Acid Rain Is Pollution
Acid rain is a common term for pollution caused when sulfur and nitrogen dioxides combine with atmospheric moisture to produce a rain, snow, or hail of sulfuric and nitric acids. Such pollution may also be suspended in a fog, or the pollutants may be deposited in dry form. Environmental damage from acid rain has been reported in northern Europe and North America. High levels of acid rain have also been detected in other areas of the world, such as above the tropical rain forest of Africa. Acid rain has destroyed plant and animal life in lakes, damaged forests and crops, endangered marine life in coastal waters, eroded structures, and contaminated drinking water. Research has shown that although some of the damage attributed to acid rain is a result of natural causes, sulfur dioxide from oil and coal combustion and nitrogen oxides produced from automobile engines have greatly intensified the acid rain problem. Winds can carry the pollutants thousands of kilometers away from their source. The British government has recognized that sulfur emissions from power plants in the United Kingdom are contributing to acid deposition in Scandinavia. Canadian emissions contribute substantially to acid rain in the northeastern United States, for example, and much of the sulfur falling in eastern Canada is believed to originate in the United States. In 1986 the U.S. National Academy of Sciences acknowledged that acid rain from U.S. sources had become a serious problem in the eastern United States and Canada. Although the Canadian government has agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, the United States has not placed limitations on its sulfur emissions that may drift into Canada. Scientists agree that acid rain is harmful, but reports concerning its severity conflict. A U.S. government report issued in September 1987 minimized the environmental damage caused by acid rain and concluded that the acid-rain problem is not increasing. A 1988 survey conducted by the Environmental
Bibliography: Bubenick, D. V., Acid Rain Information Book, 2d ed., (1984); Elliott, T. C., and Schwieger, R. G., eds., The Acid Rain Sourcebook (1984); Howard, Ross, and Perley, Michael, Acid Rain (1982); Johnson, A. H., "Acid Deposition," Environment, May 1986; Martin, H.C., ed., Acid Precipitation (1987); McCormick, J., Acid Rain (1986); Mohnen, V.A., "The Challenge of Acid Rain," Scientific American, August 1988; Ostmann, Robert, Jr., Acid Rain: A Plague upon the Waters (1982); Park, C.C., Acid Rain (1988); Rhodes, S. L., and Middleton, P., "The Complex Challenge of Controlling Acid Rain," Environment, May 1983; Schmandt, Jurgen, ed., Acid Rain and Friendly Neighbors, rev. ed. (1989); White, J.C., Acid Rain (1987); Yanarella, E., and Ihara, R.H., eds., The Acid Rain Debate (1985).