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ACID RAIN, CAUSES, EFFECTS AND CONTROL STRATEGIES

2020, IJARW

Acid rain is one of the prominent environmental severe threats for the last hundred years. The activities of implementation of Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), Acid Rain Program (ARP) and NOx budget training program (NBP) have led to a significant reduction in the SO2, NOx emission and deposition of acid in the environment. The US EPA have implemented the cross state rule and litigation (CSAPR) for 2011, reduces the near boundary activities of releases between USA and Canada. This article summarizes the problems in various environmental aspects and reviews the progress report of US EPA (2013). Keyword: Acid rain, acidification, acid deposition, causes and effects of acid rain.

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Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira

Fiza Fatima

Acid rain is one of the utmost serious environmental problems that arose due to air pollution. It also contributes to climate warming. It has a pH of less than 5.6. The main purpose of the review is to emphasize the causes of acid rain, its various effects, and different ways to control acid rain. Data for the last few decades on acid rain is summarized in this review. The primary cause of acid rain is the emission of Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. These environmental pollutants come from various activities of humans such as the combustion of fossil fuels, burnable waste in automobiles, and thermal power plants. These chemicals become acidic after mixing with the rainwater and precipitate in the form of rain, fog, and snow and exert various effects on the ecosystems, forests, plants, soil, buildings, monuments, and water bodies as well as on human health. Its effects can be reduced by decreasing the Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission and by adding lime into lakes, stre...

B P International

Gratien Twagirayezu

The acidity of rainwater has recently been revealed as a major environmental danger to ecosystems and human health around the world. Therefore, it is very important to know what causes acid rain, its effects, and what might be done about it. This review is based on open-access papers with "acid rain" as a keyword and the present situation of acid rain around the world. Typically, acid rain appears in the form of tiny bits of dry material, snow, and fog that land on Earth. Acid rain commonly has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4, whereas normal rain has a pH of 5.6. The production of electricity, the usage of vehicles, agricultural and industrial activities, etc., all contribute to wet and dry deposition. Acid rain has effects on aquatic environments, animals, plants, soil, global warming, vegetation cover, monuments, buildings, and health. The findings of this research showed that optimizing the use of fossil fuels, transitioning to renewable energy sources, limiting the use of fertilizers and pesticides, conserving energy, restoring the environment, lowering consumption levels, convincing others, educating people, and following regulations are sustainable ways of controlling acid rain. In addition, collaborations between the scientific and policy communities can be considered as a useful instrument. Finally, the issues of acid rain and air pollution should be among the worldwide big projects that require everyone to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.

Zeeshan Majeed Butt

Water, Air, and Soil Pollution

john bachmann

Douglas Burns

pradeep kasun

Martin Forsius

Because of its serious large-scale effects on ecosystems and its transboundary nature, acid rain received for a few decades at the end of the last century wide scientific and public interest, leading to coordinated policy actions in Europe and North America. Through these actions, in particular those under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, air emissions were substantially reduced, and ecosystem impacts decreased. Widespread scientific research, long-term monitoring, and integrated assessment modelling formed the basis for the policy agreements. In this paper, which is based on an international symposium organised to commemorate 50 years of successful integration of air pollution research and policy, we briefly describe the scientific findings that provided the foundation for the policy development. We also discuss important characteristics of the science–policy interactions, such as the critical loads concept and the large-scale ecosystem field studies....

Editor CSRL

Acid rain is one of the most dangerous and widespread forms of pollution. Sometimes called ‘the unseen plague’ acid rain can go undetected in an area for years. Technically, acid rain is rain that has a larger amount of acid in it than what is normal. The acidity of rain in parts of Europe and North America has dramatically increased over the past few decades. It is now common in many places for rain to be ten to seventy times more acidic than unpolluted rain. Many living and non-living systems become harmed and damaged as a result of acid rain. Acid deposition has many harmful effects, especially when the pH falls below 5.1 for terrestrial and below 5.5 for aquatic system.

Prashant Mehta

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Learning About Acid Rain: A Teacher's Guide for Grades 6 through 8

This book is intended for teachers of students in 6th-8th grade.  It is written at a 6th grade level and the language, concepts, and experiments may need to be adapted for other grades accordingly. 

View this book in the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)

Printable PDF:

• Acid Rain Teacher's Guide for Grades 6-8 (pdf) (4.6 MB)
• Acid Rain Home
• What is Acid Rain?
• Effects of Acid Rain
• Acid Rain Program
• Acid Rain Program Results

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Acid Rain Assignment

• Identify the causes of acid rain.
• Explain how acid rain is formed.
• Explain how acid rain impacts the environment.
• Identify ways to prevent the formation of acid rain.
• Explain sources of human impact on the environment from chemical disposal/production.
• Balance a chemical equation.
• Identify types of chemical reactions.
• Predict the products of chemical reactions.
• Calculate pH from concentration and vice versa.
• Calculate concentration using percent by mass and by volume.

Related Textbook

Please read section 17.9 of your textbook before completing this assignment. The information provided here will help you complete this assignment.

