Acid Rain – Where do we go from here?
Studies on acid rain disclosed that even unpolluted rain possesses a slightly acidic quality due to the natural reaction of carbon dioxide and water in the air. What makes the rain harmful is when it is aggravated by presence of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the air.
The presence of these chemical substances is most evident in places where:
- Chemicals are emitted through industrial processing hence the more industrialized a nation is the more acidic the rain becomes.
- Automobile emissions produce nitrogen oxide. More automobiles in use, more acidic the rainfall.
- Volcanic eruptions and bacterial decomposition produces nitrogen oxide. The more volcanoes and volcanic eruptions that take place, the more it renders the rain to be acidic.
- Since rain in its unpolluted state is already acidic although weakly so, the abundance of rain, snow, frost, dew, hail and fog also means the abundance of acid rain. Hence the more rainfall and snowfall in an environment the more acid present in the atmosphere.
It is safe to surmise then that any region or country that possesses at least one of the above factors have acidic rainfall while any region or country possessing all of the above factors has the highest degree of acid rain.
The US, UK, China and other European countries have an abundance or concentration of all except for volcanoes which may be occasional or scattered. A further study may result to a list of the havoc wreaked by acid rain:
- The occurrence of dying lakes in Scandinavia and for that matter it is recorded that for the last ten years acid rain has ravaged lakes and streams in the US, Canada and other parts of Europe.
- Reports of deformed fish being hatched in Britain’s freshwater.
- Forests found in Germany are said to be dying due to acid rain.
- Health problem statistics in the US and Canada: 550 premature deaths, 1,520 emergency room visits and 210,070 asthma symptoms were said to be caused by acid rain.
We enjoy modernization and the luxuries in life that it brings us, yet the earth that we live in slowly suffers. In time the destruction we sow will eventually seek its vengeance on us. Solutions are far off since we cannot just divest ourselves of the comfort of materials and equipments we have been used to. No one can stop the rain, sleet, dust and snow either. With all the acid rain and man’s genius, where do we go from here?