cause and effect

            
             cid rain is formed when certain gases dissolve in rainwater to form acids. Acid rain by definition in the Chemistry book states: "Rainwater that has become excessively acidic because of absorption of pollutant oxides, notably SO3, produced by human activities"(1). There are airborne pollutants that cause acid precipitation for instance sulfur and nitrogen. "By far the most common cause of acid rain is sulphur dioxide, which is believed to cause 70 percent of acid rain, with various oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) causing the remaining 30 percent"(4). An article in the New York Times is about the Federal Study of acid rain and it's effects. This study shows that "acid precipitation is a serious problem in the Adirondacks and is a growing threat to forests and watersheds-(2). This study explains that Congress had made amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990, that was supposed to cut the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions in half in coal-fired power plants and other industries(2). The industries have problems disposing of these products properly because of the cost and difficulty of doing it. "These industries must reduce their SO2 emissions by roughly 10 million tons annually and their NOX emissions by 2 million tons annually, by the year 2000"(3). These amendments are good and should help the pollution problem, but in the amendments the way to meet these goals is not provided. So because of this, these products are emitted into the atmosphere. The federal study also shows that "acid precipitation is both more complex and intractable than had been thought 10 years ago"(2). These excess oxides are found from Colorado, to West Virginia, to Los Angeles, and most likely everywhere else in this world. Using natural gas can help to reduce the sulfur oxide emissions. Another way of reducing sulfur emissions into the atmosphere is by removing the sulfur on the oil and coal before burning it, which can also be very expensive(1).