Thinking: Acid rain essay

What would you do if you knew poison was falling from the sky? What would you say if you knew that we were a big part in causing the deaths of many animals, forests, and people? How would you react if I told you that this very morning you contributed to atmosphere desolation? Well, get ready to do, say, and react because I'm going to tell you that you are. I am. Everybody I know is a contributor to this devastation. Everyone I know has contributed to acid rain, a deadly and very real accident. But not all hope is lost. We can help. If we learn and teach about the effects on our environment, we can help save our world from more harmful watersvaporshaildust, etc. So learn as I teach about the harmful effects of acid rain.

Acid rain is rain that measures between 0 and 5 pH. Acid rain is the process by which acids with a pH normally below 5.6 are removed from the atmosphere in rain, snow, sleet or hail. It mainly results from the transformation of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO₂) into wet pollutants like sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄), ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) and nitric acid (HNO₃). The transformation of SO₂ and NOx to acidic vapors happens when these pollutants are moved throughout the atmosphere over extremely long distances.

Most of the pollutants are from automobiles. Automobiles release harmful smoke into the air. The burning of coal, oil, wood, and gasoline are also some of the causes of the pollution. Of the carbon monoxide contributors to acid rain, 81% of them come from mobile sources. The other largest source is the little particles of pollution (particulate matter) that are being released into the atmosphere by cars, trucks, and buses that are burning diesel fuel. The following are other contributors by these little particles: fertilizers, pesticides, road construction, steel making, mining, and turning on fire places and wood stoves. 73% of the non-mobile sources that add to acid rain are caused by the release of these tiny particles. Carbon monoxide and particulate matter are the number-one sources of the air pollution, by reducing this; acid rain will not be as prevalent in our world.

Other contributors are: the chemicals used in industry, refrigeration, air conditioning systems, and consumer products. Dry cleaners, printing plants, house and car paint as well as the manufacturing of lead batteries, fishing lures, certain parts of bullets, some ceramic ware, water pipes, fixtures, paper production, and melting metal also do damage to our atmosphere. Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide, Chlorofluorocarbons, Lead, Nitrogen Oxides, Ozone, Particulate matter, Sulfur dioxides, and Volatile organic compounds are all things that are added to our atmosphere when these things are preformed.

Acid rain does a tremendous amount of damage in our world. There are many things, like forests, oceans, and the things that live in them that are being dreadfully harmed by this occurrence. Even our society is being inflicted. The effect Acid rain has on our world is devastating.

The effect of acid rain on trees and forests ranges from small to very large, depending on the region and the acidity of the rain. Acid rain, acid fog, and acid vapor damage the surfaces of leaves and needles, diminish a tree's ability to endure cold, and hinder plant germination and reproduction. So, tree life and reproduction are reduced. Acid rain also reduces the supply of essential nutrients, such as calcium and magnesium, from soils. Without these nutrients, trees can suffer greatly, as well as larger masses of themforests. Trees soak up the aluminum in the soil that the acid rain produces, and this can make trees grow slower, or stop growing altogether. The acid rain weakens the trees, so they may not be able to withstand things like disease, pests, and cold weather.

Acid rain also has an effect on water-life. Water animals need a good supply of oxygen in the water so they can breathe. When it rains acidic waters, the water is poisoned with our fossil fuels and the fish can die. Most sea life can't live in water that is under 6 pH. If the acid rain problem increases, our beautiful sea life will all eventually be gone.

Acid rain effects even our health. Breathing and lung problems in people (especially those with asthma) and have been linked to acid air pollution. Everything that we eat, drink, and breathe has at one time come in contact with some sort of acid deposit. In addition to causing extreme environmental damage, these pollutants can very possibly cause cancer, birth defects, problems with the nervous system, deaths, cause you to breathe more than usual, unconsciousness, slow down the delivery of oxygen to the rest of the body (causing dizziness), headaches, fatigue, learning problems, chest pain, irritated respiratory tract, persistent coughing, make you unable to take deep breaths, cause you more likely to get lung infections increased respiratory disease, harm vegetation, harm metals, and permanent lung damage.

Our health could be bettered tremendously without these pollutants in our environment.There are many ways we can help. Some things that you can do to make acid rain less of a problem are:

Only run the dishwasher and washing machine with a full load.
Turn off the lights in empty rooms or when you will be away from home.
Turn off the hot water tank when you will be gone for a long period of time.
Don't use your air conditioner or heater as much.
Install fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent light bulbs.
Try to reduce, reuse, and recycle as often as you can.
Try not to burn a fire often.
When you are going to work, you could walk, ride your bike, or take a bus.
Car-pool to a place with someone else.
Try to use alternate fuels, like: ethanol, propane, or natural gas.
Take the train or a bus for long trips.
Limit the amount of long trips you take in your car.
Make sure that your vehicle's air conditioning system isn't leaking.
Try not to overflow the gas tank.
Make sure that you are traveling at high speeds only when you need to.

The more carbon gasses, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other chemicals we release into the atmosphere, the more get soaked up into clouds and rained back down on our environment. We can help. If we reduce the amount of fuel combustion, electrical utilities and dirty industrial sources, we can reduce the ferocity of the acid rain in our environment. People can help stop acid rain by not polluting the air.

Acid rain is a very real thing and it is destroying our beautiful planet. We can help. Our environment is suffering greatly from the process of acid rain. But if we cut back on every day things that we do that contribute to this, we can help save our environment. Everyone should know about this. Help our environment live.