Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Higher Education King Faisal University Dept.

Of Science

Acid Rain

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Contents

INTRODUCTION WHAT IS ACID RAIN

Acid rain occurs when the pollutants that come from immobile sources such as smokestacks, power plants, and mobile sources such as cars rise up into the clouds and fall back to earth as contaminated rainfall. The rain becomes acidic because of gases which dissolve in the rain water to form various acids. As the name suggests, acid rain is just rain which is acidic. Rain is naturally slightly acidic because of the carbon dioxide dissolved in it (which comes from human and animals breathing and to a smaller extent from nitrogen compounds that come from the soil and the seas as part of the nitrogen cycle. Acidic water contains an excess of hydrogen ions. Absolutely pure (distilled) water contains equal numbers of acidic and basic ions (H+ and OH-).1 This gives rain a pH of around 5.0, and in some parts of the world it can be as low as 4.0 (this is typical around volcanoes, where the sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide form sulphuric acid in the rain). Before the Industrial Revolution, the pH of rain was generally between 5 and 6, so the term acid rain is now used to describe rain with a pH below 5.2 Acidic water contains an excess of hydrogen ions. Absolutely pure water contains equal numbers of acidic and basic ions. The pH of pure water is 7, which is a neutral pH. This means that the water is neither acidic nor alkaline. Ordinary unpolluted rainwater has a pH of 5.6. Acid rain is formed by the reaction of rain water to a combination of various gases. These reactions and the subsequent transformation will be studied here. We will also see where these gases arise from and what their main sources on earth are. Acid rain has some rather disastrous consequences on human, plant and animal life. However, this is not as bad as it seems. We have managed to find some remedies for this situation. What remains to be seen is how successful these will be.

http://odin.dep.no/html/nofovalt/depter/md/publ/acid/Scale.html http://www.soton.ac.uk/~engenvir/environment/air/acid.what.is.it.html

Causes of Acid Rain:

Acid rain is caused by smoke and gases that are given off by factories and cars that run on fossil fuels. When these fuels are burned to produce energy, the sulfur that is present in the fuel combines with oxygen and becomes sulfur dioxide; some of the nitrogen in the air becomes nitrogen oxide. These pollutants go into the atmosphere, and become acid.

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are produced especially when coal is burnt for fuel. Burning coal produces electricity, and the more electricity that people use, the more coal is burnt. Of course, nowadays people probably couldn't live without electricity, so coal will continue to be burnt; but electricity and energy are constantly being overused. Think of it this way: every time you turn on a light switch or the television set without really needing to, you're indirectly contributing to the acid rain problem. Automobiles produce nitrogen oxides (which cause acid rain), so every time you don't carpool when you can, you are helping to cause acid rain. How is acid rain measured? Acid rain is measured through pH tests that determine the concentration of hydrogen ions in a liter of fluid. The pH (potential for hydrogen) scale is used to measure acidity or alkalinity. It runs from 0 to 14. Water has a neutral pH of 7. (The greater the concentration of hydrogen ions and the lower the pH number, the more acidic a substance is; the lower the concentration of hydrogen ions and the higher the pH number, the more alkalineor basica substance is.) So a pH greater than 7 indicates an alkaline substance while a pH less than 7 indicates an acidic substance.

It is important to note that a change of only one unit in pH equals a tenfold change in the concentration of hydrogen ions. For example, a solution of pH 3 is 10 times more acidic than a solution of pH 4. Normal rain and snow measure about pH 5.60. In environmental science, the definition of acid precipitation refers to a pH less than 5.65.

THE EFFECTS SOILS AND VEGETATION Nitrogen is the growth depleting factor in most ecosystems. Inputs of nitrogen are usually taken up by vegetation and soils. Hence, soils are quite resistant to acidification. After the acid rain enters the soil, it causes nutrients such as calcium and magnesium to be leached from the soil. This deprives the plants of their basic nutrients as well as causes harm to nearby water bodies and to the ground water. Sulphur affects plants in a fatal manner by entering through the plant cell. Sulphur dioxide comes in contact with the chlorophyll of the cell and the other constituents of the cells [particularly water], and is converted there into corrosive sulfuric acid which immediately destroys the tissues in its vicinity. It has been seen that the acidification of the subsoil begins quite soon after the acidification of the topsoil, and that subsoils can become very acidic. The problem is that, although topsoil acidity can be reversed with lime quite quickly, subsoil acidity cannot be corrected until surface soil acidity has been alleviated. Lime does not penetrate to the subsoil while the surface soil is acid. FORESTS Trees in forests have been found to be affected by pollutants in the air. The main causes of this degradation are SO2, NOx, H2SO4 and HNO3. Pollutants can also be absorbed from the soil. This causes the tree to be affected from its roots upward. Infection of the roots is the easiest way to kill a tree.

WATER Excess deposition of nitrogen can lead to increased amounts of nitrate which aid in the acidification of lake waters. Acidic deposition affects aquatic life. Acidification may eliminate sensitive algae species and decrease phosphorous and inorganic carbon concentrations. It can also cause damage to fish populations. Heavy metals removed from the soil during rains could cause death to aquatic life. Fish absorb polluted water through their gills and this can harmful effect on them such as the amount of oxygen taken up by the blood is reduced and the blood circulation is affected. HUMAN HEALTH Effects on human health are usually seen through the food chain by bioaccumulation and by water contamination. The chemicals that get deposited in the soil and water are consumed either directly by humans or by way of the food chain. In this way they affect human beings. The acid in the water may corrode copper and lead water pipes contaminating the drinking water. Air pollution does not usually cause adverse reactions immediately. It takes some time for the body to react to the pollutant. This is through inhalation. SO2 and NOx have adverse effects on the human respiratory system and lungs if there is exposure to high levels or high concentrations of these pollutants. Also, as dealt with earlier, contaminants can be leached into the drinking water. These are mainly metals. Metals such as copper and lead are also leached from household cisterns and pipes and directly enter domestic water supplies. Bioaccumulation through the food chain is another problem.

WILDLIFE The damage from acid rain to terrestrial wildlife is basically through the food chain. Accumulated heavy materials cause great damage through bio-magnification. This occurs because each successive level of the food chain accumulates more of the pollutant and passes it on to the next level.