Term paper on Acid Rain

Acid Rain Essays

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Acid Rain

Acid rain is a great problem in our world. It causes fish and plants to die in our waters. As well it causes harm to our own race as well, because we eat these fish, drink this

water and eat these plants. It is a problem that we must all face together and try to get rid of. However acid rain on it's own is not the biggest problem. It cause many other problems such as aluminum poisoning. Acid Rain is deadly.

WHAT IS ACID RAIN? Acid rain is all the rain, snow, mist etc that falls from the sky onto our planet that contains an unnatural acidic. It is not to be confused with uncontaminated rain that falls, for that rain is naturally slightly acidic. It is caused by today's industry. When products are manufactured many chemicals are used to create it. However, because of the difficulty and cost of properly disposing of these products they are often emitted into the atmosphere with little or no treatment. The term was first considered to be important about 20 years ago when scientists in Sweden and Norway first believed that acidic rain may be causing great ecological damage to the planet.

The problem was that by the time that the scientist found the problem it was already very large. Detecting an acid lake is often quite difficult. A lake does not become acid over night. It happens over a period of many years, some times decades. The changes are usually too gradual for them to be noticed early. At the beginning of the 20th century most rivers/lakes like the river Tovdal in Norway had not yet begun to die. However by 1926 local inspectors were noticing that many of the lakes were beginning to show signs of death. Fish were found dead along the banks of many rivers. As the winters ice began to melt off more and more hundreds upon hundreds more dead fish (trout in particular) were being found. It was at this time that scientist began to search for the reason. As the scientists continued to work they found many

piles of dead fish, up to 5000 in one pile, further up the river. Divers were sent in to examine the

bottom of the rivers. What they found were many more dead fish. Many live and dead specimens

were taken back to labs across Norway. When the live specimens were examined they were found

to have very little sodium in their blood. This is typical a typical symptom of acid poisoning. The

acid had entered the gills of the fish and poisoned them so that they were unable to extract salt

from the water to maintain their bodies sodium levels. Many scientist said that this acid poising

was due to the fact that it was just after the winter and that all the snow and ice was running down

into the streams and lakes. They believed that the snow had been exposed to many natural

phenomena that gave the snow it's high acid content. Other scientists were not sure that this theory

was correct because at the time that the snow was added to the lakes and streams the Ph levels

would change from around 5.2 to 4.6. They believed that such a high jump could not be attributed

to natural causes. They believed that it was due to air pollution. They were right. Since the

beginning of the Industrial revolution in England pollution had been affecting all the trees,soil and

rivers in Europe and North America. However until recently the loses of fish was contained to the

southern parts of Europe. Because of the constant onslaught of acid rain lakes and rivers began to

lose their ability to counter act their affects. Much of the alkaline elements; such as calcium and

limestone; in the soil had been washed away. It is these lakes that we must be worried about for

they will soon become extinct. A fact that may please fishermen is that in lakes/rivers they tend to

catch older and larger fish. This may please them in the short run however they will soon have to

change lakes for the fish supply will die quickly in these lakes. The problem is that acid causes

difficulties the fish's reproductive system. Often fish born in acid lakes do not survive for they are

born with birth defects such as twisted and deformed spinal columns. This is a sign that they are

unable to extract enough calcium from the water to fully develop their bone. These young soon die.

With no competition the older,stronger can grow easily. However there food is contaminated as

well by the acid in the water. Soon they have not enough food for themselves and turn to

cannibalism. With only an older population left there is no one left to regenerate themselves. Soon

the lake dies. By the late 1970s many Norwegian scientists began to suspect that it was not only

the acid in the water that was causing the deaths. They had proved that most fish could survive in a

stream that had up to a 1 unit difference in PH. After many experiments and research they found

that their missing link was aluminum. Aluminum is one of the most common metals on earth. It is

stored in a combined form with other elements in the earth. When it is combined it cannot dissolve

into the water and harm the fish and plants. However the acid from acid rain can easily dissolve the

bond between these elements. The Aluminum is then dissolved into a more soluble state by the

acid. Other metals such as Copper (Cu), iron (Fe) etc can cause such effects upon the fish...

Penguin Publishing House, 1987 , Pearce Fred Acid Rain. What is it and what is it doing to us?
New York Publishers, 1989, William Stone Acid Rain. Fiend or Foe? Lucent books, Inc. 1990,
Steward Gail Acid Rain. You should cite this paper as follows:

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