Essay on Causes of Acid Rain

The acid rain which is also known as acid deposition denotes any precipitation form that is composed of acidic deposits or components. The deposits may include sulfuric acid and nitric acid. The form nitric acid will, therefore, fall to the ground in the form of rain or dry deposits. Acidic deposits fall to the earth in the form of hail, fog, mist dust, and rain. A dry deposits form of acid rain may stick to plants, the ground, and other tangible surfaces. The pure form of water has a pH of 7. Any pH below 7 suggests that the water or rain has got acidic deposits. Normal unpolluted rain is said to have a pH not less than 5.7, and therefore, any pH less than the value suggests that the rain is highly acidic.

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Causes of Acid Rain

According to Xu and Xin-hui, the natural presence of carbon (iv) oxide in the air results in a reaction with water in the atmosphere resulting in weak carbonic acid as a result of a chemical reaction as shown below.

CO2 (g) + H2O (l) H2CO3 (aq)

Ionization of the carbonic acid in water, therefore, results in the formation of carbonate ions and hydronium ions as shown below.

H2O (l ) + H2CO3 + (aq) H2O+ (aq)+ HCO3(aq)

The above reaction equations take place in the atmosphere resulting to acidic deposits in the atmosphere. The acidic deposits are later dragged to the surface of the earth when there is rainfall, mist occurrence or fog. Secondly, acidic rain is caused by chemical reaction of nitrous components with atmosphere forming nitric acid (An Acid Rain Chronology.).

Individual response to acid rain

The response to conserve the environment from acid is not only the work of government agencies and scientists. As an individual, I can play a role towards being part of the solution. My first step is to understand the problem. Understanding the problem caused by acid rain will help provide me with a basis to use when telling other people about the environmental issues caused by acid rain. Informing the people around me about the problem caused by acid rain is a big step towards ensuring that better part of our community gets the facts about acid rain. I would suggest a reduction of the number of motor vehicle on the roads by replacing private transport with public means. Conserving energy on a personal level is my third solution. Energy productions are a major cause of acid rain (Singh, Anita, and Madhoolika Agrawal 15) and my most important step would be to conserve energy. An example of such steps would be to turn off lights, encouraging my parents and siblings to buy equipment that is not electricity dependent.

How global community should respond to acid rain problem

The global community can restore damage environments through the liming process. Community to ensure they have repaired damages that were caused by acid rain should practice liming process. Liming is performed through addition of lime on the acidic surface. The global community should also practice the use of alternative energy sources. An example of such energy sources is wind energy, nuclear power, geothermal power and solar power. When the global community utilizes these forms of energy, then electrical power will automatically get a replacement. The overall outcome will reduce fossil fuels that are major causes of acid rain. The people should be educated on the importance of finding an alternative transportation, which is not cars. Finding the alternative mode of transport is the best solution that community can provide towards ensuring that fossils fuels are reduced. People should use public transit, bikes, and feet as an alternative to personal vehicles. People should be thought the importance of planting garden. It is something great to plant trees since it will ensure ease absorption of carbon dioxide. People should also learn to say no to plastic. The fossil fuel that is a major cause of acid rain can be traced to the manufacturing of chemicals and plastics. When people reduce the use of plastics bags, then they automatically reduce the number of fossil fuels that could have caused acid rain.

Works cited

Singh, Anita, and Madhoolika Agrawal. "Acid rain and its ecological consequences." Journal of environmental biology 29.1 (2007): 15.

XU, Xin-hui, and Hong-wen GAO. "Analysis of the Distribution and Causes of Acid Rain in Southern China [J]." Sichuan Environment 4 (2011): 034.

An Acid Rain Chronology. https://nepis.epa.gov. The United States Environmental Protection Agency. 1986. Web. 23 Apr 2017.