Formation and effects of acid rain.

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Aly Khan        GEOGRAPHY        COURSEWORK

Task 1: FORMATION AND EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN

  1. Acid Rain is a term used to describe rainfall that has a higher level of acid in it then normal rain.  The acidity in a substance can be told by the PH value, if the PH if a substance is 7, it is neutral, above 7 would be alkaline, and below 7 would be acidic.  However acid rain itself has a PH of 5.6.  Acid rain is caused by air pollution, mainly the source being power stations and industries burning fossil fuels that give off Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.  Acid rain is formed when certain gases dissolve in rainwater to form acids. The most common natural acid-forming gases are carbon dioxide (from animals) and chlorine (originating from salt), which dissolve to form carbonic acid and hydrochloric acid.  However, carbonic acid is very weak, and very little hydrochloric acid is actually formed, as chlorine gas is quite rare. By far the most common cause of acid rain is sulphur dioxide, which causes 70% percent of acid rain, with various oxides of nitrogen causing the remaining 30%.

  1. Here is a table of substances with the amount of PH they have.

This graph states how acidic each of the substances are, in rank order of the least to most acidic.  The least acidic substance would be Oven spray cleaner, and the most acidic substance would be Dilute acid rain.

  1. Power stations, factories and cars cause pollution
  2. Chemicals like Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide rise in the air
  3. Chemicals changes produce acids
  4. Acid-polluted air blown by the wind
  5. Water droplets in clouds become polluted
  6. Acid rain falls to the ground
  7. Trees and vegetation are polluted with acid.
  8. Water and soils become polluted with acid

  1. Acid rain affects vegetation, soils, building and human health.  I am going to explain vegetation like trees in more details.  When the acid rain hits trees, the trees weaken by lack of nutrients and excess poisons.  Upper branches become thinner and less strong.  The branches become uneven in slope and size.  Increase in acid levels damages the roots.  And the nutrients in soil are then washed away by acid rain.

                AFTER AFFECTS ON TREE

Acid rain causes great damage to trees.  Conifers appear to be particularly affected, with needles dropping off, and seedlings failing to produce new trees. The acid also reacts with many nutrients the trees need, such as calcium, magnesium and potassium, which drains the tree of its much-needed nutrients. The trees are then much more susceptible to other forms of damage, such as being blown down, or breaking under the weight of snow.  

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Task 2: CHANGES IN UK EMISSIONS

  1. The greatest source of Sulphur dioxide in 1981 was by Power stations The greatest source of Sulphur dioxide in 1991 was by Power stations The greatest source of Nitrogen oxide in 1981 was by Power stations The greatest source of Nitrogen oxide in 1991 was by Road Transport

  1. I think that Power Stations and Road Transport was the greatest source of acid rain emissions because now there is more demand for road transport, as now more ...

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