Acid rain is a kind of a precipitation that include acidic components. Acid rain is caused by mainly due to natural and human activities. When it comes to natural causes volcanoes are responsible for it. But acid rain mainly caused by the human activities like fossil fuel combustion. Through fossil fuel combustion air compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are release in to the air. When these substances release into the air, they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals and form different kinds of acidic pollutants which is known as acid rain.
Say no to plagiarism.
Get a tailor-made essay on
'Environmental Issue that Can Become a Disaster - Acid Rain'
Normally Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides dissolve very easily in water. Not only that but also due to the wind they and can be carried very far. As a result, the two compounds can travel long distances where they become part of the rain, sleet, snow, and fog that we experience on certain days. That includes any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that is acidic.
Acid deposition can be caused by natural sources such as volcanoes, but it is mainly caused by the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide during fossil fuel combustion. When these gases are discharged into the atmosphere, they react with the water, oxygen, and other gases already present there to form sulfuric acid, ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid. These acids then disperse over large areas because of wind patterns and fall back to the ground as acid rain or other forms of precipitation.
The gases most responsible for acid deposition are a byproduct of electric power generation and the burning of coal. As such, man-made acid deposition began becoming a significant issue during the Industrial Revolution and was first discovered by a Scottish chemist Robert Angus Smith in 1852. In that year, he discovered the relationship between acid rain and atmospheric pollution in Manchester, England.
Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.
Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.
Although it was discovered in the 1800s, unfortunately, acid deposition did not gain significant public attention until the 1960s. Public attention further increased in the 1970s when the 'New York Times' published reports about problems occurring in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Overall acid rain is a modern environmental problem. If we do not begin to solve it, it will turn into a real ecological disaster, and then every person will feel the consequences of acid rain.
