Acid rain" is a broad term used to describe several ways that acids fall out of the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid deposition, which has two parts: wet and dry. Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow and dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles. According to what I read Acid Rain looks and feels like normal, clean rain. It's harm to people is not really direct. You are able to walk and swim in acid rain as you would in clean rain. The pollutants that cause acid rain (sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)) also damage human health. These gases interact in the atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate particles that can be transported long distances by winds and inhaled deep into people's lungs. Fine particles can also penetrate indoors. Many scientific studies have identified a relationship between elevated levels of fine particles and increased illness and premature death from heart and lung disorders, such as asthma and bronchitis.
In the eastern United States, sulfate aerosols make up about 25 percent of fine particles.
SO2 and NOx have historically been regulated under the Clean Air Act, including the Acid Rain Program. The Acid rain Program helps reduce the levels of fine sulfate and nitrate particles and so reduce the incidence and the severity of these health problems such as asthma and bronchitis. The program will help in the decrease of health problems, hospital admissions and visits to the emergency rooms. This is suppose to be implemented by the year 2010, where the health benefits of the Acid Rain program should be valued at $50 billion.
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The reason for why I feel this article is important is because it provides us with information that we have never really thought of. I never really knew what was really acid rain and how it affected human health. Thanks to this article I've come to understand what has been happening and I think everyone else should come to that understanding as well.