Acid rain is ... Acid rain: the reasons. The problem of acid rain

Acid rain ... This phrase in modern, especially urban life has become common. Often village residents complain that after such unpleasant precipitation plants begin to wither, and in puddles appears whitish or yellowish plaque.

What it is

Science has a definite answer to the question,what is acid rain. These are all known types of precipitation, whose water value (pH) is below normal. The pH is considered to be the norm. If the study shows an underestimation of this figure in the sediments, they are considered to be acidic. In the conditions of the booming industrial boom acidity of rain, snow, fogs and hail is hundreds of times higher than normal.

Causes

Acid rain falls again and again. The reasons lie in the toxic emissions of industrial facilities, the exhaust gases of cars, to a much lesser extent - in the decay of natural elements. The atmosphere is overfilled with sulphurous and nitric oxides, hydrogen chloride and other acid-forming compounds. The result is acid rain.

There are precipitation and alkaline content. They note the presence of calcium ions or ammonia. To them the concept "acid rains" also fits. This is due to the fact that, falling into a reservoir or soil, such precipitation affects the change in the water-alkaline balance.

What are the acid-bearing precipitates?

Nothing good oxidation of the surrounding nature,of course, does not entail. Acid rain is extremely harmful. The causes of death of vegetation after the precipitation of such precipitation lie in the fact that many useful elements are leached from the earth with acids, besides, contamination with dangerous metals is observed: aluminum, lead and others. Contaminated sediments cause mutations and death of fish in water bodies, inappropriate development of vegetation in rivers and lakes. In the usual environment, they also have a disastrous effect: they greatly contribute to the destruction of natural facing materials, and cause accelerated corrosion of metal structures.

Having become acquainted with the general characteristic of this atmospheric phenomenon, it can be concluded that the problem of acid rain is one of the most urgent from the point of view of ecology.

Scientific research

It is important to dwell in more detail on the scheme of chemicalpollution of nature. Acid rain is the cause of many disruptions in the environment. There was such a characteristic of precipitation in the second half of the XIX century, when a chemist from the UK, R. Smith, revealed in vapor and smoke the content of hazardous substances that strongly change the chemical pattern of precipitation. In addition, acid rain is a phenomenon that spreads over vast areas, regardless of the source of pollution. The scientist also noted the destruction that caused the contaminated sediments: plant diseases, tissue loss, acceleration of rust propagation, and others.

Experts are more accurate in determiningwhat is acid rain. After all, in reality it is snow, fogs, clouds and hail. Dry precipitation with a lack of atmospheric moisture falls out as dust and gas.

Anthropogenic impact on nature

Lakes are dying, the number of fishshoals, forests disappear - all these are terrible consequences of oxidation of nature. Soils in forests do not react so sharply to acidification as water bodies, but plants negatively perceive all changes in acidity. Like an aerosol, harmful sediments envelop the foliage and needles, impregnate the trunks, penetrate the soil. Vegetation gets burns of a chemical nature, gradually weakening and losing its ability to survive. Soils lose fertility and saturate growing cultures with toxic compounds.

Biological resources

When the study of lakes in Germany was conducted,it was found that in fish, where the water indicator was significantly deviated from the norm, the fish disappeared. Only in some lakes were isolated specimens.

Historical heritage

Invulnerable, it would seem, the creation of man, toosuffer from acid precipitation. The ancient Acropolis, located in Greece, is known throughout the world for the outlines of its mighty marble statues. Centuries are not spared by natural materials: a noble breed is destroyed by winds and rains, the formation of acid rain even more activates this process. Restoring historical masterpieces, modern masters did not take measures to protect metal compounds from rust. The result was that acid rains, oxidizing iron, cause large cracks in the statues, marble splits due to rust pressure.

Cultural monuments

The United Nations initiatedThe study of the influence of acid precipitation on objects of cultural heritage. In the course of them, the negative consequences of the rains on the most beautiful stained-glass windows of cities in Western Europe were proved. Thousands of colored glasses run the risk of sinking into oblivion. They have to please people of the twentieth century for its strength and originality, but in the last decade, darkened by acid rain, threatening to destroy the magnificent stained-glass paintings. Dust, saturated with sulfur, destroys antique items made of leather and paper. Ancient product under the influence of sulfur dioxide lose their ability to resistance to weathering, become fragile and can crumble into dust soon.

Ecological catastrophy

Acid rain is a serious problem forsurvival of mankind. Unfortunately, the realities of modern life require an ever increasing expansion of industrial production, which increases the volume of toxic emissions into the atmosphere. The population of the planet is increasing, living standards are rising, cars are becoming more and more, energy consumption is overshooting. At the same time, only the CHP plants of the Russian Federation pollute the environment every year with millions of tons of sulfur-containing anhydride.

Acid rain and ozone holes

Ozone holes are not less common and causemore serious fears. Explaining the essence of this phenomenon, it must be said that this is not a real rupture of the atmosphere, but a violation in the thickness of the ozone layer, which is located approximately 8-15 km from the earth and extends to the stratosphere to 50 km. The accumulation of ozone to a large extent absorbs the harmful radiation of the solar ultraviolet, protecting the planet from the strongest radiation. That is why ozone holes and acid rains are threats to the normal life of the planet, which require close attention.

Ozone layer integrity

The beginning of the twentieth century was enriched by the list of inventionsof mankind by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Their peculiarity was exceptional stability, absence of smell, incombustibility, absence of poisonous influence. CFCs have gradually become widespread in the production of various cooling plants (from cars to medical complexes), fire extinguishers, aerosols for household use.

Only by the end of the second half of the twentieth century chemistsSherwood Roland and Mario Molina, it was suggested that these miracle substances, otherwise called freons, strongly affect the ozone layer. CFCs can "hang" in the air for decades. Gradually rising from the ground, they reach the stratosphere, where ultraviolet radiation destroys Freon compounds, releasing chlorine atoms. As a result of this process, ozone is converted to oxygen much faster than under normal environmental conditions.

It is terrible that only a few atoms are requiredchlorine for the modification of hundreds of thousands of molecules of ozone. In addition, chlorofluorocarbons are considered to be gases that create a greenhouse effect and are involved in the process of global warming. It is fair to add that nature itself contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Thus, volcanic gases contain up to a hundred compounds including carbons. Natural Freons promote the active thinning of the ozone-containing layer above the poles of our planet.

What can be done?

Finding out what the danger of acid rain,already irrelevant. Now on the agenda in every state, in every industrial enterprise, first of all, measures should be taken to ensure the cleanliness of the ambient air.

In Russia, giant plants, such as RUSAL, inIn recent years, they began to approach this issue very responsibly. They do not spare the means to install modern reliable filters and cleaning facilities that prevent the entry of oxides and heavy metals into the atmosphere.

Increasingly, alternativemethods of obtaining energy that do not entail dangerous consequences. The energy of wind and sun (for example, in everyday life and for cars) is no longer a fantasy, but a successful practice that helps to reduce the amount of harmful emissions.

The expansion of forest plantations, the cleaning of rivers and lakes, the correct processing of garbage - all these are effective methods in the fight against pollution of the environment.