Acid rain affects each and every components of ecosystem. News about acid rain, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. Acid rain is a serious environmental problem occurring all over the world, particularly in large swaths of the United States and Canada. Acid rain occurs, Likens and Odén and other scientists realized, when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide enter the atmosphere and react with water to form sulfuric and nitric acids.

Acid rain does not directly affect human health because the acid present in the rain water is very dilute. The water isn’t literally turning to jelly, but acid reduces the biological availability of calcium in lakes, favoring aquatic organisms with low calcium requirements— many of which are covered in a jellyish coating. As acid rain falls on trees, it can make them lose their leaves, damage their bark, and stunt their growth. An official website of the United States government. “You sing in the rain, you wash your hair in the rain, you walk in the rain,” Likens says. Acid rain is also called acid deposition because this term includes other forms of acidic precipitation (such as snow). The impact of decades of acid rain (better known as acid precipitation) is causing North American lakes to turn to jelly. There are two types of deposition processes: wet and dry. In addition, power stations and factories all burn fuels that produce gases that pollute the air. When coal and petroleum are burned in automobiles, electric power plants, and factories, they release certain harmful gases into the air.

Acid falling on a forest’s soil is also harmful because it disrupts soil nutrients, kills microorganisms in the soil, and can sometimes cause a calcium deficiency. By reducing the emission of the precursors of acid rain and to some extent by liming, the problem of acidification of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem has been reduced during last two decades.

Learn the cause and effect of acid rain. The causes of acid rain, how acid rain affects our environment and our health, and what regulatory actions have been put in place to reduce the pollutants that cause acid rain. Acid rain is defined as any type of precipitation with a pH that is unusually low.

Find acid rain articles from May 16th 1970 to Jan. 1st 2020 , the world’s largest environmental industry marketplace and information resource. Acid rain - Acid rain - Effects on lakes and rivers: The regional effects of acid deposition were first noted in parts of western Europe and eastern North America in the late 1960s and early 1970s when changes in the chemistry of rivers and lakes, often in remote locations, were linked to declines in the health of aquatic organisms such as resident fish, crayfish, and clam populations. Acid rain is made up of water droplets that are unusually acidic because of atmospheric pollution, most notably the excessive amounts of sulfur and nitrogen released by cars and industrial processes. Acid Rain Effects Research—A Status Report Citations Metrics; Reprints & Permissions; PDF Abstract. Acid rain is a form of air pollution. By damaging these parts of the tree, it makes them vulnerable to disease, extreme weather, and insects. Acid rain - Acid rain - History: Modern anthropogenic acid deposition began in Europe and eastern North America after World War II, as countries in those areas greatly increased their consumption of fossil fuels. Read environmental news articles on how acid rain takes nutrients from the soil, leads to stunted forests and more. Effects of Acid Rain on Materials. The calcium compounds react with the acid in the rain, damaging them. In the 1974 Science paper “Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem,” which made “acid rain” a household term, scientist Gene Likens and his team reported on New Hampshire rain showers as acidic as lemon juice. International cooperation to address air pollution and acid deposition began with the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. Acid rain occurs when acid-containing precipitation falls onto the earth’s surface.