Formation of Acid Rain - Research Paper Example

? Impacts of Acid Rain on Central and Southern China Introduction In the world today, there are many effects of acid rains which impacts negatively on the environment in which the creatures find their life and get their food. The effects of the negative effects on the environment can be felt as a result of chemicals that are disposed without treatment. The substances that cause environmental pollution can take different forms which may be solid, liquid or gaseous and which can be released into the environment directly or indirectly through from an industry. Environmental pollution take the form of air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution among others that affect the general livelihood of the people who live in certain areas of the world. One of the effects of the environmental pollution is the production of acid rains, which has been witnessed in many parts of the world as a result of excessive emission of substances with hydrogen ions into the atmosphere. The effect is that the hydrogen ions combine with the environmental water to produce an acidic substance which falls to the ground as rain and it has very many negative impacts. Acid rain has its water with a pH value which is lower than the normal pH7 for neutral substances such as clean water, which contain no hydrogen ions or hydroxide ions. The pH value of water in the acid rain can be lower than seven as a result of emission of carbon (IV) oxide, oxides of sulphur and those of nitrogen (Chen, Li & Gao, 2010). The water that result from acid rains are as cannot be healthy for drinking and has a corrosive impact on the metal substances as well as negative impacts on the plants, which may be seen through falling of young plant leaves. To some other things like clothes and paintings, the acid rains can have a bleaching effect in addition to corrosion that happens (Ribeiro, Taffarel, Sampaio, Flores & Silva, 2013). This implies that acid rains are not in any way friendly to the environment in which they are experienced and they can lead to devastating impacts on vegetation cover in a given place. In evaluation of the impact of acid rains on the environments, it is important to consider its impacts on the forest cover and other species with a focus of the issues experienced in the Southern and Central China. Formation of acid rain Acid rains are formed mostly as a result of combustion of fossil fuels which lead to emission of sulphur and nitrogen oxides that are released to the environment. The problem happens when sulphurous and nitrogenous products in their gaseous forms go to the atmosphere and combine with the water. When a react fossil fuels consisting of sulphur as an impurity burn, they form a gaseous product known as sulphur (IV) oxide, which rises to the atmosphere and combine with other components thereof. In the presence of hydroxyl radicals, the sulphur (IV) oxide is oxidised to sulphur (VI) oxide, which reacts with atmospheric water molecules to form sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The acid rain that results from sulphur oxides contributes to about 70% of the acid rains in the environment all over the world (Ribeiro, Taffarel, Sampaio, Flores & Silva, 2013). On the other hand, nitrogen oxides, which make nitric acid rains, are formed as a result of combustion of fossil fuels which contain nitrogen particles as part of their components. When fuels are burned, they produce nitrogen oxide, NO, which is oxidised by the ozone (O3), and hydrogen dioxide (HO2), to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas, which is very reactive. In the reaction, the gas reacts with hydroxide ions in the atmosphere to form an acidic substance known as nitric acid, (HNO3). Both cases of sulphuric and nitric acid cause acid depositions into the earth when they fall to the ground from the atmosphere during the either rain seasons. The acid rains can reach the earth in high amounts or as few drops to the ground but have similar devastating effects on the living and the non-living things (Ribeiro, Taffarel, Sampaio, Flores & Silva, 2013). Effects of acid rains on forests and other species Acid rains have negative impacts on almost every object they touch and this implies that they are harmful to the environment in which they are experienced. The impacts of acid rains in the environment are diversified within the environment especially when looking at the damage they cause to living things (Weintraub, 2012). Acidic rain, coupled with other factors greatly affects the health of people and forests, it has led to stagnated growth of the forests and to extreme cases caused the death of the forests. Trees are affected by the rain on a number of ways, but generally it is through making them weak through making the roots of the trees unable to absorb nutrients and other minerals, this is because acidic rain dissolves the mineral easily and they are swept away before they are absorbed by the trees making the trees weaker. Over and above that acidic rains introduce some poisonous substances to the soil which when absorbed by the trees it kills them, such substances include but not limited to aluminum. Also when the acidic rain falls in the leaves, it destroys them