Acid rain is a common term for pollution caused when sulfur and nitrogen dioxides combine with atmospheric moisture to produce a rain, snow, or hail of sulfuric and nitric acids. Such pollution may also be suspended in a fog, or the pollutants may be deposited in dry form. Environmental damage from acid rain has been reported in northern Europe and North America. High levels of acid rain have also been detected in other areas of the world, such as above the tropical rain forest of Africa. Acid rain has destroyed plant and animal life in lakes, damaged forests and crops, endangered marine life in coastal waters, eroded structures, and contaminated drinking water. Research has shown that although some of the damage attributed to acid rain is a result of natural causes, sulfur dioxide from oil and coal combustion and nitrogen oxides produced from automobile engines have greatly intensified the acid rain problem. Winds can carry the pollutants thousands of kilometers away from their......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 601
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |