Acid Rain: Nature's Weeping Tears

Acid rainA climate problem that seriously affects the environment and ecosystems, it refers to the high acidity contained in precipitation (such as rain, snow or fog), resulting in damage to soil, water bodies and living organisms. The formation of acid rain is closely related to human activities. Perhaps everyone is familiar with the term acid rain, but what is acid rain? How is it formed? And what are its impacts on Earth's ecosystems? Let's move on.

What is acid rain?

The pH scale is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It ranges from 0 to 14, where 7 is neutral, below 7 is acidic, and above 7 is alkaline. The pH value of pure water is about 7, while natural precipitation is usually slightly acidic due to the dissolution of carbon dioxide, and its pH value is about 5.6. But when there are too many pollutants in the air, the precipitation has a lower pH and becomes more acidic, resulting in acid rain. Any form of precipitation, such as rain, snow, fog, dew, hail, etc., is defined as acid rain when its pH value is below 5.6. Many domestic and foreign research reports pointed out thatWhen the pH value of precipitation is lower than 5.0, it is judged as acid rain caused by man-made discharge of acid pollutants.

acid rain also known asacid deposition, can be divided into two types:Wet deposition and dry deposition. Wet deposition refers to the process of acidic substances settling to the surface in liquid forms such as rain, snow, fog, and dew. These acidic waters flow through the ground and affect water quality, soil, and the diversity of animals and plants. Dry deposition refers to the process of acidic substances settling to the surface in the form of particles and gases. These acidic particles and gases will be blown to the surfaces of cars, buildings, trees and other objects with the wind. When it rains, these dry deposition particles and gases will Mixing and merging with rainwater makes the ph value of rainwater lower.

How does acid rain form?

The formation of acid rain is mainly related to sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone:

1. Sulfur dioxide (SO₂): The pollution sources of sulfur dioxide can be divided into natural sources and man-made pollution. Natural sources include processes such as volcanic eruptions, forest fires, and biological decomposition; while man-made pollution includes the smelting of metal ores such as iron, copper, and aluminum, the burning of oil and coal, and other industrial activities.
2. Nitrogen oxides (NOx): The pollution sources of nitrogen oxides can also be divided into natural sources and man-made pollution. Natural sources include processes such as lightning, bacterial decomposition, and biological activity; while man-made pollution includes power plants, industrial emissions, and vehicle emissions.
3. Ozone: Take sulfur dioxide (SO₂) as an example, when compared with that from ozone (O₃) Oxygen radicals (O^–) react to form sulfur trioxide (SO₃), sulfur trioxide reacts with water vapor to produce sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) generation.

When these chemicals mix with precipitation in the atmosphere, the resulting acidic precipitation eventually falls to the ground as acid rain, causing damage in nature.

What effect does acid rain have?

Acid rain affects all aspects of the earth's environment and organisms, such as:

1. Plant wilting and forest loss: Acid rain causes serious damage to plants and forests. The acidic substances in acidic precipitation can damage leaves and bark, inhibit photosynthesis, stunt plant growth, and reduce the plant's ability to resist pest infestation. Therefore, it may lead to a large-scale reduction of forests. While affecting the balance of the ecosystem, it also threatens the living environment of forest animals and plants.
2. Destruction of buildings and monuments: Acid rain will corrode buildings and cultural relics, and accelerate the aging and damage of buildings, especially those built by limestone or marble.
3. Destruction of aquatic ecosystems: Acid rain has a direct impact on aquatic ecosystems. Acidic precipitation makes the water acidic, affects the survival and reproduction of aquatic organisms, and leads to a decrease in the oxygen content in the water, further affecting the ecological environment of aquatic organisms, which may lead to the disappearance of species and damage the stability of aquatic ecosystems.
4. threat to human health: Acid rain can cause respiratory problems such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and lung infections. In addition, acid rain will change the structure and activity of soil and release toxic heavy metals. Therefore, drinking groundwater affected by acid rain may also pose potential risks to human health, such as kidney disease and brain nerve damage.
5. Acid Rain and Climate Change: Although acid rain itself is not a major cause of climate change, it may have an indirect effect on climate change. For example, acid rain leads to forest destruction and soil degradation, which may affect the process of carbon absorption and release, indirectly affect the earth's carbon cycle, and then affect climate change.

How to avoid or slow down the occurrence of acid rain?

Here are some ways to slow down acid rain:

1. afforestation: Large-scale afforestation can help absorb carbon dioxide and some pollution gases in the atmosphere, and help reduce the generation of acid rain.
2. promote green transportation: Encourage the use of public transportation, shared rides, bicycles, electric vehicles and other green transportation methods to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions.
3. Factory water filtration and detoxification: To ensure that the factory conducts proper treatment of the discharged water before it is returned to the river or water body to remove harmful substances in it, thereby reducing the pollution of the water body.
4. Reduce emissions of polluting gases from factories: Reduce polluting gases emitted by factories and enterprises by adopting cleaner, less polluting, and lower-emission production technologies, or introducing pollutant treatment systems.
5. Promoting energy innovation and new technologies for environmental protection: Encourage technological innovation, find more environmentally friendly production and energy consumption methods, and promote the application of clean energy and environmental protection technologies.
6. raise public awareness: Strengthen environmental protection education and publicity, and increase public awareness and participation in environmental protection.

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References

1. What is acid rain? – Environmental Protection Agency, Executive Yuan, Taiwan

2. acid rain - Wikipedia

3. The pictures in the article are all from the CC0 free gallery.