Acid Rain 10 :: essays research papers

Acid rain is just now what it suggests- rain that is savageic. The definition of "acid rain" is rain with a pH of below 5.6. Rain becomes acidic because of bollockses that dissolve in the rain. Approximately 70% of acid rain is a result of dissolved sulfur dioxide (SO2) which forms sulfuric Acid. The remaining 30% or so comes from various Nitrogen Oxides (mostly NO2 and NO3 which has composedly adopted the mane Nox). There is besides a small section of hydrochloric acid that makes up hydrochloric acid as well. The equation is as follows sulfuric acid when it joins with hydrogen atoms in the airSO3(g) + H2O(l) = H2SO4(aq)In the air, the nitrogen ion becomes nitric or nitrous acidNO2(g) + H2O(l) = HNO3(aq) + HNO2(aq)Sulfur dioxide is a colorless, prudent gas sackingd as a by-product of combusted fossil fuels containing sulfur. What causes this is a variety of industrial processes, much(prenominal) as the production of iron and steel, utility factories, and crude oi l color processing. In iron and steel production, the smelting of metal sulfate ore produces pure metal. This causes the release of sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide move also be emitted into the atmosphere ny internal disasters or means. This ten percent of all sulfur dioxide emission comes from volcanoes, sea spray, plankton, and rotting vegetation. The oxides of nitrogen are by-products of firing processes of extreme high temperatures, for utilization automobiles, and utility plants and in chemical industries, for example fertilizer production, etc. Also, innate(p) processes such as bacterial action in soil, forest fires, volcanic action, and lightning make up five percent of nitrogen oxide emission. Transportation makes up 43 percent, and 32 percent belongs to industrial combustion. There are a number of things that acid rain effects in our environment. Forests, soil, lakes, streams, rivers, materials, and essentially mankind. hotshot of the most serious impacts that acid rai n has on our environment is acid deposition on our trees and soil. When Sulfuric Acid falls on the mankind in rain, nutrients in the soils are washed away. Some of the aluminum also present in the soil is released and can be absorbed by the roots of trees. This causes the trees to starve to death because they are deprived of their vital nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. Sometimes the sulfur dioxide doesnt get converted to sulfuric acid. In fact, there is a large amount that can float into the atmosphere and return to earth unconverted.