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acid rain
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Acid rain is a very serious issue and has many damaging effects on the environment. Acid rain is rain, snow or fog that is polluted by acid in the atmosphere and has several harmful effects of the environment. An acid is a substance that is characterized of having the ability to react with a base to form a salt. The most common way of measuring acid in a liquid, like water, is the pH scale. The acid content is based on the concentration of hydrogen ions and is used to measure the acidity of rain samples, lakes, etc. Precipitation normally has a pH of around 5.0 to 5.6 because of normal atmospheric reactions in the atmosphere. Precipitation is considered to be acidic when its pH falls below 5.6. Below this point is when harmful effects begin to take place on several parts of the environment. In looking at acid rain it is important to understand how it is produced and caused. The primary causes of acid rain are sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. When released into the atmosphere they react with other components to form new compounds. Some common examples of reactions that take place are: SO2 + H2O → H2SO3 2NO2 + H2O → HNO2 + HNO3 NO2 + OH → HNO3 The main causes of the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions are from various human activities. The top contributing factors are: industrial processes, burning fossil fuels, electric utilities, transportation, and combustion of fuels in motor vehicles. It is clear to see that these factors are all because of human activity and contribute to the problems associated with acid rain production.
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