Canada

1
Canada

• Acid Rain
• Causes, Effects, and Cures.
• Presented by Angel Harris
• April 2006

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Acid Rain

• What is acid rain?
• The main effects of acid rain
• Damages the areas affected most
• The effects on life commerce
• Reversal prevention of damage
• Bibliography reference

3
What Is Acid Rain?

• Acid gases are produced when fossil fuels like
  coal and oil are burned in power stations,
  factories and in our own homes. Most of these
  acid gases are blown into the sky, and when they
  mix with the clouds it can cause rain - or snow,
  sleet, fog, mist or hail - to become more acidic.

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Air Pollution

• When we burn fuels, chemicals called 'sulphur'
  and 'nitrogen' are released into the air. Once in
  the air, they mix with water in the air - rain,
  snow, etc - and are transformed into different
  chemicals called 'sulphur dioxide' and 'nitrogen
  oxides', which can be very dangerous for plants,
  animals and people. Most of the 'sulphur' comes
  from power stations, which make electricity, and
  also from volcanoes. Most of the 'nitrogen
  oxides' come from car and truck exhausts.

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Acid Rain Canada

• Air pollution can be carried over long distances.
  When acid gases are released, they go high up in
  the sky, and then they are pushed by strong winds
  towards other countries.
• In the USA, the winds blow the air pollution to
  certain areas in Canada.

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The Causes

• Air quality problems in most parts of New
  Brunswick, Canada and the U.S. Have multiple
  sources of pollutants. For example, in respect to
  nitrogen oxides (a contributor to acid rain
  formation), the transportation sector contributes
  49 of this pollutant, electric utilities 29 and
  industry 28.

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Where It Comes From

• Sulphur dioxide emissions by contrast are
  electric utilities 66, industry 28 and
  transportation 3. When it comes to carbon
  dioxide (one of the major greenhouse gases
  contributing to climate change), the
  transportation sector makes up 30, industry 22
  and electric utilities 36. Source Canada/U.S.
  air quality agreement progress report.

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Effects On Forests

• Acid rain can have terrible effects on a forest.
  The acid takes away important minerals from the
  leaves and the soil.
• Minerals are like vitamins for trees and plants.
  Without them, trees and plants cannot grow
  properly. They lose their leaves and become very
  weak. They are no longer strong enough to fight
  against illnesses and frost. They become very ill
  and can even die.

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Effects On Water Life

• Acid rain has a terrible effect on water life.
  Even if the acid rain does not fall straight into
  the lake, for example, it may enter from rivers
  and streams. Some of the life in the lake such as
  fish and plants may end up dying, because they
  cannot survive in acidic lakes.

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Effects On Fish
Acid rain and acid snow are posing a major threat
to the fish habitat in Nova Scotia, having
already killed one quarter of the province's
freshwater fish population. According to
scientists, another quarter of the population
could be wiped out within twenty years, unless
something is done.
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Effects On Lakes Rivers

• You can recognize a lake dead from acid rain by
  its clean and crystal clear water. But they look
  clean because there is very little living in them
  anymore. Tiny plants and animals are mostly
  unable to survive.

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Effects On Humans
Particulates - very small particles of debris
found in some of the air pollution - are one of
the main causes of health problems. In towns and
cities, these are released mainly by diesel
engines from cars and trucks. When we breathe in
air pollution, these very fine particulates can
easily enter our body, where they can cause
breathing problems, and over time even cause
cancer. The water we drink from taps can be
contaminated by acid rain, which can damage the
brain.
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Effects On Buildings
Acid rain can also ruin buildings because the
acid eats into metal and stone. It also damages
stained glass and plastics. Some types of
building materials are softer than others, and it
is the softer ones which are most affected by
acid rain. Sandstone and limestone are examples
of stone which are fairly soft and are damaged
easily. Granite is an example of a harder stone
that can resist the effects of acid rain.
Buildings are naturally eroded by rain, wind,
frost and the sun, but when acidic gases are
present, it speeds up the erosion.
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Effects On Commerce

• Across Ontario and Quebec, maple syrup producers
  are saying that acid rain is killing their trees
  and their industry. The Ontario Ministry of
  Environment is on the trail, trying to prove
  conclusively that acid rain causes damage to
  vegetation and forestry. This is the first
  terrestrial study of acid rain, though reports of
  its suspected effects were published four years
  ago.

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Areas Of Worst Effect

• Without further controls beyond those identified
  in the 1991 Canada-U.S. Air Quality Agreement,
  areas of southern and central Ontario, southern
  and central Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
  would continue to receive a mean annual sulphate
  deposition amount that exceeds their critical
  loads.

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Critical Load

• The critical load would be exceeded by up to 10
  kg/ha/yr of wet sulphate in parts of central
  Ontario and central and southern Quebec. As a
  result, about 95,000 lakes would remain damaged
  by acid rain. Lakes in these areas have not
  responded to reductions in sulphate deposition as
  well as, or as rapidly as, those in less
  sensitive regions. In fact, some sensitive lakes
  continue to acidify. 

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Southeast Canada

• In total, without further controls, almost
  800,000 km2 in southeastern Canada-an area the
  size of France and the United Kingdom
  combined-would receive harmful levels of acid
  rain That is, levels well above critical load
  limits for aquatic systems.

18
Reversing The Damage

• American President George Bush and Canadian Prime
  Minister Brian Mulroney have signed an acid rain
  agreement. One aspect of the ten-year-old acid
  rain fight is now over the struggle to get both
  countries to stop blaming each other and accept
  responsibility for a global problem.

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Terms Of Agreement

• The agreement requires both governments to
  produce detailed monitoring reports every six
  months to prove they are living up to clean air
  legislation.
• The U.S. has failed to keep up their end of this
  agreement.

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Canadas Plea To The US

• In a speech to United States Congress, Prime
  Minister Brian Mulroney makes a plea for the
  reduction of sulphur emissions from industry.
  Canada has decided to take the step alone, but
  wants the United States to follow suit. Air
  pollution has no borders if America doesn't cut
  back, Canada's pollution controls will be for
  naught.

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Bibliography

• http//ilc.royalsaskmuseum.ca/ilc6/pages/62c/63i/6
  3ip2p2.htm
• http//library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/acid_rain.
  htm
• http//www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/cc/acidrain/st-web.htm
• http//www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/kids/acidrain.html
• http//www.ns.ec.gc.ca/msc/as/acidfaq.html
• http//142.166.52.142/html/acidrain.php
• http//archives.cbc.ca/ACT-1-75-584/science_techno
  logy/acid_rain/educational_activities/
• http//resources.yesican-science.ca/trek/water/wat
  er_ec/FSA-3.html
• http//www.elements.nb.ca/theme/transportation/gor
  don/gordon.htm
• http//www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain/acidfact.html
• http//weather.about.com/library/weekly/aa032502a.
  htm
• http//www.gonzaga.k12.nf.ca/academics/science/220
  0/sci2200-04/unit01/section03/lesson05/3-lesson-a.
  htm