Acid rain is a serious problem with disastrous effects. Each day this serious problem increases. Many people believe that this issue is too small to deal with right now, and others believe it should be met head on. In the following paragraphs I will be discussing the impact of acid rain effects on wildlife and how our atmosphere is being destroyed. Causes Acid rain is a cancer, eating into the face of Eastern Canada and the North Eastern United States. In Canada, the main sulphuric acid sources are non-ferrous smelters and power generation.
On both sides of the border, automobiles are the main sources for nitric acid about 40% of the total). Power generating plants, industrial commercial, and residential fuel combustion together contribute the rest of the nitric acid . In the atmosphere, the sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides transforms into sulphuric acid and nitric acid. Air current can send them thousands of kilometres from the source. When these acids fall to the earth, they will have large impact on the growth and the preservation of certain wildlife.
No Defence Areas in Ontario; mainly southern regions that are near the Great Lakes, have substances as limestone or other known antacids. These substances can neutralize acids entering the body of water, thereby protecting it. However, large areas of Ontario that are near the Pre-Cambrian Shield, with quartzite or granite based geology and little top soil, there is not enough buffering capacity to neutralize even small amounts of acid falling on the soil and the lakes. Therefore over time, the basic environment shifts from an alkaline to a acidic one.
This is why many lakes in the Muskoka, Haliburton, Algonquin, Parry Sound and Manitoulin districts could lose their fisheries if sulphur emissions are not reduced substantially. Acid Rain Consists Of Canada does not have as many people, power plants or automobiles as the United States, and yet acid rain here has become so severe that our government officials call it the most pressing environmental issue facing the nation. It is important to bear in mind that acid rain is only one segment, of the widespread pollution of the atmosphere facing the world.
Each year the global atmosphere is on the receiving end of 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide, 130 million tons of suffer dioxide, 97 million tons of hydrocarbons, 53 million tons of nitrogen oxides, more than hree million tons of arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc and other toxic metals. The Global atmosphere hosts synthetic organic compounds ranging from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), to toxaphene and other pesticides. A number of which may be capable of causing cancer, birth defects, or genetic imbalances. Cost Of Acid Rain Interactions of pollutants can cause problems.
In addition to contributing to acid rain, nitrogen oxides can react with hydrocarbons to produce ozone (a major air pollutant responsible in the United States for annual losses of $2 billion to 4. 5 billion worth of wheat, corn, oyabeans, and peanuts. ). A wide range of interactions can occur with many unknown toxic metals. In Canada, Ontario alone has lost the fish in an estimated 4000 lakes and provincial authorities calculate that Ontario stands to lose the fish in 48 500 more lakes within the next twenty years if acid rain continues at the present rate.
Ontario is not alone, on Nova Scotia’s Eastern most shores, almost every river flowing to the Atlantic Ocean is poisoned with acid. The Dying Acid rain is killing more than lakes. It can scar the leaves of hardwood forests, wither ferns and lichens. Acid rain accelerates the death of coniferous needles, sterilize seeds, and weaken the forests to a state that is vulnerable to disease infestation. In the soil the acid neutralizes chemicals vital for growth, strips others from the soil and carries them to the lakes and literally retards the respiration of the soil.
The rate of forest growth in the White Mountains of New Hampshire has declined 18% between 1956 and 1965, time of increasingly intense acidic rainfall. Acid rain no longer falls exclusively on the lakes, forest, and thin soils of the Northeast it now covers half the continent. Effects There is evidence that Acid rain is destroying the productivity of the once rich soils themselves, like an overdose of chemical fertilizer or a gigantic drenching of vinegar. The damage of such overdosing may not be repairable or reversible.
On some croplands, tomatoes grow to only half their full weight, and the leaves of radishes wither. Naturally it rains on cities too, eating away stone monuments and concrete structures, and corroding the pipes which channel the water away to the lakes and the cycle is repeated. Automobile paints have its life reduced due to the pollution in the tmosphere, by speeding up the corrosion process. In some communities drinking water is laced with toxic metals freed from metal pipes by the acidity.
Urban skies typical visibility has declined from 10 to 4 miles, along the Eastern seaboard, as acid rain turns into smog. Also, now there are indicators that the components of acid rain are a health risk, linked to human respiratory disease. Prevention Acidification of water supplies could result in increased concentrations of metals in plumbing such as lead, copper and zinc which could result in adverse health effects. After any period of non-use, water taps at ummer cottages or ski chalets, should run the taps for at least 60 seconds to flush any excess debris.
There are now ways to reduce the level of dioxides coming out of coal burning plants, one way is to install an expensive scrubber in each smoke stack. Other possible measures include burning only low sulfur oil and coal. Statistics Although there is contradicting statistical data, the evidence indicates that in the last twenty to thirty years the acidity of rain has increased in many parts of the United States. Presently, the United States annually discharges more than 26 million tons of suffer dioxide into the tmosphere. Just three states, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are responsible for nearly a quarter of this total.
Overall, two-thirds of the suffer dioxide into the atmosphere over the United States comes from coal-fired and oil fired plants. Industrial boilers, smelters, and refineries contribute 26%; commercial institutions and residences 5%; and transportation 3%. The outlook for future emissions of suffer dioxide is not a bright one. Between now and the year 2000, United States utilities are expected to double the amount of coal they burn. The United States currently pumps some 23 million tons of nitrogen oxides into the tmosphere in the course of the year.
Conclusion Acid rain is real and a very threatening problem that is now being found all over the world including North America, Northern Europe and the tropical rain forest. Action by one government is not enough. In order for things to be done we need to find a way to work together on this for at least a reduction in the contaminates contributing to acid rain. Governments should be cracking down on factories not using the best filtering systems when incinerating or if the factory is giving off any other dangerous fumes.
