What is acid rain?
Rain containing dissolved acids falls to the ground, damaging trees, crops and other wildlife as well as harming water supplies. Acid rain is caused by air pollutants such as nitric and sulphuric acids, which are released by burning coal, oil or petrol. Damage due to acid rain has destroyed huge areas of trees in North America, Europe and parts of Asia, and has had serious effects on forestry. Attempts are being made to limit the damage by removing nitrogen and sulphur from fuels before they are burned, and by reducing emissions from factories.
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What was the Chernobyl disaster?
In 1986 an explosion in a nuclear power station in the Ukraine was the worst ever nuclear accident. Large amounts of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere, and many people died. Large areas of the Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus were contaminated, and there has been a huge increase in the number of cancers and abnormal births in the region. The radioactive fallout was carried by the wind right across Europe into Sweden and the UK. It is still too dangerous to live in the area around Chernobyl because of the continuing high levels of radioactivity.
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