Acid rain is ... Acid rain: the reasons. The problem of acid rain

Acid rain ... This phrase in modern, especially urban life has become common. Often the dacha complains that after such unpleasant precipitation plants begin to wither, and in puddles appears whitish or yellowish plaque.

What it is

Science has a definite answer to the question of what is acid rain. These are all known types of precipitation, whose water value (pH) is below normal. The norm is considered to be pH 7. If the study shows an underestimation of this figure in the sediments, they are considered to be acidic. In conditions of the booming industrial boom acidity of rain, snow, fogs and hail is hundreds of times higher than normal.

Causes

Acid rain falls again and again. The causes lie in the toxic emissions of industrial facilities, the exhaust gases of cars, to a much lesser extent - in the decay of natural elements. The atmosphere is overfilled with sulphurous and nitric oxides, hydrogen chloride and other acid-forming compounds. The result is acid rain.

There are precipitation and alkaline content. They note the presence of calcium ions or ammonia. To them, too, the concept of "acid rain." This is due to the fact that, falling into a body of water or soil, such precipitation affects the change in the water-alkaline balance.

What is the result of acid-bearing precipitation

Nothing good oxidation of the surrounding nature, of course, does not entail. Acid rain is extremely harmful. The causes of death of vegetation after precipitation of such precipitation lie in the fact that many useful elements are leached from the earth with acids, besides, contamination with dangerous metals is observed: aluminum, lead and others. Contaminated sediments cause mutations and death of fish in water bodies, inappropriate development of vegetation in rivers and lakes. In the usual environment, they also have a disastrous effect: they greatly contribute to the destruction of natural facing materials, cause accelerated corrosion of metal structures.

Having become acquainted with the general characteristic of this atmospheric phenomenon, it can be concluded that the problem of acid rain is one of the most urgent from the point of view of ecology.

Scientific research

It is important to elaborate on the scheme of chemical pollution of nature. Acid rain is the cause of a number of disturbances in the environment. There was such a characteristic of precipitation in the second half of the XIX century, when a chemist from the UK, R. Smith, revealed in the vapor and smoke the content of hazardous substances that greatly change the chemical pattern of precipitation. In addition, acid rain is a phenomenon that spreads over vast areas, regardless of the source of pollution. The scientist also noted the destruction, which entailed the contaminated sediments: plant diseases, tissue color loss, acceleration of rust propagation and others.

Experts are more accurate in determining what acid rain is. After all, in reality it is snow, fogs, clouds and hail. Dry precipitation, with a lack of atmospheric moisture, falls out in the form of dust and gas.

Anthropogenic impact on nature

Lakes are dying, the number of fish schools is decreasing, forests are disappearing - all these are terrible consequences of the oxidation of nature. Soils in forests do not react to acidification as much as water bodies, but plants react negatively to all changes in acidity. Like aerosols, harmful sediments envelop the foliage and needles, impregnate the trunks, penetrate the soil. Vegetation receives chemical burns, gradually weakening and losing its ability to survive. Soils lose fertility and saturate growing cultures with toxic compounds.

Biological resources

When the study of lakes in Germany was conducted, it was found that in fish where the water indicator deviated significantly from the norm, the fish disappeared. Only in some lakes were isolated specimens.

Historical heritage

Invulnerable, it would seem, man's creations also suffer from acid precipitation. The ancient Acropolis, located in Greece, is known throughout the world for the outlines of its mighty marble statues. The centuries are not spared by natural materials: a noble breed is destroyed by winds and rains, the formation of acid rain even more activates this process. Restoring historical masterpieces, modern masters did not take measures to protect metal compounds from rust. The result was that acid rains, oxidizing iron, cause large cracks in the statues, marble splits due to rust pressure.

Cultural monuments

The United Nations initiated research on the effects of acid precipitation on cultural heritage sites. In the course of them, the negative consequences of the rains on the most beautiful stained-glass windows of the cities of Western Europe were proved. Thousands of colored glasses run the risk of sinking into oblivion. They up to the twentieth century pleased people with their strength and uniqueness, but the last decades, clouded by acid rain, threaten to destroy the magnificent stained-glass paintings. Dust, saturated with sulfur, destroys antique items made of leather and paper. Ancient products under the influence of sulfur dioxide lose their ability to resist atmospheric phenomena, become brittle and soon can crumble to dust.

Ecological catastrophy

Acid rain is a serious problem for the survival of mankind. Unfortunately, the realities of modern life require an ever increasing expansion of industrial production, which increases the volume of toxic emissions into the atmosphere. The population of the planet is increasing, living standards are rising, cars are becoming more and more, energy consumption is overshooting. At the same time, only the CHP plants of the Russian Federation pollute the environment every year with millions of tons of sulfur-containing anhydride.

Acid rain and ozone holes

Ozone holes are no less common and cause more serious concerns. Explaining the essence of this phenomenon, it must be said that this is not a real rupture of the atmosphere, but a violation in the thickness of the ozone layer, which is located approximately 8-15 km from the Earth and extends to the stratosphere to 50 km. The accumulation of ozone to a large extent absorbs the harmful radiation of the solar ultraviolet, protecting the planet from the strongest radiation. That is why ozone holes and acid rains are threats to the normal life of the planet, which require the closest attention.

Ozone layer integrity

The beginning of the 20th century was supplemented by the list of mankind's inventions with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Their peculiarity was exceptional stability, absence of smell, incombustibility, absence of poisonous influence. CFCs have gradually become widespread in the manufacture of various cooling plants (from cars to medical complexes), fire extinguishers, aerosols for household use.

Only by the end of the second half of the 20th century chemists Sherwood Roland and Mario Molin had been suggested that these miracle substances, otherwise called freons, strongly affect the ozone layer. CFCs can "hang" in the air for decades. Gradually rising from the ground, they reach the stratosphere, where ultraviolet radiation destroys freon compounds, releasing chlorine atoms. As a result of this process, ozone is converted to oxygen much faster than under normal environmental conditions.

It is terrible that only a few chlorine atoms are required for the modification of hundreds of thousands of ozone molecules. In addition, chlorofluorocarbons are considered to be gases that create a greenhouse effect and are involved in the global warming process. For the sake of justice, it is worth adding that nature itself contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Thus, volcanic gases contain up to a hundred compounds including carbons. Natural Freons promote active thinning of the ozone-containing layer above the poles of our planet.

What can be done?

Finding out what the danger of acid rain is no longer relevant. Now on the agenda in every state, in every industrial enterprise, first of all measures should be taken to ensure the cleanliness of the ambient air.

In Russia, giant plants, such as RUSAL, in recent years have begun to approach this issue very responsibly. They do not spare the means to install modern reliable filters and cleaning facilities that prevent the entry of oxides and heavy metals into the atmosphere.

Increasingly, alternative methods of obtaining energy are used, which do not entail dangerous consequences. The energy of wind and sun (for example, in everyday life and for cars) is no longer a fantasy, but a successful practice that helps to reduce the amount of harmful emissions.

Expansion of forest plantations, cleaning of rivers and lakes, proper processing of garbage are all effective methods in the fight against environmental pollution.