RUNNING HEAD: THE EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN 1

The Effects of Acid Rain

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Question six

According to the observations of the weather patterns from the national weather maps, it

is clear that the acidic rain does not precisely come from one unique point and location. The rain

falls in different locations and originates from diverse locations as the acidity is most commonly

as a result of the combustion of the fossil fuels, coal and gas in stations which tend to release

nitrogen oxide and Sulphur in to the environs. Motor vehicles and machineries further adds the

same compounds to the atmosphere and afterwards the mixture of water droplets with such gases

forms the less concentrated solutions of Sulphuric and Nitric acids (Francis et al., 2009).

Due to the availability of motor vehicles, fossil fuel combustions and presence of power

stations all over in many regions, the acidic rain will consequently not be coming from one

specific area. This is precisely a clear indication that all states and regions are responsible for

emitting the compounds that cause the formation of acid rains. Additionally, relating to the

weather maps and patterns, the origin of the preceding rainfalls had as well not been from a

common area. A clear indication is therefore derived from the weather maps and patterns

preceding each rainfall as well depicting that there is no a common area that is a source of the

acidic rain (Yarnal, 1984).

Question seven

The impact of acid rain on the Taj Mahal constructions serves as an example related to

how acid rain affects structures. Air pollution resulting from a confined refinery has

consequently resulted to the formation of acid rain, changing the white color of the marble in to

yellow.
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Secondly, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial situated in Washington, D.C (District of

Columbia), is another major monument negatively impacted by the acid rain. The liquefying

calcite discharges the minerals of silicate confined in the marble and consequently the loss of this

material loosened and caused weakness to the structure (Xie et al., 2004).

The Dampier Rock Art in Australia has also suffered a significance threat from the effects

of the acid rain in the region. The results of the acid rain have already begun endangering the

Rock Art Complex by erasing some of the engraved surfaces of rocks which are shallowly but

carefully inscribed. Further studies by geologists and archeologists have suggested that the art on

this rock shall completely vanish by the mid of the twenty 1st century.

Longmen Grottoes tends to be the most prominent ancient sculptural position in China.

The acid rains have been causing salt deposits on the surfaces of the rock and consequently

easily permeating in to the rocks which in turn corrodes the niches and the paintings.

Acropolis Athens. As days goes by and in recent decades, the Greece economy has been

experiencing significance expansions and economic developments. Consequently, the heavy

vehicle plants emissions and pollutants from the growing Athens city have a great contribution to

the presence of the acid rain. The sculptural and monumental stone is however highly susceptible

and prone to surface degradation and deprivation that results from the acid rains. The stone is

therefore endangered and always degrading with time (Xie et al., 2004)

The Leshan Buddha this is a symbolic representation of the Chinese Buddhism and has as

well suffered a victim of the pollution being emanated from the unrestrained development in

China. Due to the large number of coal plants situated near the Buddha, there has been increased
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toxic gas emissions which return as an acid rain which afterwards corrodes the Buddha at MT

Emei (Xie et al., 2004).

Measures to curb the formation of the acid rain

As a measure to protect the endangered monuments and national buildings from the

effects of acid rains, the state must devise the effective ways to prevent them and ensure a perfect

application of the measure towards the same. Since the compounds of nitrogen oxide are formed

through combustion of fossil fuels and coal, the responsible power stations will thus be

encouraged to change the manner in which the coal is burned.

The great mechanism to minimize the possibility of acid rain is by producing energy

without the use of fossil fuels. As an alternative, the power plants should apply the renewable

sources of energy for instance the wind power or the solar system (Johansson et al., 1993). Such

mechanisms will reduce the emission of compounds causing the acid rains and thus save the

corrosion of national buildings and monuments as well.

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References

Francis, J. A., Chan, W., Leathers, D. J., Miller, J. R., & Veron, D. E. (2009). Winter Northern

Hemisphere weather patterns remember summer Arctic sea‐ice extent. Geophysical

Research Letters, 36(7).

Johansson, T. B., Kelly, H., Reddy, A. K., & Williams, R. H. (1993). Renewable energy: sources

for fuels and electricity.

Xie, S., Qi, L., & Zhou, D. (2004). Investigation of the effects of acid rain on the deterioration of

cement concrete using accelerated tests established in laboratory. Atmospheric

Environment, 38(27), 4457-4466.

Yarnal, B. (1984). A procedure for the classification of synoptic weather maps from gridded

atmospheric pressure surface data. Computers & Geosciences, 10(4), 397-410.