What is Acid Rain?

People burn things every day. They burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to regenerate electricity for homes and offices, run motor vehicles for transport and manufacture goods to make our lives comfortable. People also burn things they no longer need, like rubbish. Sometimes trees are burnt to clear land for cultivation. Although burning is a necessary activity, it pollutes the air.

When fossil fuels and wood are burnt, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released. These pollutants to form tiny drops of acid are washed down from the sky. But if the atmosphere is very dry, the pollutants slowly descend and settle over homes, buildings, cars and trees. During a rainstorm these pollutants mix with rainwater to produce acids, which then seep into the ground or flow into streams and lakes. Even though the acids are formed and deposited¹ in several different ways, all of these processes arc referred to as acid rain.

The Effects of Acid Rain

3 Over time, acid rain causes damage in several ways. It dissolves materials such as marble and metal from which buildings and monuments are built. Many old buildings and beautiful statues in Europe have been destroyed in this way. Acid rain can cause lakes to become so acidic that no fish can live in them. Thousands of lakes in Canada and the United States are affected by this problem. Acid rain can weaken trees and cause them to die. Large areas of forests in Europe, North America and China have been destroyed in this manner. Acid rain can dissolve copper, aluminium and other metals in the ground and in metal pipes. This, in turn, can poison drinking water. Too much acid in the air can irritate our eyes and skin; it can also harm our lungs and give us breathing problems.

What can we do to help?

To reduce acid rain, we need to reduce the amount of acid pollutants in the air. We can begin by decreasing the number of motor vehicles on the road as they are the biggest source of acid pollutants. We can carpool, use public transport, walk or cycle to some of our destinations. We can fit our motor vehicles with catalytic converters to reduce the amount of pollutants in their exhaust gases. Industries can reduce the amount of pollutants they release into the air by installing devices to remove some of the pollutants from gases and smoke that come out of chimneys at power stations and factories.