatly depleting the occurrence of Acid Rain, but there is still pollution being pumped into the air constantly. 70% of SO2 is produced by electrical utilities, and around 20% of NOx, while 60% of NOx originates from the fossil fuels burned from vehicles. Of course, these statistics represent only the US, but it is clear that the constant variable in every instance of Acid Rain is the high amount of fossil fuel burning. This, as Science has told us through extensive research, is the heart of the problem.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Acid Rain Program was created in accordance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. It put a limit on the amount of sulphur dioxide discharged into the air, as well as lowering the amount of nitrogen oxide they emit, paired with an allowance incentive for Power Plants to reduce their emissions. This all greatly helped with the Acid Rain problem in America, but it is still a battle in other parts of the world.
It’s important to accept and admit that the harmful impacts of Acid Rain are mainly because of us, as a species. Anthropogenic inventions are what escalated the toxic gas emissions and began the rise in acidity in rain. Therefore it’s up to us to continue undoing those mistakes. Small things changed from the daily lives of all of us can make a difference, such as switching from gas-powered tools to battery-operated, conserving energy, driving less or driving an electric car, and if you have a fire, burning less or not at all.