Introduction

Acid rain is caused by burning fossil fuels containing nitrogen and sulfur.  When burned, fossil fuels release nitrogen and sulfur, which react with oxygen to form sulfur oxides (such as sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide) and nitrogen oxides (such as nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide).  These chemicals then react with the water in the air to produce sulfurous acid, sulfuric acid, nitrous acid, and nitric acid.  The presence of these acids in rainwater lowers the pH, making the rain more acidic.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration website, petroleum, natural gas, and coal, all of which are fossil fuels, have provided more than 80% of the total US energy consumption for the past century.  In 2015, 81.5% of US energy consumption was met by the use of fossil fuels.

The resources below explain in more detail how acid rain is formed, the impacts of acid rain, and how to prevent the formation of acid rain. Review these resources to learn more about acid rain.

Environmental Protection Agency Information on Acid Rain:

• What is acid rain: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain
• Effects of Acid Rain: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects-acid-rain

Acid Rain by Fuse School

Reducing acid rain and it’s effects by fuse school.

Answer the following questions using the information provided in the assignment introduction, your textbook, and the concepts we have learned in this class. Your assignment must be handwritten. Typed submissions will not be accepted and will earn a zero. You must show all of your work on the calculations to earn credit. Upload your completed assignment to the “Acid Rain assignment folder” on Brightspace. This assignment is worth 25 points.

• Explain how fossil fuels, which are made of carbon and hydrogen, contain sulfur compounds. (2 points)
• Explain how nitrogen is released into the air to form nitric acid and nitrous acid, causing acid rain. (2 points)
• What are 3 specific ways acid rain impacts the environment? (3 points)
• What are 3 specific ways to reduce the amount of acid rain produced? Be sure to address both the production of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides in your answer.  (3 points)
• Acid rain is formed when sulfur dioxide or nitrogen dioxide is released into the air from burning fossil fuels and then reacts with the water in the air. Balance the equations for the formation of sulfur dioxide and nitric acid, illustrated below: (2 points each)

Reaction 1:                FeS 2(s) +     O 2(g)  →  Fe 2 O 3(s) +      SO 2(g)

Reaction 2:                NO (g) +     O 2(g)   →  NO 2(g)

• What type of chemical reaction (single replacement, double replacement, combination, decomposition, combustion) is illustrated in Reaction 2 above? (1 point)
• Calcium oxide or sodium carbonate can be used to scrub the sulfur dioxide from emissions from power plants. One of the videos illustrated a reaction between calcium oxide and sulfur dioxide to produce calcium sulfite.  When sulfur dioxide reacts with sodium carbonate, sodium sulfite and carbon dioxide gas are produced.  Using this information, write the balanced chemical equation for the reaction of sulfur dioxide and sodium carbonate. (4 points)
• The pH of a sample of rainwater water is 5.6. What is the hydronium concentration in this sample of rainwater? (0.5 point)
• The pH of a sample of acid rain is 4.3. What is the hydronium concentration of this sample of acid rain? (0.5 point)
• According to data obtained from Statista.com, the United States burned 587 tons (532.5 metric tons) of coal in 2019. If coal contains 3.5% sulfur, how many grams of sulfur are released by coal burning in 2019 in the US? Write your answer in scientific notation.  You must show your work to receive credit for this problem.  (1 metric ton = 1,000,000 grams) (5 points)

“Acid Rain.” YouTube , Fuse School, 10 Aug. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf8cuvl62Vc .

“Reducing Acid Rain Or Its Effect.” YouTube , Fuse School, 10 Aug. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VILCk2CpUCw .

“Effects of Acid Rain.” EPA , Environmental Protection Agency, 4 May 2020, www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects-acid-rain .

Sönnichsen, Published by N., and Jul 14. “Coal Consumption United States 2006-2019.” Statista , 14 July 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/243934/coal-consumption-in-the-united-states/ .

“U.S. Energy Information Administration – EIA – Independent Statistics and Analysis.” Fossil Fuels Still Dominate U.S. Energy Consumption despite Recent Market Share Decline – Today in Energy – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) , 1 July 2016, www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26912 .

“What Is Acid Rain?” EPA , Environmental Protection Agency, 12 May 2020, www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain .

This page was created on February 15, 2023, and was last updated on August 4, 2023.

©2023 Catherine Haslag. All Rights Reserved.

• Environmental Chemistry

Acid Rain - Causes of Acid Rain

What is acid rain.

Acid Rain, as the name suggests, can be said as the precipitation of acid in the form of rain in the simplest manner. When atmospheric pollutants like oxides of nitrogen and sulphur react with rainwater and come down with the rain, then this results in Acid Rain.

Table of contents

• Definition Of Acid Rain

Recommended Videos Of Acid Rain

• Causes Of Acid Rain
• Effect Of Acid Rain
• Real-Life Examples Acid Rain
• Prevention Of Acid Rain

Acid Rain Definition

Acid rain is made up of highly acidic water droplets due to air emissions, most specifically the disproportionate levels of sulphur and nitrogen emitted by vehicles and manufacturing processes. It is often called acid rain as this concept contains many types of acidic precipitation.

