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Acid Rain

Acid rain is rain that is more acidic than
normal. Acid rain is a complicated problem.
Caused by air pollution, acid rain's spread
and damage involves weather, chemistry,
soil, and the life cycles of plants and animals
on the land and from acid rain in the water.

Scientists have discovered that air pollution
from the burning of fossil fuels is the major
cause of acid rain. Power plants and
factories burn coal and oil. Power plants use
that coal and oil to produce the electricity we
need to heat and light our homes and to run
our electric appliances. We also burn
natural gas, coal, and oil to heat our homes.

The smoke and fumes from burning fossil
fuels rise into the atmosphere and combine
with the moisture in the air to form acid rain.
The main chemicals in air pollution that
create acid rain are sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides. Acid rain usually forms high
in the clouds where sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides react with water, oxygen,
and oxidants. This forms a mild solution of
sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Sunlight
increases the rate of most of these
reactions. Rainwater, snow, fog, and other
forms of precipitation containing those mild
solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids fall to the
earth as acid rain.

Water moves through every living plant and
animal, streams, lakes, and oceans in the
hydrologic cycle. In that cycle, water
evaporates from the land and sea into the
atmosphere. Water in the atmosphere then
condenses to form clouds. Clouds release
the water back to the earth as rain, snow, or
fog. When water droplets form and fall to the
earth they pick up particles and chemicals
that float in the air. Even clean, unpolluted
air has some particles such as dust or
pollen. Clean air also contains naturally
occurring gases such as carbon dioxide.
The interaction between the water droplets
and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
and to a lesser extent, from chlorine which is
derived from the salt in the...