Environmental Facts: Acid Rain

Hey guys,

I used to imagine acid rain to be a deposition of sulfuric or nitric acid from the skies. Imagine the effect that is going to have on humans, plants, animals and buildings. Burning the skin, corroding metals and basically melting buildings. Scary stuff yeah??? Acid rain is not that intense yet, but with an increasing population explosion, more industrial activities as well as more vehicles on the roads, there has been an increase in the combustion of fossil fuels, which is the predominant cause of acid rain.

Acid rain is a consequence of air pollution. The release of oxides of Carbon, Nitrogen and Sulfur from the combustion of fossil fuels into the atmosphere and the reaction of these gases with water molecules in cloud produce acids. The wet deposition of acidic components in the form of snow, fog and rain as well as the direct dry deposition of acidic particles is generally termed acid rain.

When there is a combustion of any type of fossil fuel, certain gases and particles are released. Sometimes, the particles are visible for example in the combustion of diesel, seen as black sooty particles. Most times however, the gases are not visible but are present. They are present because they are contained as constituents of the fuel. Carbon and sulfur and major of components of fossil fuels and will naturally produce their oxides during burning. Oxides of nitrogen are formed because Nitrogen is abundant in air and combustion usually takes place in the presence of air.

Oxides of Sulfur are also released during volcanic eruptions, therefore areas where some volcanic eruptions have occurred are likely to be affected by acid rain.

The acidity of a substance is measured on a pH scale from 0 - 14. 0 is most acidic and 14 is the most alkaline while 7 is neutral. Strong acids can burn the skin on touch and corrode metals. Rainwater has a pH of 5.7 as a result of the formation of carbonic acid from a reaction between carbon dioxide in air and water molecules. Vinegar and lemon juice have a pH of between 2 - 3, acid rain is usually not as acidic and therefore will not harm human skin. Why worry about acid rain then, you might ask.

Acid rain can be transported over great distances between countries and even continents. In the 1950's when acid rain was discovered, the emission of oxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur from industrial processes in Britain was transported to Norway and Scandinavia having the effect of causing fish kills as well as a declining forest ecosystem.

Acid rain forest. Source: Wikispaces.com

This means trees without leaves because essential plant nutrients like potassium and magnesium which help plants to grow are being dissolved in the soil and washed away into lakes and rivers, becoming unavailable for plants use. It also damages plants leaves and affects the ability of plants to photosynthesize normally.

Aquatic environments are also affected because fish and other aquatic organisms function at optimal levels within a certain pH. Eggs hatched by fishes are dissolved because of the increased acidity and cannot hatch properly. Calciferous organisms (organisms with shells) are also affected.

Many buildings and statues that contain calcium carbonate (limestone) are also affected because they react with acids to form salts. The salts are soluble in water and in plain English, the buildings get eroded. This leads to collapse. For statues, the aesthetic and economic values are also lost. 

Effects of acid rain on sculptures. Source:http://www.elmhurst.edu

Reducing the effects of Acid Rain:

To reduce the consequences of acid rain, regulations have been put in place to reduce the levels of sulfur  dioxide emissions from coal combustion using fluidized beds.

Modern cars are being fitted with catalytic converters to reduce the emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides during fuel combustion. 

The combustion of fossil fuels is still one of the major ways by which electricity is generated. Alternative  renewable sources of energy such as biomass, wind and solar energy are being researched into to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.

Governments should provide subsidized alternative forms of transport so that people don't have to always travel by cars.

Walking, cycling and car sharing are individual efforts that can help reduce the amount of gases released into the atmosphere as well as reduce acid rain.

Energy saving approaches such as turning off light switches when they are not in use as well as the use of energy saving appliances can help reduce acid rain.

For forests and aquatic ecosystems, the addition of lime into the soil or rivers and lakes can help neutralize the acidity and prevent the effects of acid rain.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Hi everyone,

Ever heard those three words that begin with the letter R? I bet you have. It is one of the most popular mantras in waste management. The European Union has it included in its 2008 waste framework directive on how waste is to be managed without endangering human health and harming the environment with particular reference to water, air, soil, plants or animals as well as not being a nuisance in the form of odours and not affecting the aesthethic value of the countryside and places of interest. Big grammar! What that means in plain English is managing waste in such a way that it does not adversely affect the living and non living components of the environment. So what is waste? Is it something you dump in the bin? Is it something you have no use for? Is it what you pass out in the toilet?

