A harmful impact of acid rain Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A harmful impact of acid rain - Research Paper Example Nitrogen compounds and Sulfur oxides are some of the major gases which are coming out from industrial units, vehicles and power plants. These gases have the ability to combine with hydrogen present in atmospheric moisture and the result would be acids like Nitric acid, Sulfuric acid, Hydro chloric acid etc. These acids spread in the atmosphere and referred as acid rain. These acids have immense destructive power upon human and plant life. It can also cause damages to soil and buildings. This paper argues that the industrial waste and the emissions from vehicles should be restricted in order to avoid acid rain and to save soil, buildings, human life and plant life. Our atmosphere consists of water particles (H2O) from rain, snow, dew, fog etc. The gases such as SO2, CO2, NO2 etc liberated from industrial units, vehicles, etc will react with atmospheric water and the result would be the formation of different types of acids. Some of the acid forming reactions are given below. H2O + CO2 H2CO3 (Carbonic acid) H2O + SO2 H2SO4 (Sulfuric acid) 2H2O +4NO2+O2 4HNO3 (Nitric acid) From the above equations, it is clear that carbonic acid is formed due to the reaction of carbon dioxide with atmospheric water whereas sulfuric acid is formed due to the reaction of sulfur dioxide with atmospheric water. ... As we all know, acidity is harmful to human health. It can affect our bodily functions in different manner. Acid rains can pollute fresh water or drinking water sources like, rivers, streams, ponds, wells etc immensely. When we consume water from these polluted water sources, acid enters our body and cause lot of health problems. Same way acid rain increases the acidity of soil which is not good for crops. As mentioned earlier, industrial wastes and the emissions from automobiles increase the concentration of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons etc in the atmosphere. These elements or compounds have the ability to react with water molecules under favorable conditions like heat, light, water etc. Ling et al (2010) investigated impacts of simulated acid rain (SAR) upon four types of soil enzymes, namely the catalase, acid phosphatase, urease, and amylase, in a latosol and concluded that acid rain had adverse environmental impacts on soil enzyme activities in the latosol Latosol is an acidic red soil and forms in the tropical rainforest biome. In general, the catalase, acid phosphatase, and urease activities increased with the SAR pH levels. However, the maximum amylase activity was found at pH 4.0 and decreased as the SAR pH increased from 4.0 to 5.0 or decreased from 4.0 to 2.5. (Ling et al). pH determines the fertility of the soil. In normal cases, the pH value of the soil is 7. When pH value lowers; it means the soil is getting acidic whereas when the pH value increase from the normal value; it means the soil is getting basic. Both higher pH value and lower pH value are equally dangerous for the crops. Yields from