Acid Rain

Acid rain:

·      pH of normal rain is 5.6

·      pH of rainfall in north eastern areas of North America is 3.9 to 4.3.

·      It is 10 to 100 times more acidic than normal. This is „acid rain‟.

·      Snowmelt into water releases huge amount of acid which got frozen during winter.

Effects:

·      „Acid shock‟ from snowmelt causes mass destruction of fish. On long term it also harms fish eggs and sources of food.

·      Thousands of lakes were killed by acid rain in Scandinavia and North America.

·      The causes are burning of fossil fuels leading to release of SO₂ in particular and Nitrogen oxides.

·      Problems of Sweden caused by Industrial plants in England and North Europe.

·      Problems of North America caused by utilities in Ohio valley, the largest polluter of SO₂ in USA.

·      Some of the potential changes are still unknown

^§         Micro organisms in soil are being affected

^§         Groundwater is polluted but its ultimate effects are not known

^§         The effects may be known only after another 100 years

·      Effect on food sources are also unclear