Acid Rain

• Where does it come from?• Why is it a problem now and not years ago?• Why are some areas more affected than

others?• Is this a problem in other countries?• What is the danger?• What can people do to stop it?

Acid rain originates in:• coal burning power plants, or large coal burning

heating facilities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6Y0iEuXMQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHw1hMEkAQ

Why is it a problem now and not years ago?

• It was a problem in the past just as the video on dinosaur extinction showed (yesterday)

• http://current.com/shows/upstream/90026125_what-killed-the-dinosaurs.htm

Why are some areas more affected than others?

• Soil formed under oceans contains sea shells

Glaciers carry away soil which contained buffers.

• So land that developed over ancient seawater has some resistance to acid rain, the sea shell remains in the soil buffer the

acid rain, neutralizing it. Places like Whitney Point, New York have no problem.

• In other places like the Adirondacks Mountains of New York State, the glaciers cleaned away the existing soil 10,000 years ago and left no buffers in the soil. Acid rain that falls in that part of the state can do much more damage to the environment. It particularly affects life in the water in the Spring when the Winter snow melts and increases the Acid levels. This kills baby fish and other aquatic organisms.

Acid Rain is a problem in other countries like:

• Europe has a problem.• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGxnH5ejFfc• China also has a air pollution problem that

causes acid rain.• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2XV8GSyYcY

What is the danger from acid rain?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5xLDKhwa9I&feature=related

• What is acid rain and what does it harm?• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc6j7zz1_do&feature=related

What can people do to stop acid rain?

• In the last two decades the industries associated with coal burning have begun to work on the development of a process to strip the sulfur and nitrogen out of the smoke coming from power plants.

• One example is from Germany and a hugh effort get the pollutants out of the air. See next slide.

9 Tons of CO2 Per Hour: Germany Carbon Capture Pilot Project Set to Begin