Waste is generally defined as unwanted or useless material and has also been used in place of terms such as rubbish, trash, refuse, garbage, junk, litter and so on. but that is quite an ambiguous definition because in what context would you say an  object or material becomes unwanted? An empty plastic bottle that contained your milk is no longer useful for that purpose, but does it become waste? The contents of a newspaper you bought today becomes stale news tomorrow but would you consider the newspaper useless?? Maybe or Maybe not. The European Union goes on to place waste in several categories including municipal or household waste, which is waste generated at home and include substances like food particles, green or garden waste, used plastic and glass bottles, newspapers etc. Other categories include industrial waste, which as the name implies is waste generated during industrial purposes and can include cement. Clinical waste is another example generated from hospitals and includes syringes, plasters etc.

To the more dangerous ones, we have hazardous waste which as the name implies are types of waste that can be deadly on contact with humans, plants, animals and buildings. They include toxic chemicals.

The different categories of wastes are collected and disposed off or treated in different ways. My focus today will be on municipal/household waste.

In developed parts of the world like the UK, household wastes are collected according to the way in which they will be disposed off and the further uses to which they can be used. Food and garden wastes are collected separately from plastics newspapers and bottles and are known as mixed recyclables.The food and garden wastes are transported to waste management/treatment companies where they are treated and used to generate electricity from bio gas which powers some of their processes while some of the electricity is transported to the national grid. Another useful product generated from food/garden waste is garden compost which is used to improve soil quality in gardens and allotments for the growth of fruits and vegetables.

The plastics, bottles, bags and papers are transported to a materials reclamation facility where they are sorted into similar kinds, batched and compressed and then transported to recycling companies where they are used as raw materials in the manufacture of new products. Large out of life materials like fridges, computer screens, television are also transported in a similar way to specialist companies that dispose them off. The remainder of the wastes that cannot be reused or recycled are then transported to landfill sites. Now landfill sites have a problem of their own which we shall discuss later.

In developing countries where there is a problem of infrastructure, waste materials used to be initially burnt by households in small pits near their houses. More recently however, more waste management guidelines and regulations are being put in place that allow waste management authorities to have partnerships with private sector participants to collect wastes from households. The waste are collected jointly irrespective of type and transported to landfill. At landfill, certain groups of people called scavengers are registered to pick  through the wastes and sort them and sell the sorted materials (plastic bags and bottles as well as glass materials) to small and medium scale enterprises, thereby generating a small market for recyclable products.

There you go. Your waste materials do not end up useless after all. Some of them can be Re used in your households which will in turn Reduce the amount of waste generated. Others are Recycled and used in the generation of new products. The concept of reusing, reducing and recycling waste reduces our dependence on landfills and consequently the health effects that they pose. It also reduces the need for large parcels of land for landfill, allowing for more economic use of land such as in the construction of roads and industries. 

Why I have decided to blog.

Hello everyone and welcome to the environmentalist. You might wonder what the objective of a blog on the environment is. Well the subject of the environment has always fascinated me, the environment defined as everything around me. These includes components such as land, water bodies and air. Activities such as mining, oil exploration and gas flaring has begun to affect the environment, deteriorating living conditions and threatening the very world we lived in. It becomes imperative, therefore, to have more skilled environmental pollution experts and hence my interests. You will be surprised at how much environmental hazards you are exposed to everyday, from little things such as the vegetables you eat, where they are grown from, to the source of water you drink as well as toxic gases that are inhaled everyday. In Bangladesh for example, the ground and surface waters are contaminated with arsenic (a mettalloid) which can cause skin lesions as well as cancer and death from chronic exposure.The pollutants we come in contact with everyday vary from gaseous to liquid and solid molecules and cause severe health hazards on short and long term exposure to living things as well as non living things such as buildings.

This blog aims to help contribute to a greener environment with less pollutants and therefore a reduced health risk potential to plants, animals and humans which can lead to a longer and happier life. So i hope you'll join me as we journey through the environment together to improve the standards of our living and life.