Surely you have seen on television, have lived or heard about the phenomenon of acid rain. It is a phenomenon that is closely related to environmental pollution. This is formed from a series of gases that we are emitting into the atmosphere together with an aggravating factor that causes damage to nature and humans.
In this article we are going to explain what it is and what are the consequences of acid rain.
What is acid rain
This type of precipitation is related to atmospheric pollution since it is formed by the action of the humidity of the air with the sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide and other nitrogen oxides that are present in the atmosphere. These gases are increasing in concentration with human activities. Otherwise, acid rain would occur on some exceptional occasions such as the fumes emitted during a volcanic eruption.
These gases are derived from products such as oil, some waste, smoke emitted by factories, vehicle traffic, etc. This phenomenon has become a problem for the planet since its frequency is increasing more and more. It causes damage to the natural elements as well as to the artificial infrastructures of the human being.
Main causes
To know why it has negative effects on these elements, both natural and artificial, we must know the causes and formation of acid rain. Being related to environmental pollution, we can say that the causes that form it directly are human activities. Activities such as the operation of factories, heating in public places and homes, electricity production plants, vehicles, etc.
It is common to think that when we talk about the consequences of acid rain, we look the other way thinking that we are not the cause of this phenomenon. It is true that The emissions released by industries into the atmosphere are not the same as those released by a particular person. But it is also true that there are billions of people more than there are industries in the world.
This makes us rethink whether these effects are really produced by the action of everything as a whole. It must be taken into account that this phenomenon contains carbon dioxide and it can be both snow, ice and fog. In the case of fog it is known as acid fog and it can also be dangerous to health if you breathe.
All this makes the water a bit acidic by itself. The pH of rainwater is usually 5,6, but it is that Acid rain usually has a pH of 5 or even 3 if it is very acidic. In order for it to form, the water contained in the air comes into contact with the mixture of gases that we have mentioned before. It is these gases that, together with water, produce sulfuric acid, which is what makes the rain more acidic. Two other acids are also formed, such as sulfurous and nitric. When this more acidic water falls, it begins to damage the environment where it is located.
What are the consequences of acid rain
Now we are going to take a closer look at what happens when acid rain begins to fall. It falls on land, water, forests, buildings, vehicles, people, etc. With this, we can already say that it deteriorates the environment in general.
The pollutants that are expelled by burning petroleum products not only pollute the area where they are generated, but also they are capable of traveling long distances on the wind up to thousands of kilometers. Before combining with moisture, it becomes acid and falls as precipitation. Although it is called acid rain, this precipitation can occur in the form of snow, hail or fog. All this indicates that the formation of acid rain can occur in one part of the world and yet fall in another part.
The fact that a country that does not pollute has to suffer the consequences of another that does, is what that country does not have to allow. More than anything, because these are the consequences of acid rain and what countries that are not to blame for the emissions of others will suffer:
- Acidification of both land and sea waters. This causes serious damage to all aquatic and terrestrial life. Both flora and fauna are affected and the water is no longer drinkable until the river water courses are regenerated.
- Causes serious damage to vegetation, all forest areas and in jungles. Some chemical components of acid rain mix with others in the soil and end up depleting it in nutrients. The consequence of this is that many vegetables can die and the animals that live on them the same.
- Destroy the life of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, so there will be more ambient nitrogen.
- Damages all artificial surfaces with a corrosive effect eventually on wood, stone and plastics. Many statues and monuments have been damaged by frequent acid rain.
- Acids from the rain too cause an increase in the greenhouse effect.
Possible solutions
Faced with all these consequences of acid rain, some solutions are tried, such as:
- Reduce sulfur and nitrogen levels as much as possible in emissions from factories, heating, vehicles, etc. With renewable energies and new technologies this can be reduced.
- Improve public transportation to reduce the use of the private vehicle.
- Reduce electricity consumption in homes.
- Not using so many chemicals in crops.
- Plant trees.
- Educate the population to take better, less polluting lifestyle habits that make companies and industries reduce the population.
I hope that with all this information you can learn more about the consequences of acid rain and what you should do to reduce it.