Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … heavily-increasing industrialized world, sulfur oxide emissions and other oxidizing gases have become problematic within the planet's atmosphere. These emissions cause acid rain, which has become detrimental to both the atmosphere and the Earth's environment over the years. While there have been numerous instances in which the United States and Europe have attempted to curb industrial emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen dioxides, the environment's return to a less acidic pH will take longer than expected. Acid precipitation has hit the lakes and streams the hardest, and even with the decrease of emissions, the acidity of said lakes and streams, for the most part, have remained the same.
Cause of Acid Rain
Acid rain, or "acid precipitation" as most scientists call it, is the "common name for [a] form of air pollution," which harms the environment ("Acid Rain"). This...
When combined with the atmospheric moisture of the air, the chemical reaction between the oxides and the moisture cause the production of acids -- sulfur and nitric acids. These acids mingle into the air until they are displaced once more through snow or sleet ("Acid Rain"). Additionally, acid precipitation can also fall from the sky in dry form, usually in the form of gases or other non-liquid or non-solid particles.
Scientists measure acidity using the pH scale. The acidity scale falls around the range of 1-7, where the lower the number, the higher the acidity. A neutral base would be water, which holds a pH of 7. "Nonpolluted rain tends to be slightly acidic, [with a] pH of 5.6 due to the presence of carbonic acid from [the] carbon dioxide in [the] air" ("Acid Rain"). On…
In the West, the problem of acid rain has been taken seriously since the 1972 United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in Sweden first presented the scientific data documenting the issues (Crittenden & White, 2010; Shah, Nagpal, Johnson, et al., 2000). Further investigation continued throughout the next two decades and led to serious efforts to reduce SO2 and NOx emissions. However, Asia faces significant ecological and human health issues attributable to those emissions as a result of rapidly increasing industrialization and fossil fuel consumption (Matthews, Hendrickson, and Weber, 2008; Shah, Nagpal, Johnson, et al., 2000)
Because of the tremendous economic growth in many Asian nations, energy use has increased proportionately but without any significant effort to reduce environmental impact. According to current calculations, the demand for power in Asia will double approximately every decade in the near future. Fossil fuel consumption accounts for approximately 80% of all commercial energy in Asia, primarily in the form of coal. Current projections are that coal burning will continue to increase as much as 7% annually (Shah, Nagpal, Johnson, et al., 2000)
On one hand, environmental monitoring in Asia has not been conducted in the manner in which it has in the
Air Pollution The air that surrounds us is a mixture of 78% nitrogen; 21% oxygen; less than 1% of carbon dioxide, argon, and other gases; and varying amounts of water vapor. Any other particles, gases or unoriginal constituents hanging in the air which are not part of its original composition are called 'Pollutants' and this kind of air is called Polluted Air. Even inhaling small amounts of such air pollutants can
Obama energy policy in relation to the economy of the United State of America's 21st century economy. It begins with a general description of the policies and then proceeds and outlines the various elements of the policy. After the analysis the paper then presents the criticisms that are waged against the policy. A conclusions and recommendations are then presented at the end of the paper. These are geared towards
Business Nuclear power, under current conditions, is characterized by much lower regular emissions compared to energy from fossil fuel burning. But, it poses its own unique hazards, of which the most notable is risk of industrial accidents (e.g. Chernobyl) that have acute, long-term repercussions over huge areas. There are also security risks presented by vast inventories of materials that have the potential of being utilized as nuclear weapons; fossil fuels pose
Compare and Contrast ArticlesThe United States has long been a leading nation in energy consumption, with demand only increasing as the years go on. As such, energy policy is a hotly contested topic, with there being a wide range of opinions on the best way to move forward. This paper will be comparing and contrasting two articles that take opposing views on energy policy in the United States. The first