The acidic deposition takes place in two ways: wet and dry. Wet deposition is any form of precipitation which removes acids from the atmosphere and places them on the surface of the earth. In the absence of precipitation, dry deposition of polluting particles and gases sticks to the ground through dust and smoke.

Causes of Acid Rain

The causes of acid rain are Sulphur and Nitrogen particles which get mixed with the wet components of rain . Sulphur and Nitrogen particles which get mixed with water are found in two ways either man-made i.e as the emissions that are given out from industries or by natural causes like lightning strike in the atmosphere releasing nitrogen oxides and volcanic eruptions releasing sulphur oxide.

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, which considers him the “father of acid rain,” the word acid rain was invented in 1852 by Scottish chemist Robert Angus Smith. Smith decided on the word while studying rainwater chemistry near industrial towns in England and Scotland.

The regular clean rain we experience, even though it is not clean i.e water and carbon dioxide react together to form weak carbonic acid which essentially by itself is not extremely harmful. The reaction occurring is :

H 2 O (l) + CO 2 (g) ⇌ H 2 CO 3 (aq)

The pH value of regular rainwater is around 5.7, giving it an acidic nature. The oxides of nitrogen and sulphur are blown away by the wind along with the dust particles. They settle on the earth’s surface after coming down in the form of precipitation. Acid rain is essentially a by-product of human activities which emit oxides of nitrogen and sulphur in the atmosphere.  Example – the burning of fossil fuels, unethical waste emission disposal techniques.

Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide undergo oxidation, and then they react with water resulting in the formation of sulphuric acid and nitric acid, respectively. The following reaction will clarify the acid formation reaction:

2SO 2 (g) + O 2 (g) + 2H 2 O (l) → 2H 2 SO 4 (aq) 4NO 2 (g) + O 2 (g) + 2H 2 O (l) → 4HNO 3 (aq)

Effects of Acid Rain

• Acid rain is very harmful to agriculture, plants, and animals. It washes away all nutrients which are required for the growth and survival of plants. Acid rain affects agriculture by the way it alters the composition of the soil.

• It causes respiratory issues in animals and humans.
• When acid rain falls down and flows into the rivers and ponds it affects the aquatic ecosystem. It alters the chemical composition of the water, to a form which is actually harmful to the aquatic ecosystem to survive and causes water pollution.
• Acid rain also causes the corrosion of water pipes, which further results in leaching of heavy metals such as iron, lead and copper into drinking water.
• It damages the buildings and monuments made up of stones and metals.

Real-Life Examples

• Taj Mahal , one of the 7 wonders of the world, is largely affected by acid rain. The city of Agra has many industries which emit the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen in the atmosphere. People continue to use low-quality coal and firewood as a domestic fuel, adding to this problem. Acid rain has the following reaction with the marble ( calcium carbonate ):

CaCO 3 (s) +  H 2 SO 4 (l) → CaSO 4 (s) + H 2 O(l) + CO 2 (g)

The formation of calcium sulphate results in the corrosion of this beautiful monument.

• Statue of Liberty which is made of copper has also been damaged by the cumulative action of acid rain and oxidation for over 30 years and is, therefore, becoming green.

Prevention of Acid Rain

• The only precaution that we can take against acid rain is having a check at the emission of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur.
• Acid rain is harmful to animals, plants and the monuments.
• Being responsible citizens, one should be aware of the harmful effects they cause and of the industries which give out nitrogen and sulphur compound wastes unethically.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

What is acid rain and how is it caused.

Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds such as sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen are released into the air. These substances can rise very high up into the atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants called acid rain.

What are the effects of acid rain?

The ecological consequences of acid rain are seen most strongly in marine habitats, such as streams, lakes and marshes where fish and other wildlife can be toxic. Acidic rainwater can leach aluminium from soil clay particles as it flows through the soil and then floods into streams and lakes.

What will happen if we don’t stop acid rain?

Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are the principal chemicals for acid rain. It can also influence humans since the acid goes into fruits, vegetables and animals. In other words, we can get really sick if acid rain doesn’t stop, and we eat those things. In general, acid rain affects men, but not directly.

What is acid rain? What are its harmful effects?

It has been shown that acid rain has detrimental effects on trees, freshwaters and soils, destroys insects and aquatic life-forms, causes paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and sculptures, as well as impacts on human health.

What are three ways to reduce acid rain?

Alternative energy sources should be used, such as solar and wind power. Renewable sources of energy are helping to reduce acid rain, as they produce much fewer emissions. There are other electricity sources as well, such as nuclear power, hydropower, and geothermal energy. Among these, the most extensive use is among nuclear and hydropower.

How does acid rain affect plants?

What is acid rain made of, what is the primary source of acid rain, can acid rain damage buildings, can acid rain burn your skin.

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Nice informations

Really like the information tq

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