Impacts of Acid Rain on Central and Southern China Research Paper

Impacts of Acid Rain on Central and Southern China - Research Paper Example Environmental pollution take the form of air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution among others that affect the general livelihood of the people who live in certain areas of the world. One of the effects of the environmental pollution is the production of acid rains, which has been witnessed in many parts of the world as a result of excessive emission of substances with hydrogen ions into the atmosphere. The effect is that the hydrogen ions combine with the environmental water to produce an acidic substance which falls to the ground as rain and it has very many negative impacts. Acid rain has its water with a pH value which is lower than the normal pH7 for neutral substances such as clean water, which contain no hydrogen ions or hydroxide ions. The pH value of water in the acid rain can be lower than seven as a result of emission of carbon (IV) oxide, oxides of sulphur and those of nitrogen (Chen, Li & Gao, 2010). The water that result from acid rains are as cannot be healthy for drinking and has a corrosive impact on the metal substances as well as negative impacts on the plants, which may be seen through falling of young plant leaves. To some other things like clothes and paintings, the acid rains can have a bleaching effect in addition to corrosion that happens (Ribeiro, Taffarel, Sampaio, Flores & Silva, 2013). This implies that acid rains are not in any way friendly to the environment in which they are experienced and they can lead to devastating impacts on vegetation cover in a given place. In evaluation of the impact of acid rains on the environments, it is important to consider its impacts on the forest cover and other species with a focus of the issues experienced in the Southern and Central China. Formation of acid rain Acid rains are formed mostly as a result of combustion of fossil fuels which lead to emission of sulphur and nitrogen oxides that are released to the environment. The problem happens when sulphurous and nitrogenous products in their gaseous forms go to the atmosphere and combine with the water. When a react fossil fuels consisting of sulphur as an impurity burn, they form a gaseous product known as sulphur (IV) oxide, which rises to the atmosphere and combine with other components thereof. In the presence of hydroxyl radicals, the sulphur (IV) oxide is oxidised to sulphur (VI) oxide, which reacts with atmospheric water molecules to form sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The acid rain that results from sulphur oxides contributes to about 70% of the acid rains in the environment all over the world (Ribeiro, Taffarel, Sampaio, Flores & Silva, 2013). On the other hand, nitrogen oxides, which make nitric acid rains, are formed as a result of combustion of fossil fuels which contain nitrogen particles as part of their components. When fuels are burned, they produce nitrogen oxide, NO, which is oxidised by the ozone (O3), and hydrogen dioxide (HO2), to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas, which is very reactive. In the reacti on, the gas reacts with hydroxide ions in the atmosphere to form an acidic substance known as nitric acid, (HNO3). Both cases of sulphuric and nitric acid cause acid depositions into the earth when they fall to the ground from the atmosphere during the either rain seasons. The acid rains can reach the earth in high amounts or as few drops to the ground but have similar devastating effects on the living and the non-living things (Ribeiro, Taffare