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Acid Rain

Acid Rain

THOUGHTS ON ACID RAIN

Acid rain is a serious problem with disastrous effects. Each day
this serious problem increases, many people believe that this
issue is too small to deal with right now this issue should be
met head on and solved before it is too late. In the following
paragraphs I will be discussing the impact has on the wildlife
and how our atmosphere is being destroyed by acid rain.

CAUSES

Acid rain is a cancer eating into the face of Eastern Canada and
the North Eastern United States. In Canada, the main sulphuric
acid sources are non-ferrous smelters and power generation. On
both sides of the border, cars and trucks are the main sources
for nitric acid(about 40% of the total), while power generating
plants and industrial commercial and residential fuel combustion
together contribute most of the rest. In the air, the sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen oxides can be transformed into sulphuric
acid and nitric acid, and air current can send them thousands of
kilometres from the source.When the acids fall to the earth in
any form it will have large impact on the growth or the
preservation of certain wildlife.

NO DEFENCE

Areas in Ontario mainly southern regions that are near the Great
Lakes, such substances as limestone or other known antacids can
neutralize acids entering the body of water thereby protecting
it. However, large areas of Ontario that are near the Pre-
Cambrian Shield, with quartzite or granite based geology and
little top soil, there is not enough buffering capacity to
neutralize even small amounts of acid falling on the soil and the
lakes. Therefore over time, the basic environment shifts from an
alkaline to a acidic one. This is why many lakes in the Muskoka,
Haliburton, Algonquin, Parry Sound and Manitoulin districts could
lose their fisheries if sulphur emissions are not reduced
substantially.

ACID

The...