Acid Rain :: essays research papers

Acid Rain     If you have ever wondered why precious monuments are fading onward, or the reason your car starts to look old, or if you cant rede why the bricks on the side of your house are breaking, look up the bourne Acid rain in your encyclopedia. Acid rain is the bring of all of this and much more.     Acid rain is a general term used to describe all forms of superman precipitation (rain, snow, hail, fog, etc.)( ). Precipitation is naturally acidic because of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Acid rain begins with the production of siemens dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the burning of fossil fuels, such(prenominal) as coal, natural gas, oil, and from accredited kinds of manufacturing. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with pissing and new(prenominal) chemicals in the radiate to from sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and other pollutants ( ).     What was once a local caper for towns and cities is now an international problem. The spread of this problem originated from tall chimneys dispersing pollutants high into the atmosphere, which indeed traveled with the wind for thousands of kilometers until once again reaching the ground in an invisible state.     The effect of acid rain when it reaches the ground reacts chemically with any object it comes in contact with. Acids are corrosive chemicals that react with other chemicals by giving up hydrogen atoms ( ). The acidity of a subject matter comes from the abundance of free hydrogen atoms when the substance is dissolved in water ( ). Acidity can be measured using a "pH" scale with units from 0 to 14. Rain (snow, fog, etc.) measured at a pH below 5.6 is considered acid rain.          Acid rain is responsible for a widespread of environmental damage. Such examples of this include soil and plant degradation, depleted aliveness in lakes and streams, and erosion of man -made structures( ). When acid rain enters the soil it dissolves and washes away the nutrients needed by plants. It can also dissolve toxic substances, such as aluminum and mercury, which are naturally present in few soils, freeing these toxins to pollute water or to poison plants that absorb them ( ). after(prenominal) events like this take place animals and humans are soon effected. If wizard plant or animal is adversely affected by acid rain, animals that feed on that organism may suffer and animals that feed on that animal may suffer also (usually humans).