Acid Rain

Acid rain is a cancer on the face of North America and the World. In the United States, 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 make up the rest. In the air, the sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can be transformed into sulphuric acid and nitric acid. These Acids can travel worldwide riding the different air currents like a pollution highway. When these acids fall to the earth they pollute and scar everything they make contact with including you (Got Milk).

Some areas of the Earth are better suited for dealing with acid rain than others. This is because compounds found in the region like limestone, magnesium, or calcium which is alkaline (antacids).

Danger ... Nitric Acid

Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill]...

English: From the EPA website on acid rain http://...

These alkaline compounds help to neutralize the polluted solution as they make contact with it. These alkaline solvents are also absorbed by all living things in that ecosystem. This absorption helps to make the plant or animal more resistant to the effect of battery acid falling out of the sky. However, large areas of the Western United States near Oklahoma, with quartzite or granite based geology and little top soil offer little buffering capacity to neutralize even small amounts of acid rain (the dust bowl).One would think that during a drought rain would be a welcomed event but in reality it is probably doing more damage than good. Therefore over time, the basic environment shifts from an alkaline to an acidic one. This is why many lakes and oceans around the world are in danger of loosing their fisheries. The average mean of pH rainfall in Lake Erie ranges between...