Acid Precipitation

Acid Precipitation

Zaina Al Fulaij

Nouf Al Mudhaf

Nassima Al Khalid

International Conflict

One problem in controlling acid precipitation is that pollutants may be released in one geographical area and fall to the ground hundreds of kilometers away.

• For example,almost half of the acid precipitation that falls in southeastern Canada results from pollution produced in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

On humans

Aluminum and mercury can be released to the environment when soil increases, they can poison the human body.

Causes of acid precipitation on humans can:

– Decrease the numbers of fish affect commercial fishermen and the sport-fishing industry

– Trees are damaged by acid precipitation

– Acid precipitation can dissolve the calcium carbonate in common building materials, such as concrete.

Acid Shock

Acid shock is the sudden run off of large amounts of highly acidic water into lakes and streams when snow melts in the spring or when heavy rains follow a drought.

-This phenomenon causes large numbers of fish to die, and affects the reproduction of fish and amphibians that remain.

– Produce fewer eggs, and those eggs often do not hatch.

– Offspring that do survive end up with birth defects and cannot reproduce.

Aquatic Ecosystems

Aquatic animals are adapted to live in an environment with a particular pH range.

- it can kill aquatic plants and animals.

It can also cause aluminum to leach out of the soil surrounding a lake.

– Aluminum accumulates in the gills of fish and interferes with oxygen and salt exchange. Fish become suffocated.

What Causes Acid Precipitation

-Acid precipitation is precipitation, such as rain, sleet, or snow that contains a high concentration of acids, often because of the pollution of the atmosphere.

-When fossil fuels are burned,they release oxides of sulfur and nitrogen.

-When these oxides combine with water in the atmosphere they form sulfuric acid and nitric acid, which falls as acid precipitation.

PH scale

-A pH number is a value that is used to express the acidity or alkalinity (basicity) of a system.

-Each whole number on the scale indicates a tenfold change in acidity.

– A pH of7 is neutral.

– A pH of less than 7 is acidic.

– A pH of greater than 7 is basic.

Pure water has a pH of 7.0, while normal precipitation has a pH of about 5.6

What causes acid precipitation

-This acidic water flows over and through the ground, and into lakes, rivers, and streams.

-Acid precipitation can kill living things, and can result in the decline or loss of some local animal and plant populations.

How Acid Precipitation Affects Soils and Plants

-Acid precipitation can cause a drop in the pH of soil and water. This increase in the concentration of acid is called acidification.

-When the acidity of soil increases, some nutrients are dissolved and washed away by rainwater.

-It also causes aluminum and other toxic metal stobe released and possibly absorbed by the roots of plants causing root damage.

-Sulfur dioxide in water vapor clogs the openings on the surfaces of plants.