making them less resistant to diseases hence frequent attacks by all manner of plant diseases, this makes the trees weaker to survive in extreme weather conditions such as strong winds or heavy rainfall or even droughts. The acidity brought about by the rain also kills the microorganisms in the soil which are very important for aeration and fertility of the soil leading to stunted growth of the trees. Since all the living creatures are all weaved into an intricate food chains, when one of them is affected, everyone else is affected. When the plants are affected those animals that depend on plants for food and habitat are also affected reducing their population. Similarly when acidic rains fall, it causes toxic substances such as mercury and aluminum to be brought up and swept to the lakes where they poison the fish and other aquatic life leading to death since aquatic life cannot survive below pH levels of 5.0 (Chen, Li & Gao, 2010). Effects of acid rains on Central China As the world’s greatest consumer of coal products, China is faced is adversely affected by the impact acid rains in the most of its cities due to emission of sulphur (IV) oxide gas. This negative impact is felt within and without Chinese cities as can be witnessed through the analysis of hazards caused on the humans, buildings and scenic spots around the towns in the area. In many parts of the central China, there are high frequencies of acid rains that are experienced within the cities, which range from about 40 to around 60% of the total precipitation. This means that it remains a major threat to the livelihood of the Chinese considering its intensity and its high frequency in different cities (Weintraub, 2012). General trend of the frequency of occurrence of acid rains in some cities in China over the past eight years Most cities have experienced high level of pollutions that have been facilitated by the increased use of fuels which contain sulphur impurities which have contributed to acid rains. In the past, the have been a correlation between the concentration of the people and the amount of acid rains experienced in different towns in China. In China, the lowly populated northern areas of the area have experienced less contamination of water and less pollution than most of the eastern and southern parts of China, which are highly populated and are developing at a high speed in terms of industry. The number of negative impacts on the people and buildings in China has risen to such levels that the amount of the level of acid rain frequency has risen to be levels that are almost that which is experienced in the whole of Europe (Weintraub, 2012). Causes of pollution in China as could be reported in the past few years. With the economic expansion and industrialization in china, increased demand for energy has been on a sharp rise especially in the late 70’s and 80’s. Because of this, burning of coal to produce energy has been widespread especially in southern and south west China, and this has led to formation of SO2 and NO2 which causes the acidic rain. Due to the rampant sulphur in the clouds, acidic rain has been widely experienced in the southern parts of China. Agriculture, which was also practised in southern parts of China, contributed to disposition of NO2 in the atmosphere, also in southwest China, whereas the average concentration of sulphur in coal is about 1%, there it goes up to 4% (Chen, Li & Gao, 2010). Comparing southern China with the European countries which develop earlier, the effects experienced in those countries include, death of forest in those areas close to the emission sites, this has been more rampant in Canada, America and the U.K. In southern china, two types of emissions have been observed; they are dry emission where the precipitation is in form of gases and the wet emission where the precipitation is in form of rainfall (Chen, Li & Gao, 2010). Conclusion As much as the people are using fossil fuels, there is a direct or direct danger on the lives of people and other living things because the emissions that are released to the atmosphere combine to produce acid rains. The acid rains have resulted to destruction of the forest cover as well as causing devastating health complications to people and animals. On the other hand, people have experienced destruction of building and motor vehicles whose bodies are corroded and left in bad conditions. An action plan needs to be implemented to rid of, the areas affected with acid rains so as they can experience good environmental conditions, and through this action plan, people will be prevented from using fuels that emit a lot of gases that cause acid rains. References Chen, J., Li, W., & Gao, F. (2010). Biogeochemical effects of forest vegetation on acid precipitation-related water chemistry: a case study in southwest China. Journal of Environmental Monitoring : Jem, 12, 10, 1799-806. Ribeiro, J., Taffarel, S. R., Sampaio, C. H., Flores, D., & Silva, L. F. O. (2013). Mineral speciation and fate of some hazardous contaminants in coal waste pile from anthracite mining in Portugal. International Journal of Coal Geology, 15-23. Weintraub, L. (2012). To life!: Eco art in pursuit of a sustainable planet. Berkeley: University of California Press. Read More