Table of ContentsIntroductionWhat is acid rain?Effect of acid rainForestsPonds, lakes and streamsEffects of acid rain pollutants on humansEffects of acid rain on manufactured materials by manWhat do we do? ConclusionIntroductionMany human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, cause pollution. Pollution is the release of harmful substances called pollutants into the environment. Air pollution created by burning fossil fuels does not stay in the air forever. Instead, it can travel great distances and fall to the ground as dust or rain. When suspended chemicals and pollutants fall to Earth or are deposited, it is called deposition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Acid rain forms when clean rain comes into contact with pollutants in the air, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) . Although sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide occur naturally in the air, burning fossil fuels adds more of these chemicals to the air. When these pollutants are released into the air, they mix and react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form acid rain. Acid rain then falls to Earth where it can damage plants, animals, soil, water and building materials. What is acid rain? Acid rain can be defined or known as any form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning it has increased hydrogen ion levels. This can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure. Air pollution causes acid rain. Scientists have discovered that air pollution from burning fossil fuels is the main cause of acid rain. Power plants and factories burn coal, oil, and natural gas to produce the electricity we need to do all kinds of things, like light our homes and power our factories. Cars, trucks and planes also run on gasoline, a fossil fuel that emits smoke and fumes into the atmosphere. In the air, these pollutants combine with humidity to form acid rain. The main chemicals in air pollution that create acid rain are sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Acid rain typically forms high in clouds, where SO2 and NOx react with water and oxygen. This forms sulfuric acid and nitric acid in the atmosphere. Sunlight increases the speed of these reactions, and therefore the amount of acid in the atmosphere. Rainwater, snow, fog, and other forms of precipitation then mix with sulfuric and nitric acids in the air and fall to Earth as acid rain. Effect of acid rain on forests Acid rain causes significant damage to forests. This directly affects trees and other plants that are important to the ecosystem as a whole because they are primary producers. Primary producers are organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis, a series of chemical reactions that convert water into sugar using sunlight to provide energy. Plants and certain microscopic animals have this ability. Plants are important to ecosystems becausethey feed everything else and provide important habitat for other animals. If trees and plants are damaged by acid rain, the effects are felt throughout the ecosystem. Acid rain slows the growth of trees in forests and, in some sensitive species, can even cause leaves or needles to turn brown and fall off. Red spruce and sugar maple, two tree species found primarily in the East and New England, are very susceptible to damage from acid rain. Acid rain damages trees by dissolving calcium in the soil and tree leaves. This harms the tree because calcium is a mineral that trees need to grow. Once the calcium is dissolved, rain washes it away and trees and other plants can no longer use it to grow. Acid rain washes away other minerals and nutrients from the soil in the same way, causing nutritional deficiencies. This is why acid rain can slow tree growth. Nutritional deficiency causes other problems for trees and plants. Lack of nutrients weakens trees and makes them more sensitive to cold. A well-nourished tree in healthy soil will survive a very cold winter without difficulty, but a tree already weakened by a mineral deficiency may die during a cold winter. Weakened trees and plants are also more susceptible to insects and diseases. At the same time, acid rain causes substances such as aluminum to be released from the soil. Aluminum can be very harmful to trees and plants. Once released into the ground, aluminum can end up in streams, rivers and lakes, where it can harm or even kill fish. Less aluminum is released when precipitation is cleaner. The pollution that causes acid rain also causes haze by scattering light into the sky. Mist reduces the amount of light available for plants to use for photosynthesis. Since photosynthesis forms the basis of the food chain, acid rain can cause problems moving nutrients to other organisms in already affected ecosystems. Acid fogs further reduce the amount of photosynthesis. Fog can often be more acidic than precipitation. When leaves are frequently bathed in acidic mist, their protective waxy coating can wear away. Losing this layer damages the leaves and creates brown spots. The leaves are then unable to use photosynthesis to transform the sun's energy into the food needed for growth. When leaves are damaged, they cannot produce enough food energy to keep the tree healthy. Ponds, Lakes and Streams The effects of acid rain are most clearly seen in aquatic environments such as streams, lakes and marshes. Acid rain flows into streams, lakes and marshes after falling on forests, fields, buildings and roads. Acid rain also falls directly on aquatic habitats. Most lakes and streams have a pH between 6 and 8, because the buffering power of the soil generally neutralizes clean, slightly acidic rain. Lakes and streams become acidic (the pH value decreases) when the rainwater itself is so acidic that the surrounding soil cannot sufficiently buffer the rain to neutralize it. For this reason, some lakes located in areas where the soil does not have much buffering capacity are naturally acidic even without acid rain. In areas like the northeastern United States, where soil protection is poor,.