Acid Rain

What is Acid Rain?

Acid rain is a result of air pollution. When any type of fuel is burnt, lots of different chemicals
are produced. The smoke that comes from a fire or the fumes that come out of a car exhaust don't
just contain the sooty grey particles that you can see they also contains lots of invisible gases that
can be even more harmful to our environment. Power stations, factories and cars all burn fuels
and therefore they all produce polluting gases. Some of these gases (especially nitrogen oxides
and sulphur dioxide) react with the tiny droplets of water in clouds to form sulphuric and nitric
acids. The rain from these clouds then falls as very weak acid which is why it is known as "acid
rain".

How acidic is acid rain?

Acidity is measured using a scale called the pH scale. This scale goes from 0 to 14. 0 is the
most acidic and 14 is the most alkaline (opposite of acidic). Something with a pH value of 7,
we call neutral, this means that it is neither acidic nor alkaline. Very strong acids will burn if
they touch your skin and can even destroy metals. Acid rain is much, much weaker than this,
never acidic enough to burn your skin. Rain is always slightly acidic because it mixes with
naturally occurring oxides in the air. Unpolluted rain would have a pH value of between 5 and 6.
When the air becomes more polluted with nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide the acidity can
increase to a pH value of 4. Some rain has even been recorded as being pH 2. Vinegar has a pH
value of 2.2 and lemon juice has a value of pH2.3. Even the strongest recorded acid rain is only
about as acidic as lemon juice or vinegar and we know that these don't harm us so why do we
worry about acid rain?

Effects of Acid Rain:

We generally consider acid rain to affect areas which are downwind of pollution generating sites.
The northeastern United States, for instance, suffers from acid precipitation generated both
locally and by coal fired plants in the mid-western states. As a result, ecosystem damage is
localized. However, acid precipitation can be caused by some natural events (volcanic eruptions,
erosion and oxidation of organic-rich sedimentary rocks) and some catastrophic events (bolide
impact) which increase the amounts of CO2, NOx and SO2 in the atmosphere. As a result, it is
important to understand the effects of acid rain on animals inorder to evaluate both possible
causes for past extinction events, as well as the potential for modern ecosystem damage. Acid
Formation in the Atmosphere First, let us review some basic chemistry as it applies to acid
precipitation. Carbonic acid forms naturally in the atmosphere due to the reaction of water (H2O)
and carbon dioxide (CO2),

H2O + CO2]= H2CO3

while the burning of coal and other organics adds sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Nitrous oxides
(NOx) to the atmosphere where they react to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid,

2SO2 + H2O + O2 = 2H2SO4

4NO2 + 2H2O + O2 -> 4HNO3
 All of these acids will be buffered by reacting with rocks, minerals, etc. on the earth's surface.
The most important (and fastest) buffering comes from the reaction with (weathering of) calcite
in the form of limestone, dolomite or marble.
H2CO3 + CaCO3 = 2HCO3 + Ca+2

When this reaction occurs, the acid is neutralized and the calcite dissolved. While the reaction
with calcite is very fast (the standard test for calcite in introductory geology labs is to put very
dilute acid on a sample to see if it bubbles (reacts)), the reaction with other rocks is very slow, so
most of the acid is not affected. This is why ponds in the Adirondacks became acidified
(non-calcite rock in those areas), while Lake Champlain (abundant calcitic bedrock) did not. The
degree of acidification is the pH of the water, which is defined as the negative logarithm of the
concentration of hydrogen ion (H+), or
pH = -log [H+].
(This to a certain degree comes from the old definition of an acid as a proton donor. A hydrogen
ion is little more than a proton, so think of it as the amount of free protons floating around). A
pH of 7 is considered neutral, while a pH less than 7 is considered acidic. For example, wine has
a pH of about 3.5 and your stomach digestive fluids have a pH of about 1.9. We should also be
aware that increased acidity does not have to be constant, but instead can be episodic. High
surface water discharge events (storms, snowmelts) can increase the pH of streams and ponds to
dangerous levels for short times.

Some of the adverse effects of acid rain are as follows:

Acid rain may cause extensive damage to materials and terrestrial ecosystems such as water, fish,
vegetation, soils, building etc.

(a) Effect of acid rain in human beings:

1. Acidification effect human nervous system, respiratory system and digestive system.

2. Acid contaminates with potable water and enter mans body. The heavy metals released by
acid rain may cause potential threat to human health.

3. Acidification of drinking water reservoirs and concurrent increase in heavy metal

concentration may cause injurious effects.

(b) Effect of acid rain on Aquatic Biota:

1. Many bacteria and blue green algae are killed due to acidification, disrupting the whole
ecological balance.
2. Acidic water can also leach aluminium from the soil. This runoff carry dissolved aluminium to
lakes, rivers and streams. This cause death of fish by clogging its gills and deprives it of oxygen.

3. Fresh water lakes are fairly alkaline with Ca2+ and Mg2+ and HC03~ as the dominant ions.

Phytoplankton and zooplankton are affected by acidity of water.

4. Snails, clams, oysters etc. having their shells of calcium carbonate are among the forest
animals to die in acidic lakes.

(c) Effect of acid rain on terrestrial ecosystem:

1. Demineralization of soil occurs. Cation like Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+ are leached away and

replaced by acid cations such as M+, Al3+ ions.

2. Nitrogen fixation ability of nitrifying bacteria diminishes rapidly below pH 6.

3. Acidification of soil adversely affects soil fauna and lead to reduced forest productivity.

4. Acid rain has retarded the growth of vegetables such as pea, beans, raddish, spinach, carrot
etc.

(d) Injury to vegetation:

1. Continuous chronic exposure to low levels of acidic water causes diffuse chlorosis in the
leaves of the plants.

2. Acidic water containing S02 affects the functional cells near the stomata.
(e) Effect of Acid rain on Building material:
1. Acid rain causes extensive damage to buildings and structural material of marble,

limestone,salte etc. The attack of acid in marble is termed as Stone leprosy.

CaCO3 + H2SO4CaSO4 + H2O + CO2

2. Acid rain corrodes houses, monuments, statues, bridges, fences and railing that require huge
cost for maintenance every year.
3. Acid precipitation causes damage to steel, oil based paints and automobile coatings. It
disintegrates textile and paper etc.