Homework: Acid Rain Article - Assignment Example

Acid Rain Article There has been an increase in the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere thanks to industrial activities and many other human activities that lead to emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. When it rains there is occurrence of acidic rain which is cause by the formation of carbonic acid. There has been an increasing trend from the year 1700 to the year 2007 and further increases are expected in the year 2007.According to Fig 1, the rate at which the PH of rainwater is decreasing is directly proportional to the increase in the volume of CO2 in the atmosphere.

In fact is can be noticed that the rate at which the content of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing has gotten higher and higher since 1700. The graph logically predicts that this rate is likely to even get higher in the year 2050.In figure 2, it can be deduced that temperature might have an effect on the change in the PH of rain water. At 0o the rate at which the PH of rain water decreased was lower than when the temperatures were at 25o this can be translated to imply that higher temperatures can act as a catalyst to the decrease in PH (Bogan, Robert, Et al 267).

Figure 3 reveals that the rate of Calcium dissolution increased with the decrease in the PH of rainwater. This implies that the dissolution of Calcium is only likely to increase. As for Figure 4(a and b) there is a comparison between the PH equilibrium of rainwater and the equilibrium of Ca2+ concentration. Both graphs show that the PH equilibrium for rain water has been decreasing while the Ca2+concentration has been on the increase. The trend is expected to be the same all the way to 2050 if all factors remain constant.

Figure 5 give the relationship between temperatures and equilibrium constants. K0 decreases with the increase in temperature while K2 increases slightly. There is also a slight change in Ksp. Work citedBogan, Robert, Et al. Changes in Rainwater pH associated with Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide after the Industrial Revolution. Water Air Soil Pollut, 2009. Print.