Raining Acid

ecrease. For example, a substance with a pH of 1 is ten times more acidic than one with a pH of 2 and 100 times more acidic than one with a pH of 3. Acid rain has been called the stepchild of pollution (Howard and Perley 3). Most air pollution is produced by burning fossil fuels like coal and to a lesser degree oil and natural gas. When these fuels are burned from the tall smokestacks of power plants, metal smelters, industrial boilers and cars, planes and trains, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide escape into the air. These two substances then mix with water vapor in the air and become sulfuric acid and nitric acid. These acids float up into the clouds. Clouds have been called the "vacuum cleaners of the atmosphere" because of the huge loads of acidity they carry (Video, Nova-Acid Rain: New Bad News). When it rains, the acid comes down in the form of rain or snow. In areas of little rainfall, acid-forming pollution reaches the ground as dry particles or dry deposition and later combine with rain water to become acids (Ostmann 13). Wind can carry the pollution long distances so that acid rain has no geographical boundaries. In Canada about 3 million tons of acid pollution is blown from the United States and 50% of the sulfur dioxide in Canada comes from the northeastern United States (Baines 13). One of the direct effects of acid rain has been on lakes and aquatic ecosystems. Thousands of lakes have been destroyed by acid rain. A survey of the lakes in the Adirondacks revealed more than half were without fish and other forms of aquatic life. However, lakes with a good supply of buffering material like limestone and other sedimentary rock are able to neutralize the acids and thus maintain aquatic life (Ostmann 40-41). Acid precipitation disrupts the fish life and other life forms in lakes. Eventually what it results in is first the lost of some fish, then the loss of a fish species and finally the loss of all fish. Acid environments often retard growth, and create deformities in fish. The young fish are usually the first victims which leaves an adult population with few if any to replace them. Acid produces chemical changes in the blood of the fish which disrupts the metabolism. This interferes with the ability to produce eggs because the body is starved of calcium which is needed in reproduction. Acid also draws metals out from the bottom of the lakes. These metals, especially aluminum, are very toxic. Even 0.2 milligrams of aluminum in a liter of water acidified to pH5 can burn the gills of fish (Howard and Perley 24, 33). Acid levels increase in the spring in lakes. As the thaw arrives the first water that melts has high concentrations of acid which can kill fish by altering their blood chemistry. The spring is also the time when young fish hatch from their eggs. The "acid shock" kills the eggs and emerging larvae (Ostmann 47). Eventually there are no fish left that can reproduce and the species in that lake disappear. The chart shows the effects of acidity on various freshwater animals. The destruction doesn't

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