Acid Rain
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Acid rain is one of the most dangerous forms of pollution on the Earth, and it is sometimes known as “the unseen plague,” because it can go undetected for very long periods of time. Acid rain does not actually have to be in the form of rain, it can be any type of precipitation. It is not something to be taken lightly, as it is harmful during the time it precipitates and still affects our Earth years after it occurs. Acid rain harms the soil and plants it lands on, which can disrupt the eating and living habits of the living organisms around them. This can then lead to complications in the food cycle, so acid rain is a very important and worthwhile topic to discuss.
Acid rain was first discovered in Manchester, England in 1852. Robert Angus Smith found that some precipitation was acidic and polluted, and it could greatly damage parts of the Earth. He gave it the term “acid rain” in 1872. Scientists did not begin studying the effects and causes of acid rain thoroughly until the 1970s, and the public became more aware of the deadly weather phenomenon only a short while ago, in the early 1990s.
Normal rain has an acidity level of between 4.5 and 5.6, with an average and common acidity of 5.0 (the lower the acidity level is below 7, the more acidic it is). Acid rain falls to the ground as a liquid or solid with a pH level always below 5. This natural acidity is caused by dissolved carbon dioxide forming weak carbonic acid, but it does not harm living organisms because they are used to this level of acidity in water. Acid rain, however, contains sulfur from volcanic venting, gases from vehicles that run on fossil fuels, and nitrogen from the air. These factors combine with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the precipitation. These two resultant materials float into the atmosphere and combine with water to form nitric, sulfuric and hydrochloric acids that fall with the water to the ground in the form of precipitation. This unique and rare weather is very harmful to some living organisms and non-living objects, so efforts to prevent this occurrence
are ongoing.
The part of our Earth most affected by acid rain is nature. Trees, plants and bodies of water all suffer tremendously from acid rain, even if it does not affect them immediately. Trees and plants can lose leaves, needles, bark or petals from acid rain, which leaves them unprotected from other weather, insects and diseases. Acid rain can also stunt the growth of trees and plants. Plants and trees do not only suffer from the effects of acid rain if it lands on them, they can also suffer the effects of it through soil that has been in contact with the acidic precipitation. Bodies of water being doused with acid rain is very dangerous to many living species. Only the most tough species living in the water survive it, but then they often die because the other weaker species of fish and organisms die off and they are left with no food. This also affects the bird population, as they are left with less food than before, or if the fish are still alive they would be acidic and toxic to the birds. Acid rain usually hits lakes in the spring, when fish lay their eggs. This intoxicates the eggs, and generations of species can be destroyed.
Human beings are also affected by acid rain. Humans often eat or come in contact with plants or animals who have been affected by acid rain rather than come in contact with it themselves, but this is just as dangerous. Coming in contact with other objects affected by the rain can cause respiratory problems, headaches, and sore throats in humans, and there are