Acid Rain & Its Impacts

Prepared By: Sunil Shrestha Suraksha Shukla Surya Pd. Bhattarai

Date: July 28, 2011

Presented By: BEX B Group 9 (Roll no. 270,271,272)

2 Objectives
Know about acid rain and the elements responsible for it Its causes and adverse effects Identify the affected areas Find the Ways to minimize the its effects Find the preventive measure

3 Presentation Outline
Introduction Its Causes Acid rain formation Effects and the affected areas Preventive measures Conclusion & Recommendation

4 Introduction
Acid rain refers to the deposition of wet and dry acidic component precipitation that is unusually acidic PH of normal rain 5.6, lesser for acidic rain Mainly caused due to oxides of sulphur and nitrogen

www.google.com

6 Causes Of Acid Rain

Natural Sources Human activities

www.google.com

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Natural Sources
Mainly Volcanoes Also biological process occurring in land and oceans These processes contribute acid producing gas

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Volcanoes: principle natural process for acid rain Emissions from volcanoes produce SOx and NOx

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Human Activities
The principal cause of acid rain is from human sources
Industrial factories, powergenerating plants and vehicles Sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen are released during the fuel burning process (i.e. combustion)
Encarta

10 Where do N emissions originate?

 55%

come from agriculture

 25% come from industry e.g. coal fired power plants 20% come from automobiles

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Myecoproject.com

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SO2 emission In statistics

eea.europa.eu

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Sources Of Global Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Year 2000

netl.doe.gov

14 Acid Rain Formation

As the rain falls, SO2 & NOx dissolve in the water to form sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3).

google.com

15 Acid Rain Formation

Skyboard.glogster.com

16 Effects Of Acid Rain

Harmful to vegetation Destroys aquatic life Adverse affects on human health Buildings and stone structures

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Harmful to vegetation
Increased acidity in soil Leeches nutrients from soil, slowing plant growth Leeches toxins from soil, poisoning plants Creates brown spots in leaves of trees, impeding photosynthesis Allows organisms to infect through broken leaves

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Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests

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Forests affected by Acid Rain
Northeast US Canada Northern Europe Asia

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Effects on aquatic life
Acid rain can cause damage to fish and other aquatic animals At pHs below 5 most fish eggs will not hatch and also kill adult fishes. eliminated insect life and some fish species, like brook trout in some lakes.

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All fish die at PH below 4.2

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Exti cti fs e s ecies fr at re affects ec syste

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Effects on Human Health
Respiratory problems, asthma, dry coughs, headaches and throat irritations Leeching of toxins from the soil by acid rain can be absorbed by plants and animals, which affect humans severely. Brain damage, kidney problems has been linked to people eating "toxic" animals/plants

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Buildings and stone structures
Many buildings are made of concrete and or stone These compounds act as bases and react with acid The building technically weathers very fast, or Non technically crumbles

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Acid accelerates weathering in metal and stone structures Thus spoils the beauty and importance of those structures Eg. Parthenon in Athens, Greece; Taj Mahal in Agra, India

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gallery.hd.org

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Since 1998, Harvard University wraps some of the bronze and marble statues, with waterproof covers every winter to protect them from acid rain

wikipedia.org

29 Affected Areas
More or less faced across the globe. Acid rain is a problem in Canada Water and soil systems lack natural alkalinity such as lime base
So Can t neutralize acid

Canada consists of susceptible hard rock such as granite

Do not have the capacity to effectively neutralize acid rain

30 Affected Areas
(continued) Industrial acid rain: problem in China, Eastern Europe and Russia and areas down-wind from them. Acid rain from power plants in the Midwest United States has harmed the forests of upstate New York and New England.

31 Preventive Measures
Reduce amount of SO2 and oxides of nitrogen released into the atmosphere Use less energy (hence less fuel burnt) Use cleaner fuels Remove oxides of sulphur and nitrogen before releasing Flue gas desulphurization Catalytic Converters

google.com

32 Preventive Measures
Use cleaner fuels
Coal that contains less sulphur "Washing" the coal to reduce sulphur content Natural Gas

33 Preventive Measures
Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD)
Removes sulphur dioxide from flue gas (waste gases) Consists wet scrubber and a reaction tower with a fan that extracts hot smoky stack gases from a power plant into the tower Lime or limestone in slurry form is injected into the tower to mix with the stack gases and reacts with the sulphur dioxide present

34 Preventive Measures
(continued)
Produces pH-neutral calcium sulphate that is physically removed from the scrubber Sulphates can be used for industrial purposes

MSN Encarta

35 Preventive Measures
Use other sources of electricity (i.e. nuclear power, hydro-electricity, wind energy, geothermal energy, and solar energy) Issue of cost

36 Reducing the effects of Acid Rain

Liming
Powdered limestone/limewater added to water and soil to neutralize acid Used extensively in Norway and Sweden Expensive, short-term remedy

37 Conclusion
Technology caused acid rain & solution lies on technology itself and controlled human activity Effects of acid rain can spread over a large area, far from the source of the pollution Harmful to human health & dangerous to aquatic life Preventive measures should be applied to avoid disaster from it.

38 Recommendations
Oxides of sulphur and nitrogen should be minimized Use cleaner fuels and find alternative source of energy Apply FGD or catalytic converters before releasing the waste gases Make a bilateral or multilateral deal among the affected nations Or make an agreement through international organization

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THANK YOU