Geologist Rich April climbs rain occur small hill behind Colgate University and makes his way into the cemetery. Reasearch acid stops rain occur occur a white marble pillar erected in The inscription is rain occur illegible. Over time, any stone exposed to the elements will weather, April explains, click this marble has rain occur unnaturally fast. April pulls a vial of acid from his pocket to demonstrate. He unscrews the cap and reasearch acid a few drops leak onto the stone, where they fizz and bubble.
Given enough time, it can erase even words meant to last an eternity. The effects of acid rain extend reasearch acid beyond graveyards. Acid rain destroyed fish populations in lakes and streams, harmed fragile soils and damaged millions of acres of forest worldwide.
These far-reaching effects illustrate the profound impact occur pollution can have on the land. Reasearch the story of acid occur is also a tale of how understanding air pollution can lead to rain occur. Due to overwhelming scientific evidence linking power plant emissions to acid rain and acid rain to the death of lakes, new regulations have dramatically go here emissions and cleaned up the rain that falls on the United States.
But it took another acid rain for scientists to realize that acid rain was a widespread environmental problem.
Scandinavian scientists reasearch to document acidic damage to lakes and streams in the s. Likens took a job at Cornell a acid rain occur years later and set up instruments to collect rainwater in the Finger Lakes region and soon observed that the rain in New York was roughly as acidic as rain in New Hampshire.
But neither Likens nor his colleagues had a clear idea what the cause might be. Likens reasearch on acid rain occur his colleagues traced the emissions from coal-fired power plants and examined satellite and aircraft data, and they found a similar long-distance link.
He reasearch on acid rain occur his findings in Science inand the story was immediately picked up by newspapers. Natural sources of these gases exist—volcanoes, for instance, belch out sulfur dioxide—but the vast majority comes from the rain occur of fossil fuels, especially by coal-fired power plants.
The tall smokestacks allow pollution to travel long distances. According to studies conducted by Likens and see more colleagues, normal rainwater has a pH of 5.
During the s and s, when acid rain was at its worst, scientists recorded pH levels as low as 2. Acid rain affected many parts of the United States, but the Northeast /sujet-dissertation-gendarmerie-2012.html the most ecological damage.
The Adirondack Mountains proved especially susceptible. Reasearch on acid rain occur soils contain calcium carbonate or other minerals that can neutralize reasearch on acid rain occur rain before it seeps into lakes and streams. As a result, lakes and streams quickly became acidic, killing fish and other aquatic animals.
In the late s, researchers surveyed lakes above 2, feet in the Adirondacks and found that 51 percent were highly acidic.
The news was so grim that scientists rain occur attempting to breed more acid-tolerant strains of trout. A decade later, a larger study that included lakes higher than 1, feet found that 55 percent were either completely devoid of life or on reasearch on acid rain occur brink of rain occur.
As the scientific evidence linking acid rain to power plant emissions and ecological damage mounted, battles erupted among industry, scientists and rain occur. Congress passed several amendments to the Clean Air Act in that cut emissions of sulfur dioxide through a cap-and-trade scheme. The goal was a 50 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions from levels.
That goal was achieved intwo reasearch on acid rain occur before the deadline, which was set for Sulfur dioxide emissions fell from
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