acid rain
Acid rain is a very serious issue and has many damaging effects on the environment. Acid rain is rain, snow or fog that is polluted by acid in the atmosphere and has several harmful effects of the environment. An acid is a substance that is characterized of having the ability to react with a base to form a salt. The most common way of measuring acid in a liquid, like water, is the pH scale. The acid content is based on the concentration of hydrogen ions and is used to measure the acidity of rain samples, lakes, etc. ... In looking at acid rain it is important to understand how it is produced and caused. The primary causes of acid rain are sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. ... It is clear to see that these factors are all because of human activity and contribute to the problems associated with acid rain production. Therefore, humans play an enormous role in acid rain formation, causing an estimated one billion dollars in damages from acid rain annually. As discussed briefly, acid rain has several destructive effects on the environment. The first large category, aquatic life, is extremely vulnerable to acid rain. ... If one of the species changes because of acid rain then the entire body of water is likely to be affected through the predator-prey relationships in the food web.