How Does The Effects of Air Pollution : Acid Rain
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Air pollution
Air pollution happens when there is additional component or chemical substance in the air, or when a new chemical substance is formed and they may harm humans or other organisms. Air pollutants are among others CO, CO2, NO, NO2, S2, SO3, CH4, C4H10, organic substances, particles of solids, particles of liquids and others.
Air pollution occurs when harmful substances including particulates and biological molecules are introduced into Earth's atmosphere. It may cause diseases, allergies or death of humans; it may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and may damage the natural or built environment. Human activity and natural processes can both generate air pollution. Source
Air pollution happens when the air is contaminated by gasses such as gas from motor vehicles. Air can be contaminated by carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbon and soft particles like dusts. Some air pollutions happen naturally, for example; gas from volcanic activities. Mostly air pollutions happen because of combustion process in motor vehicles using fossil fuel. Combustion of coal to generate electricity releases tons of sulphur dioxides into the air. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, together with vapor in the air form acid rain.
In the long term, air pollutants can endanger human health, for example they may cause the eyes to get watery, coughs, respiratory diseases (bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer).
Besides, air pollutants can also damage buildings such as decay, corrosion of metal parts and other types of damage.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are fully halogenated paraffin hydrocarbons that contain only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane. They are also commonly known by the DuPont brand name Freon. Source
The use of CFCs (Chloro Fluoro Carbons) as cooling gas in refrigerators, air conditioners and spray gas on various cosmetics has turned CFCs into an air pollutant because this gas cannot be decomposed for a long time. This gas enters stratosphere and damages the ozon layer which functions as a filter of ultraviolet radiation from sunlight. If this is ignored, the intensity of ultraviolet radiation will increase and this can endanger human health since it can cause skin cancer.
The burning of petroleum and coal can increase of CO2 and other gases in the atmosphere. These gases will form a layer in the atmosphere that blocks the heat reflected by the earth surface from getting released into the atmosphere. As a result, the heat is reflected back to earth, so the earth surface becomes hotter.
This phenomenon is called the green house effect. The green house effect will get accelerated if the area of forests keeps decreasing. The green house effect can also increase global warming and change the patterns of weather all over the world.
Air pollution is also caused by forest burning. In Indonesia and India, farmers often burn forest to open new farming areas. This practice can also release carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Air pollution causes various impacts for plants, animals and human.
Some nitrate oxides (NO, NO2) and sulphur oxides (SO2, SO3) are air pollutants that can form compounds of nitrate acid and sulfate acid. In a large amount, these substances can cause acid rain. Acid rain can harm plants, microorganisms on the ground and fresh water creatures. In addition, acid rain will also accelerate the decay of buildings and statues made of limestone and marble and cause metals to corrode.
In some cities and industrial areas, the amount of released pollutant to the air is so large that the rain and snow become so acid like vinegar. Even fog and morning dew car be so acid as a result of air pollution. Unpolluted rainwater has pH around 5,6-5,7. Rain which has pH lower than 5,6 is considered as acid rain.
The impact of acid rain
Acid rain dissolved calcium, potassium and other valuable nutrients from the soil surface. Because the nutrients from the soil have been washed out by acid rain, the soil becomes infertile. The loss of these nutrients can cause deaths to trees.
Acid rain, or acid deposition, is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that is acidic. Source
Acid rain can also damages plant tissues and disturbs its growth. Beside, acid rain disturbs nitrogen fixation. A lot of trees in forests die because of acid rain. Acid rain also influences a lake ecosystem. Acid rain which flows to a lake, makes the pH level in the ecosystem decrease below normal. The changing of acidity in the lake disturbs the lake ecosystem.
Green House Effect
The green house effect happens when the light energy from the sun enters the earth through transparent gas layers in the atmosphere and then after touching the earth surface, it will be reflected as heat. Since the heat is restrained by the gas layer in the atmosphere, what will happen next is the accumulation of heat on earth surface, similar to what happen inside green house.The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be without its atmosphere. Source
What will happen to the air inside a closed car which is parked and exposed to sunlight for a few hours? Radiation of sun energy heats the air in the car, makes the temperature inside much warmer than the outside. The car glass window like a glass wall in a “Green House”, keep the heat inside the car.
Gasses in the atmosphere keep a lot of radiation energy from the sunlight that reaches the earth surface. Land, sea and everything on earth surface absorb the sun energy. Objects which have absorbed the energy reflect the heat energy to its surroundings. Air pollution in the atmosphere traps the heat and causes the air temperature even hotter. This process is called Green House Effect.
Without the green house effect, all the sun’s energy will not be reflected to the surrounding objects and earth will be too cold for living organisms to live and reproduce. One of the gasses that plays important role on the green house effect is carbon dioxide.