Acid rain

 Acid rain means the presence of excessive acid in rain water.

 The emission from various type of industries and automobiles contain sulphur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides. These gases combine with rain water to form acid.
 SOx, NOx as pollutants in the atmosphere further lowers the pH of the rain water to
as low as 2.4 due to the formation of H2SO4 and HNO3 respectively. This type of
precipitation of lower pH is called acid rain.

Acid rain is a man made global ecological problem where H2SO4 is a major contributor
(60-70%) followed by HNO3 (30-40%) and HCl as the third major contributor.

The various photochemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere: -

NO + O3 NO2 + O2
NO2 + O3 NO3 + O2
NO2 + NO3 N2O5
N2O5+ H2O 2HNO3
Some HNO2 is also formed as --
N2O3+ H2O 2HNO2
HNO3 and HNO2 then return to the earth’s surface along with rain water HNO3 is removed as
a precipitation or as particulate and nitrates after reaction with bases (NH3, particulate lime).

Sulphuric acid is formed as: -

SO2 +O2 +H2 (HC, NOx) metal oxide

H2SO4

The presence of hydrocarbons and NOx step up the oxidation rate of the reaction(in water
droplets ions such as Mn2+, Fe 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cu2+ catalyse the oxidation reaction, soot particle
also catalyse the oxidation of SO2).
HNO3 and H2SO4 combine with HCl to generate acidic precipitation, known as acid rain.

Harmful effects of Acid Rain: -

1. Acid rain causes extensive damage to building and sculptural material of marble,
limestone, slate etc. These materials become pitted and weakened mechanically as the
soluble sulphates and leached out by rain water.
CaCO3 + H2SO4 CaSO4 + CO2 + H2O
In Greece and Italy, invaluable statues have been partially dissolved by acid rain.
Tajmahal at Agra faces the same problem.
2. The acid rain damage leaves of trees, plants and retards the growth of forests which
are important natural resources for production of wood, pulp, paper etc.
3. Besides damaging the flora and fauna, acid rain also affects fish mortality. These
pollutants (sulphuric acid, Cd, Fe, Pb etc.) enters in rivers and lakes, killing the fish
eggs.
4. Lowering the pH of rain water, due to acid rain changes the rate of metabolism of
organisms.
5. Acid rain causes irritation to eyes and mucous membrane.
6. Acid rain accelerates the rate of corrosion