ACID RAIN

ACID RAIN

1. What is Acid Rain

   • The pH value of rainwater is used to measure its acidity. Rainwater with a pH value of less than 5.6 is considered to be acid rain. The lower the pH value the more acidic it is
     • What Causes Acid Rain
       • 1. Fossil fuels such as caol and oil are burned in power stations, factories homes and cars
       • 2. Invisible gases called sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are released into the air. Thee gases are blown along by the wind.
       • 3. The gases mix with moisture in the air to form weak sulphuric and nitric acids. They eventually fall to the earth as acid rain

2. Consequences of Acid Rain

   • Damage to Farmlands & Forest: acid rain creates acidic soils that are less able to support farm crops It also causes sever leaching which washes valuable nutrients such as calcium down beneath the reach of tree and other plant roots.
     • Soils in Norway are now 10 times more acidic than 50 years ago
       • More than half of Germany's trees have been damaged by acid rain. Deprived of nutrients millions of trees are malnourised become diseased and die
   • Damage to Tourism
     • Acid rain destroyed fish life in thousands of angling lakes in Norway and Sweden Fish eggs are harmed when the pH value of the lake water falls below 4.3
       • Surfaces of old buildings flake away as they suffer sever chemical weathering by acid rain Buildings such as the Colosseum Rome have suffered more damage in the last 20 years as they did in the previous 2,000
   • Damage to Human Health
     • The acidfication of water supplies in Sweden has been linked to foul tasting water and outbreaks of diarrhoea. It has even caused people's hair to turn green
       • Acid fog can cause an increase in illnesses such as asthma