JOE MAMA

Imagine looking out the window in the morning and only being able to see a few blocks. It is not snow that you see neither is it heavy rain. It appears to be fog, but not regular fog, it is a harmful, acidic and ugly fog that is a result of very bad air pollution. This is true on some days in Mexico City. Mexico City is one of the most polluted cities in the world and the mountains that surround the city hold the thick and ugly fog in. Acid rain has been known to fall in this city and many others around the world. Acid rain is one the biggest problems our environment deals with today. What is acid rain? Where does it come from and how does it form? What are the effects of it on our environment and us? In this report I will teach you all you need to know about acid rain and what we can do about it.

What is Acid Rain?

Acid rain is defined as rain that has more acid in it than the normal amount. Acidity is measured on the pH scale that runs from 0 to 14. Anything from zero to seven is considered acidic, seven is neutral and anything from 7 to 14 is basic.

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

When sulfur dioxide is first let into the environment it forms a sulfate ions that then turn into sulfuric acid as it bonds with hydrogen atoms.

Acid rain also has a huge effect on forests. An alternate energy source seems to be the answer for the future and we better hope that we find one soon or our air pollution and acid rain problems are only gonna get worse by the day. Nitric oxide and nitric dioxide are also some big causes of acid rain. Switzerland is one of those

countries that produces close to no sulfur that causes acid rain, yet the country suffers the effects from all the surrounding industrial areas such as Poland and places in Russia. These rise in large clouds into the atmosphere and fall back down as rain and/or snow and oftenly over regions that are far away from their sources. The sulfuric acid in the acid rain effects fishes ability's to take in oxygen, salt and nutrients that are essential for them to survive. As the pH in a lake drops from 6 to five all the fish die off and so does almost all life in the lake. There is a lot of controversy over what the pH of rain must be to be considered acidic.

How Big is the Problem?

Acid rain in found in places around the world. Some of the main countries affected severely by acid rain include Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, Mexico, US, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The biggest concern of acid rain is the effects it has on people or will have on people in the future. I sure hope we find a solution for it that it inexpensive and lasting, but that is probably not likely. So remember to conserve as much energy as you can and don't forget to turn the lights out. Something that has a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic that something with a pH of 7.

Approximate Word count = 1331
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.