Our water has a pH of 7, meaning neutral.
A substance with a pH of six would be considered mildly acidic, but a pH of 1 is.
extremely acidic. The average pH of rain in most of the Northeast is 4.3, a highly acidic rain. This is the result of a long history of industry that has existed in the area, and also because of weather patterns carrying pollution from the Midwest and similarly polluting regions.
Acid rain can harm both the land and the water. It is most damaging when it falls.
in streams, lakes, and on thin, sandy soil low in calcium carbonate (lime). Lime.
neutralizes the effects of the acid. Aside from polluting topsoil acid rain can alter entire.
ecosystems. Desert areas of the United States such as Arizona and New Mexico have.
a fairly basic topsoil. The change that acid rainfall to those and other like areas could.
be potentially disastrous to the biological organisms that are adapted to the.
environment there, especially the plant life which ultimately provides food for all the.
animals of any ecosystem.
The main sources of sulfur dioxide in the United States are fifty.
high-sulfur-coal-burning electricity-generating plants scattered mostly through the.
Midwest. They produce about half of all the sulfur dioxide in the country. There are.
many similar generating stations and coal-burning factories around the world, and their.
effects are disastrous to our planet. Industrialized nations pose the biggest threat to.
the environment. The United States operates on an oil passed economy. China is still.
relying heavily on coal as a source of power. Both are highly polluting and exhaustible.
sources of power. Many nations such as Japan and Switzerland have made advances.
in renewable, non-polluting forms of energy such as solar, wind, and water.
Acid rain is formed when the byproducts of fossil fuels production combine with.
atmospheric water. Smoke expelled from smokestacks that reach a thousand feet into.