Acid Rain, Causes And Effects

Rain is the great blessing of God. When it rains it is said that God is showering all his love and blessings on mother nature. However when it is acid rain, God is cursing the cruel manner in which man is exploiting the nature. Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, i.e. elevated levels of hydrogen ions. This can occur due to volcanoes and lightning strikes but the major cause of acid rain is the release of high levels of harmful gases by vehicles and factories. Acid rain is caused by emissions of compounds of ammonium, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids.

The damaging effects of acid rain are seen on the forests, soil, and flora fauna and on human health. It is also one of the main reasons of extinction of certain life forms. There are two forms of acid disposition:

1. Wet deposition: It occurs when any form of precipitation i-e rain, snow, etc. removes acids from the atmosphere and transfers it to the Earth's surface. This can result from the deposition of acids produced in the raindrops or by the precipitation removing the acids either in clouds or below clouds.

2.      Dry deposition: It occurs through dry deposition in the absence of precipitation. This can be responsible for as much as 20 to 60% of total acid deposition. This occurs when particles and gases stick to the ground, plants or other surfaces.

 Harmful effects of acid rain are as follows:

·        Acid rain corrodes the protective covering of leaves of the plants, which affects the photosynthesis of the plants. Due to lack of nutrition, plants become vulnerable to diseases.

·        Lack of nutrition for trees may be due to acid rain getting absorbed by the soil. The harmful acids can have hazardous effects on the roots of the trees.

·        Soil has abundant amount of various metals and minerals, when these metals come in contact with acid rain there can be some harmful chemical reactions and leads to soil erosion.

·        Acid rains affect the pH level of the water which reduces the absorption capacity of essential nutrients of the aquatic life. This also hampers the reproduction process in fish leading to weak or brittle eggs.

·        Acid rains can pollute the drinking water which leads to various health hazards. The release of various gases in the atmosphere leads to lung problems. Some scientists have related the cause of premature death to environmental pollution.