Acid Rain By Ben Boyd Soumitra Sarkar Shao

Acid Rain By: Ben Boyd Soumitra Sarkar Shao Li Tan

Aim: What is Acid Rain and How Does it Affect Our Environment? 2

The Breakdown ACID RAIN a. Any liquid or soluble a. Drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation substance with a from clouds. sharp, sour taste and typically the ability to • Condensed moisture of the atmosphere dissolve metals. falling to the ground • As a mass noun: visibly in separate liquid of this kind, drops; the fall of such typically harmful and drops; rainwater. corrosive. 3

What Is Acid Rain? a. Acid precipitation, more commonly known as acid rain, is used to describe the rainfall which has a p. H level of less than 5. 6. b. Acid rain is formed by oxides of sulfite and nitrogen, with the combination of moisture stored in the atmosphere. c. Acid rain has caused destruction in many parts of the world and is very harmful. 4

What is Acid Rain Composed of ? Acid Rain is made with a combination of many substances in the atmosphere, however these are the most common: a. Carbon Dioxide (CO 2) –released by burning coal, oil, and natural gas. • Carbon Monoxide (CO)- released when burning gasoline, oil, and wood. • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)- a common type of chemical that is used in industries, air conditioner, refrigerator, and other consumer products. • Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPS)- released into the air by chemical plants, dry cleaners, and motor vehicles. • Lead (Pb) – released by batteries, car paint, as well houses. • Nitrogen Oxide (NO 2)- released into the air by burning fuels. • Ozone (O 3)-released into the air by motor vehicles, industries, burning of coal, gasoline and fossil fuels. • Particular Matter (PM)-burning diesel fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, mining, wood stoves and etc. • Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2) - burning of coal, paper products and melting metals. • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) – released by burning gasoline, wood, coal, or natural gas, solvents, paints, glues, and other products that are used at work or at home. 5

http: //www. ehso. com/ehshome/acidrain. php In this graph, it is shown the emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide by the common human interaction sources. These sources mainly include, Transport. Industrial Processing and Combustion, as well as some Utilities. 6

http: //www. epa. gov/airmarkets/progress/ARP_1_graphics/NOx-Emission-Trends-for-All-Acid-Rain. Program-Units. gif Amount of Nitrogen Oxide emitted each year which is used for Acid Precipitation is shown in this graph. As one can conclude, that as the years progress, there are less emissions of Nitrogen Oxide due to the progress of conserving of energy, which leads to factories producing less of "NO". 7

http: //www. epa. gov/CASTNET/images/ph_map. gif This map shows the p. H of the rainfall that has occurred in the United States as of 1999. It can be determined from this map that the Northeast side of United States, that it receives the most destructive type of acid precipitation. This has a lot to do with the wind movement, due to the Coriolis effect the wind is moving to the east and most of the factories are in the west so, then pollutants in the est are carried on to the east by the clouds and then in the east , the acid rain occurs. 8

How is Acid Rain Made? a. When harmful chemicals and gases from human interactions such as motor vehicles, and industries are produced they are sent off to the atmosphere. b. Once reached in the atmosphere these gas and chemical pollutants combine with cloud water. c. Then, acid precipitation occurs, killing off plants, destroying buildings, as well as harming humans. d. The remaining acid rain is mixed with soil or evaporated, and so this destructive cycle continues. 9

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How Does Acid Rain Affect Our Environment? 1. Atmosphere a. Degrades air quality b. Impairs visibility a. Earth’s Surface a. Acidifies water sources (i. e. lakes and rivers). § Erodes stone structures (i. e. limestone) § Injures crops and trees 11

Acid Rain Affects Visibility. 12

Acid Rain can also kill a whole forest. 13

How does this affect us? 1. Acid rain makes us sick a. Acid rain damages our health because it poisons us b. It goes into the ground and plants intake the harmful substances. c. When we eat the plants, we consume acid and it goes into our system. d. Each year due to Acid Rain, there are nearly 550 premature deaths, 1, 520 emergency room visits, as well as 210, 000 asthma symptoms found. 2. Ruins our natural resources a. Acid rain ruins the resources provided by nature. • Chemicals go into the water, which poisons the water supply o This poisons the fish in water o The water is no longer drinkable 14

How do we fix the problem? ANY SOLUTIONS? a. Currently, there are no immediate solutions to the problem, but we still can help. WHAT CAN WE DO? a. Car pool • Don’t buy new products that you already have, just buy them when replacement is necessary. • Conserve paper ( trees can take in some of the pollution produced by factories) • Use less electricity 15

References 1. ACID RAIN, Retrieved from Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia Database. 2. Images from supergreenme. com/go-green-environment-eco: Acid-Rain 3. Causes and Effects Of Acid Rain, http: //www. buzzle. com/articles/causes-and-effects -of-acid-rain. html, Rita Putatunda, June 29, 2008 4. Acid Rain, http: //library. thinkquest. org/CR 0215471/acid_rain. htm#, revised April 10, 2008 5. Images from http: //www. supergreenme. com/data/images/11/acid_rain. jpg 6. Images from http: //www. twilightearth. com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/acid-rain. jpg 7. Images from http: //t 2. gstatic. com/images? q=tbn: 1 w. Tmh 39 GPptx. XM: http: //myecoproject. org/wpcontent/uploads/2009/03/acid_rain. gif&t=1 8. Acid, http: //dictionary. oed. com/cgi/entry/50001756? query_type=word&queryword=acid&fir st=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=mwcz-j. LDf. B 08401&hilite=50001756, Oxford English Dictonary, 2010 9. Rain, http: //dictionary. oed. com/cgi/entry/50196572? query_type=word&queryword=rain&firs t=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=mwcz-u. EYEIN 8510&hilite=50196572, Oxford English Dictionary, 2010 10. http: //www. epa. gov/airmarkets/progress/ARP_1_graphics/NOx-Emission-Trends-for. All-Acid-Rain-Program-Units. gif 16 11. http: //www. epa. gov/CASTNET/images/ph_map. gif 12. http: //www. ehso. com/ehshome/acidrain. php