| Chapter 9 - Acid Rain |
| Section 9.1 | The Nature of Acid Rain |
| The Main Point: | Acid rain is nowadays a result of automobile and industrial smokestack emissions. The chemistry of acid rain is well understood. |
| Web Work: | The Environmental News Network reports on the status of sulfur dioxide emissions in China, Brazil and Argentina. Please check the site (and related sites) at http://www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/2000/05/05282000/pewclimate_13394.asp. There are also related links to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. What are the trends in these countries? Why? How do they compare to what might happen in the United States? Why? |
| Section 9.2 | Historical Perspective |
| The Main Point: | Acid deposition is a centuries-old problem, indicated as early as 1661. Sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions spread from their source country to other countries. |
| Web Work: | For this assignment, we venture to Oslo, Norway, the home of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. They point out that most of the NOx and SOx in their atmosphere comes from abroad. From where does it originate and why? Please start at this site. http://odin.dep.no/md/html/acid/AcidRainE.html, moving to the link, "imported pollution". What is the broad impact on Norway? |
| Section 9.3 | Historical Perspective |
| The Main Point: | Acid deposition is a centuries-old problem, indicated as early as 1661. Sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions spread from their source country to other countries. |
| Web Work: | For this assignment, we venture to Oslo, Norway, the home of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. They point out that most of the NOx and SOx in their atmosphere comes from abroad. From where does it originate and why? Please start at this site. http://odin.dep.no/md/html/acid/AcidRainE.html, moving to the link, "imported pollution". What is the broad impact on Norway? |
| Section 9.3 | Chemical, Ecological and Social Consequences of Acid Rain |
| The Main Point: | Acid rain has important and measurable scientific and social consequences. |
| Web Work: | Proper water acidity is important for optimal plant growth. Here is an EPA site that describes an activity for measuring the pH of soil. http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/acidrain/experiments/exp5.html. Please do the activity and report the pH of your soil samples. Write a report summarizing your results (remember to answer the end-of-report questions!) |
| Section 9.4 | Where Do We Go From Here? |
| The Main Point: | There is a constant tension between the environmental consequences of our industrial economy and our modern lifestyle. |
| Web Work: | Write a 3-page essay on "allowance trading." Why is it being used by the EPA as a sulfur dioxide abatement tool? A good first stop is the site at http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/arp/allfact.html. |
