Children generally love to play in the rain. Rainwater refreshes our body and invigorates our spirits. We think that rain water is probably the purest water as it comes from above and remains unpolluted by soil and other polluting agents. We even harvest rainwater. However, what if the rainwater is polluted?
Acid rain is one of the most widespread forms of pollution. To put it simply, acid rain is rain that has a higher amount of acid in it than what is normal. It is a fact that the acidity in the rainwater in parts of Europe and North America has dramatically increased over the past few decades. It is now common in many places for rain to be ten to seventy times more acidic than unpolluted rain.
Acid rain is due to smoke and gases that factories and cars that run on fossil fuels give off. When these fuels are burned to produce energy, the sulphur that is present in the fuel combines with oxygen and becomes sulphur dioxide. Some of the nitrogen in the air becomes nitrogen oxide. These pollutants go into the atmosphere, and become acid. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are also produced when coal is burnt for fuel.
Acid rain destroys trees, kills fish in lakes, harms wildlife and eats away the stonework in buildings. It also brings about certain health conditions such as asthma, headaches, throat aches and coughs.
Pictures Credit : Google
