Acid rain is the atmospheric issue I will be discussing in this writing. “Acid rain, also called acid precipitation or acid deposition, is precipitation possessing a pH of about 5.2 or below primarily produced from the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx; the combination of NO and NO2) from human activities, mostly the combustion of fossil fuels” (Butler and Likens, 2012). I will be comparing and contrasting the indoor air pollutant tobacco smoke with acid rain. ”Tobacco smoke pollution, or secondhand smoke, comes from two places: smoke breathed out by the person who smokes, and smoke from the end of a burning cigarette” (Clean Air Council).

“"Acid rain" is a broad term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material) from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007). Acid rain comes from emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the environment. There are many different contributors to these types of emissions, both man-made and natural sources. Examples include natural sources like volcanoes or decaying vegetation, or fossil fuel combustion which is a man-made source (U.S. environmental Protection Agency, (2007). As the Chapter 9 Reading states, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides in the atmosphere react with water to produce dilute solutions of sulfuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), and nitrous acid (HNO2). The acids return to Earth’s surface as acid precipitation or particulates.

Acid rain can cause rivers and lakes to become highly acidic, and as a result some aquatic animals are declining. Birds that live in areas that have high levels of acid deposition are also affected. They are at risk of laying eggs that are not as hard as they should be, and these fragile shells can break or dry out before they hatch. Trees are also negatively affected by acid deposition as they are seriously damaged or sometimes die if already weak from previous damages. “Acid deposition can also damage agriculture, and it corrodes metals, building materials, and statues”. “It eats away at important monuments, such as the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, and ancient Mayan ruins in southern Mexico” (Chapter 9 Reading).

One region’s sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions can result in acid rain in a totally different region. In the United States “legislation formulated to deal with acid deposition has led to arguments about who should pay for the installation of expensive devices to reduce emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides”. In international disputes, these issues are magnified even more. For example, gases from coal-burning power plants in England move eastward with the winds and fall back to the surface in Sweden and Norway as acid deposition (Chapter 9 Reading).

To mitigate the problem of acid deposition coal burning power plants have scrubbers installed in the smokestacks to help reduce sulfur emissions. The use of alternative power sources such as solar, hydrologic, and wind power are adding to the efforts to mitigate acid deposition. We as individuals can also help mitigate the problem of acid deposition by educating ourselves and our loved ones, doing what we can to minimize our electricity usage, buying hybrid cars that have low nitrogen oxide emissions, and by taking many other actions.

In contrast to acid rain, which can result from both man-made and natural sources, tobacco smoke pollution is produced strictly from human behavior. Tobacco smoke pollution is harmful for the person doing the smoking and to the people in the vicinity. It is especially harmful to children and the elderly. “EPA estimates that secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children less than 18 months of age annually, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year. Tobacco smoke pollution is harmful to children with asthma. The EPA estimates that for between 200,000 and one million asthmatic children, exposure to secondhand smoke worsens their condition. Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals-- 200 are poisons and at least 69 cause cancer and other diseases. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified tobacco smoke pollution as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen)” (Clean Air Council).

In efforts to mitigate the problem some companies, such as the Clean Air Council, have been advocates for smoke free initiatives as well as educators to the public. The more educated people are of the harmful effects of tobacco smoke pollution, the more of a chance there will be they will take action on their own to help mitigate the problem. In the United States and in some other countries, there have been laws passed to make it against the law to smoke inside of many public places.

“The most effective solution is to eliminate all smoking from the individual's environment, either through smoking prohibitions or by restricting smoking to properly designed smoking rooms. These rooms should be separately ventilated to the outside. Some higher efficiency air cleaning systems, under select conditions, can remove some tobacco smoke particles. Most air cleaners, including the popular desk-top models, however, cannot remove the gaseous pollutants from this source. While some air cleaners are designed to remove specific gaseous pollutants, none is expected to remove all of them and should not be relied upon to do so” (Environmental Protection Agency).

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References

Butler and Likens. (2012). Acid Rain. Britannica Academic Edition. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/EBchecked/topic/3761/acid-rain

Clean Air Council. (N.D.). Tobacco Smoke Pollution. Retrieved from http://www.cleanair.org/program/indoor_air/tobacco_smoke_pollution

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2007). What is Acid Rain? Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what/index.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2007). Indoor Air Pollution: An Introduction for Health Professionals. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/hpguide.html