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Acidic Water
The Effects of Acidic Water
By Tyler
Lacoma
Acidic
water can have certain unhealthy affects on humans, mostly through absorption
into the lungs where the acidic compounds can cause damage.
There
are also some visibility concerns caused by the acid rain obscuring horizons.
But
most harm from acid rain comes from its effects on the environment, especially
plants and small organisms that depend on a certain level of acidity to
survive.
Definition
Acidic
rain, or acid rain, is rain with a significantly higher acid content than
normal rainfall. This does not mean the rain itself is made of a different
substance or has an entirely different chemical composition.
The
clouds and rain are still made of water vapor, but they have been mixed with
other particles that gives the water additional acidic properties.
If
acid rain falls in an area that is not prepared to deal with the higher acidic
content of the water, it can cause damage throughout the environment.
Chemical Process
Acid
rain can form through natural or human processes. Natural processes include the
release of sulfur into the air by volcanoes, forest fires, and decomposing
plants or animals.
Lightning
can also cause acid rain by fusing nitrogen into nitric acid.
Humans
can cause acid rain by burning fossil fuels, especially fuels that release a
large amount of sulfur dioxides or any nitric oxides.
These
chemical compounds rise into the atmosphere and combine with water vapor, which
forms into clouds and eventually produces acid rainfall.
Effects on Stone
The
effects of acid rain on our lives are most noticeable as damage appears on
roofs and stone carvings or edifices, especially limestone or similar stones,
like marble.
These
elements will neutralize the acid rain through a chemical reaction, but the
reaction also eats away at the stone, causing irreplaceable damage to
sculptures and buildings.
The
acidic water can also eat into paints and metals, causing more damage to the
sides of buildings and cars.
In
nature, the damage acid rain does to stone is generally preferable, since the
alkaline content of limestone renders the rain harmless.
Effects on Plants
Whether
plants will be affected by acid rain depends on the soil.
If
the soil is able to effectively absorb and neutralize the acid in the
rainwater, then the plants will not suffer many ill effects.
If
the soil is incapable of protecting plants against acid rain, they will draw
sulfur and nitric compounds into their roots and through their systems.
There,
it will have an increasingly toxic effect, slowing growth and eventually
killing the plant.
This
tends to happen mostly at high elevations, where rainwater does not have a
chance to encounter as many minerals before it is absorbed by plants.
Effects on Water Sources
If
acid rain is increasingly drawn into lakes or water systems, it can affect not
only plants but the entire ecosystem, eventually killing off small organisms
that aquatic life depends on.
Severely
affected lakes can even lose larger animals like fish. If the acid rain stops,
the effects can eventually be reversed after years of water renewal.
Tyler Lacoma
has worked as a writer and editor for several years after graduating from
George Fox University with a degree in business management and
writing/literature. He works on business and technology topics for clients such
as Obsessable, EBSCO, Drop.io, The TAC Group, Anaxos, Dynamic Page Solutions
and others, specializing in ecology, marketing and modern trends.
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