And its effects on soil

When nitrogen and/or sulfur emissions enter the atmosphere they will combine with water to create nitric acid and sulfuric acid.

In Canada ~90% of sulfur in the air and ~ 60-80% of nitrogen oxides come from human made pollution. These acids can then fall out of the sky as acid rain.

Acids and Bases An acid is a chemical that easily gives up H+ ions. Acids are sour tasting and lemons and other sour fruits are acidic.

Bases are chemicals that easily give up OH- (hydroxide ions) Bases are basically the opposite of acids. Bases are slippery and bitter. Another word for basic is alkaline.

How acidic or how alkaline (basic) a substance is can be measured on the pH scale. The pH scale goes from 0-14 Acids range from 0-7 Bases range from And 7 is neutral.

Most creatures prefer their environments to be fairly close to neutral but some specific plants require slightly basic or slightly acidic environments. Eg. blueberries prefer acidic soil while peas and beans prefer their soil slightly alkaline (basic)

Acid rain is any rain that has a pH of less than 5. When acid rain falls it will upset the balance of pH in the soil and water and the organisms living there will have a hard time dealing with the changes. Fish will die if the pH of the water falls below 4.5.

Some effects of acid rain: Takes waxy coating off of leaves – leaving them vulnerable to infection. Causes the acidity of water and soil to increase – making it hard for the plants to survive. It will melt the shells of creatures with shells.

Acid rain will have a greater effect in areas where the soil does not contain limestone (made from shells of dead creatures)

An example of what can happen due to acid rain is Nellie lake in Kilarney. It has a pH of 4.5 and has 30 m visibility. This is because there is basically nothing living in the water.