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With the pollution of industry, acid rain has become a serious problem in our world today. Acid rain is precipitation with below-normal pH, often the result of industrial pollution and automobile exhaust. Highly acidic rain can damage or destroy aquatic life, forests, crops and buildings, as well as posing a threat to human health. The process that results in the formation of acid rain generally begins with pollution into the atmosphere of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. These Gases are released by automobiles, industrial operations such as refining oil into gasoline, and electric power plants that burn fossil fuels as coal and oil. The gases combine with water vapor in clouds to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When the two combine to form acid rain, it falls to the ground as precipitation such rain, snow, and sleet. Different countries have more problems with acid rain than others. Countries such as the United States have a greater problem than Egypt because the U.S. is much more industrialized and produces much greater amounts of pollution. With the tremendous amounts of acid rain in North America, it causes damage and billions of dollars of damage. In Canada, acid rain accounts for $1 billion worth of damage each year. Usually countries with less population and less industrialization have fewer problems with acid rain than those with larger populations and more industrialization. Certain areas of the United States have more problems with acid rain than others.
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