Acid Rain

Brought to you by: Lucille Zipf, Kimberly Weston, Mallory

Guarino, and Katerina Athanasiou

What is Acid Rain?

• Acid rain is the result of Sulfur dioxide and Nitrogen oxides reacting in the atmosphere with water and returning to the Earth in various forms of precipitation

How is Acid Rain Formed?

One can determine if rain is acidic by testing its Ph. Ph is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Solutions with pH less than 7 are acidic and solutions with pH more than 7 are basic and therefore alkaline. Ph can be measured by using pH paper. Ph indicator paper turns a color that corresponds with the pH color key.

Acid rain occurs when sulfur and nitrogen oxides interact with the water in the atmosphere to form acids. The gasoline burnt by car engines uses air as a source of oxygen. Since nitrogen is a main ingredient of air, the mixture of the high temperature within car engines creates nitrogen monoxide. Sunlight fuels the production of nitrogen dioxide and ground level ozone that are active in acid rain reactions.

When does Acid Rain occur?

Normal, unpolluted rain has a Ph of around 6.0 and acid rain

is classified as any rain with acidity less than 5.6.

Acid Rain & Trees

• Acid rain damages the waxy outer coating that protects the leaves on trees. – This allows the acid to seep into the tree.

Instead of water changing from a liquid to a gas inside the leaves, gas takes the place of the water.

– This prevents the plant from taking in carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis

– This will ultimately result in the death of the plant.

Acid Rain & Soil

• Acid rain harms the soil that the trees are growing in by taking away most of the valuable nutrients.

• It can also dissolve toxic substances, like aluminum and mercury. These elements are naturally present in some soils.– Freeing these toxins can pollute water or

poison plants that absorb them.

Acid Rain & Bodies of Water

• When acid rain passes through soil or falls directly into lakes and streams, it can increase the acidity of the water.– This process is called acidification. – Increases in water acidity can impair the ability

of certain types of fish and water plants to reproduce, grow, and survive.

– In some acidified lakes and streams, entire fish populations have disappeared.

– The rain kills and occasionally eliminates certain species before others, decreasing biodiversity in lakes and streams.

Do these factors affect us?• YES! The damage acid rain causes to our water,

plants, and animals harms us every day. – Soil affected by acid rain damages trees and plants that

provide oxygen, food and other necessities. – Acid rain also contributes to the untimely death of many

plants and animals that our ecosystem depends on.– The death of fish and other marine life in our lakes and

rivers due to acid rain upsets the balance of nature. – This, in turn, upsets biodiversity which can result in a

decline of our food and drink supply, ability to make medicine, and collection of industrial materials

Is Acid Rain a problem in our area?

• According to the National Surface Water Survey, about 14 percent of the lakes in the Adirondack Mountains in New York are chronically acidic.

• As are about 12 percent of streams in the mid-Atlantic Highlands which include southeastern New York, most of

Pennsylvania, and portions of Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia

• And the mid-Appalachians which include Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland,

Pennsylvania, and North Carolina

Early Signs of Acid Rain

• One of the first signs of the presence of acid in lakes and streams is the inability of females to spawn.

• As a lake become more acidic the crayfish and clam populations are the first to disappear, followed by a number of smaller fish.

• Because the organisms that form the base of the food chain are effected first the populations of larger animals that rely on the consumption these creatures are also negatively affected.

• When acid rain falls onto buildings made from limestone and sandstone it reacts with minerals in the stone to form a powdery substance that can easily be

washed away by rain– Famous buildings like the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Taj Mahal in India and St. Paul's Cathedral

in London have all been damaged by acid rain • Acid rain can also damage stained glass windows in

churches, railway lines, and steel bridges. – The acid rain slowly eats away at all of them

• Building materials crumble away, metals are corroded, the color of paint is spoiled, leather is weakened, and

crusts form on the surface of glass.

Acid Rain & Building Materials

Acid Rain & Architecture • Acid Rain has a severe affect on

architecture • Architecture and artwork can be destroyed by acid rain. • Limestone and marble turn to a

crumbling substance called gypsum upon contact with the acid which explains the corrosion of buildings and statues. – causes bridges to corrode

faster

Acid Rain & Roads

• Gypsum causes roads, highways, and bridges to corrode and become weaker. – This is a huge safety hazard not

only for roads and highways, but also for bridges because if a bridge is weak, it will collapse.

