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    A. Acid Rain: 1. History

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    Laurensia Rainie
    Acid rain occurs when sulfur and nitrogen emissions from industrial facilities and vehicles react with water in the atmosphere to form acids. It was first reported in 1852 in Manchester, England where Robert Angus found a relation between air pollution and acid rain. Acid rain occurs naturally from volcanic eruptions but is exacerbated by human activities like burning fossil fuels. It impacts the environment by decreasing populations of aquatic life, damaging plants, and releasing toxic chemicals that harm humans. Countermeasures include reducing fossil fuel use, treating emissions with flue gas desulfurization to remove sulfur before it reaches the atmosphere.

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    A. Acid Rain: 1. History

    Uploaded by

    Laurensia Rainie
    28 views2 pages
    Acid rain occurs when sulfur and nitrogen emissions from industrial facilities and vehicles react with water in the atmosphere to form acids. It was first reported in 1852 in Manchester, England where Robert Angus found a relation between air pollution and acid rain. Acid rain occurs naturally from volcanic eruptions but is exacerbated by human activities like burning fossil fuels. It impacts the environment by decreasing populations of aquatic life, damaging plants, and releasing toxic chemicals that harm humans. Countermeasures include reducing fossil fuel use, treating emissions with flue gas desulfurization to remove sulfur before it reaches the atmosphere.

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    Acidic Rain

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    Acid rain occurs when sulfur and nitrogen emissions from industrial facilities and vehicles react with water in the atmosphere to form acids. It was first reported in 1852 in Manchester, England where Robert Angus found a relation between air pollution and acid rain. Acid rain occurs naturally from volcanic eruptions but is exacerbated by human activities like burning fossil fuels. It impacts the environment by decreasing populations of aquatic life, damaging plants, and releasing toxic chemicals that harm humans. Countermeasures include reducing fossil fuel use, treating emissions with flue gas desulfurization to remove sulfur before it reaches the atmosphere.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    28 views2 pages

    A. Acid Rain: 1. History

    Uploaded by

    Laurensia Rainie
    Acid rain occurs when sulfur and nitrogen emissions from industrial facilities and vehicles react with water in the atmosphere to form acids. It was first reported in 1852 in Manchester, England where Robert Angus found a relation between air pollution and acid rain. Acid rain occurs naturally from volcanic eruptions but is exacerbated by human activities like burning fossil fuels. It impacts the environment by decreasing populations of aquatic life, damaging plants, and releasing toxic chemicals that harm humans. Countermeasures include reducing fossil fuel use, treating emissions with flue gas desulfurization to remove sulfur before it reaches the atmosphere.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    A.

    ACID RAIN
    1. History
    Since the first industrial revolution in England, many factories have been built. Factory
    waste such as smoke emitted from factory chimneys contains carbon dioxide and sulfur,
    causing air pollution and acid rain
    In 1852, Robert Angus reported that acid rain first fell on Manchester , England.
    He found a relation between air pollution and the occurrence of acid rain. The
    term acid rain came into use in the year 1852.

    2. The occurrence of acid rain


    Acid rain is rain that has a ph below 5.6. In general, rainwater has a ph of around 6.
    Acid rain can occur due to natural activities such as
    • volcanic eruptions,
    • emitting smoke that contains CO2, Sulphur ( S ) , and other gases. •
    coal-fired power plants,
    • vehicle exhaust products,
    • ammonia processing plants ( NH3 )
    Gases produced from the process are carried by the winds up to hundreds of km in the
    atmosphere. The result is an oxidation process that produces sulfuric acid ( H 2SO4), and
    nitric acid ( HNO3 ), then fell as acid rain.
    Look at this figure below :

    Sulphur, ammonia, ( NH3 ) , and Nitrogen in air which reacts with oxygen to form sulfur
    dioxide (SO2 ) and Nitrogen Oxide (NO ). This substances diffuses into the atmosphere, then
    reacts with water vapor to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid. The two acids dissolve easily
    and fall with rainwater causing acid rain. The acid produced is strong acid, and has ph below
    5.6 so it is very dangerous and can damage the environment.
    The chemistry reaction :
    S(S) + O2(g) SO2(g)

    2SO2(g) + O2(g) 2SO3(g)

    SO3(g) + H2O(l) H2S04

    Meanwhile, CO 2 in the air will dissolve with rainwater and produce weak acids with a pH
    below 6. This type of acid is very useful for dissolving soil minerals and is needed for plants
    and animals

    3. Impact of acid rain


    a. Causes the population of living things in the water to decrease.
    Example for trout fish, trout larvae will die if the pH of river or lake water becomes
    increasingly acidic
    b. Plankton will die if the pH of the water is below 5 so it is acidic, if the plankton dies it
    will cause the plankton-eating fish to become extinct.
    c. The very small degree of water acidity causes some metals such as aluminum
    dissolve in water, which causes some fish to secrete excess mucus around their gills,
    making it difficult to breathe and eventually die.
    d. Plants will die if exposed to acid rain with a small pH. The wax coating on the leaves
    is damaged so that the nutrients are lost and make the plant unable to tolerate cold
    air, mold and insects. In addition, root growth will be slow because the nutrients
    taken from the soil are reduced.
    e. Release of toxic ions which adversely affect humans.
    For example copper leached in river water will have an impact on diarrhea in
    children.
    Meanwhile, aluminum that dissolves in lake water, if drunk ,it will cause Alzheimer's

    4. Countermeasures Acid Rain


    a. Reduce the use of fossil fuel vehicles and start using electric vehicles b. Smoke-
    burning plants or coal-fired power plants are treated by using flue gas
    desulfurization ( FGD) to remove sulfur-containing gases from the chimneys.
    Example of FGD is wet scrubber.
    Wet scrubber is a chimney tower which is equipped with a fan to extract the flue gas
    in the chimney. Furthermore, the lime slurry is injected into the tower so that a
    chemical reaction occurs and produces calcium sulfate with a neutral pH which is
    released through the scrubbers.

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