– It costs a lot of money to keep replacing the roads, highways and bridges• it comes out of tax money.

Acid Rain & Transportation

• Acid rain causes metal to rust & corrode which causes damaging in transportation

• Acid rain damages the paint on cars and other modes of transportation and costs millions of dollars a year to restore transportation – Repainting your car,

restoring metals on railroads and trains, etc.

• Acid rain not only severely destroys transportation vehicles, but also takes a lot of money every year for us to restore the damages.

Acid Rain Costs $• $13,000 million annually in East • $1,750 million yearly in forest damage • $40 million in health costs in only the State of Minnesota • $8,300 million in crop damage in the Ohio River basin alone • $159 million dollars to the wood market • Millions to billions of dollars spent in order to restore historical

buildings • $60,000 on average for people to repaint cars and other

vehicles • Unfortunately, methods for reduction of acid rain are not only

not simple but also are very costly.• Acid rain raises taxes and puts a hole in everyone’s wallet.

Whether you are just repainting your car, contributing to a road being fixed by paying a toll, or restoring the Statue of Liberty, the figures all add up and severely hurt the United States and World economically.

• Acid Rain creates problems for fishermen because it pollutes the lakes, killing the fish, and making it harder for them to catch healthy fish to sell. – When the acid rain enters the water, it causes the

water to become acidic and kills small life forms, which in turn causes larger life forms to die with lose of food sources.

• Acid Rain also deprives trees, plants, and soil of essential nutrients as well as creating other harm to the plants, which results in death• Because crops and other plants are unable to grow

without the presence of certain nutrients, economically agriculture suffers in the world

• In Addition to agriculture, forestry also takes a big hit since trees and other forest life die out due to acid rain

• Industries lose lots of money and lose their product due to acid rains destructiveness

How Does Acid Rain Affect Humans?

• It causes problems such as asthma, dry coughs, headaches, nose, eye & throat irritations. It can also damage and irritate your lungs. It can cause liver problems and give one diarrhea

• It can also cause in the drying of the skin & bacterial infections which could become deadly! It can get pretty ugly.

Direct Affects Of Acid Rain On Humans

• The main direct affect of acid rain on humans is respiratory problems such as dry coughs & asthma.

• Another direct affect is through the acid precipitation. The precipitation breaks up toxic metals which can ease up into our water sources. Scientists have found a high concentration of mercury in some lakes, so eating fish in those lakes could be…DEADLY!

• The mercury could be linked to brain damage among children with nerve disorders.

Indirect Affects of Acid Rain on Humans

• Though it doesn’t directly affect us, the acid rain can cause the toxic metals to come up from the ground and dissolve in the vegetables that we eat.

• Animals also consume these vegetables.

• Thus, we consume toxic metals which could be dangerous to our well being.

Consequences of Acid Rain On People

• Acid Rain could be DEADLY to the human environment. Not by hitting the skin, but by the internal affects it causes such as lung, liver, brain, and kidney problems.

• By reducing the amount of acid rain, there will be less disease and premature death.

How to Help Reduce Acid Rain • Energy production and the use of fossil fuels

causes the largest quantity of acid rain o Individuals can help by: turning off appliances

when not in use, use energy efficient appliances, keep thermostat at 68 ˚ F in the winter and 72 ˚ F in the summer [no higher], walk or bicycle when possible, install a low-flow shower head, let clothes and dishes air dry as much as possible, install compact fluorescent bulbs, drive hybrid cars, turn off hot water tank when going away or for long periods of times, cover pool when not in use, change to a low maintenance landscape, and be well informed!

Reducing Acidity of Lakes

• Limestone or Lime can be added to acidic lakes to “cancel out” the acidity.– Liming is a short term

remedy that is hardly used in the United States due to its high cost.

– BUT it can help fish and water when done repeatedly

Benefits Of Acid Rain

• Acid rain pollution could be helping to slow down global warming!– They believe it reduces the amount of the

greenhouse gas, methane, produced by natural wetlands.

• Acid rain can also help support some life forms.– Lake-bottom plants and mosses and blackfly

larvae benefit from and increase in acidity.

The End!Chemistry by: Katerina Athanasiou

Biology by: Lucille Zipf

Economy by: Kimberly Weston

Heath Affects by: Mallory Guarino