Surviving Acid Rain
By
Rajwinder Munder

ENG 1121
Professor Murphy
May 5th, 2015

Outline
Intro:
Thesis Statement: With the increase of pollution of industry, acid rain has become a serious problem in the world today.
Main Point: Acid rain has been a threat to the world’s ecosystems and its people, becoming one of the most dangerous forms of pollution today.
Body:
Articles:
5 year study of rainwater chemistry in a coastal megacity in south china takes place specifically in Shen Zhen and scientists discovered and found out that there was a strong anthropogenic pollution in the rain water.
In the eBook Plankton culprit turn clear lakes to jelly it was revealed that acid rain may be causing lakes in eastern Canada to turn to jelly and trouble the fish life which made it hard to fishers to make a living.
In the book excerpt “ Countdown Acid”, it was recorded that normal rain also holds very small amounts of acid particles in it, but none that can harm or damage anything.
The story “ To build a fire” by Jack London from Literature for composition, London discusses that modern needs for man had turned humans into selfish people taking advantage of nature.
The story “Butterflies” by Patricia Grace from Literature for Composition, Grace displays a message that we don’t really know what really happens to animals or nature until we experience it happen.
The article “Now or Never” by Bill McKibben from Literature for Composition, McGibben emphasizes that global warming is getting stronger when carbon dioxide or other gases are emitted into the atmosphere.
Conclusion:
I believe it is literally impossible to control acid rain if addressed to the public, the only way to maybe stop it is if we can convince the public to force political figures to take actions to control how wastes are released by industries.

Acid rain is one of the most dangerous forms of pollution that exists today. It has been affecting the ecosystem of this planet and our people. Acid rain has become an environmental concern of global importance within the last decade. You may be wondering what acid rain is like. Acid rain looks, feels, and tastes exactly like normal rain, but it is very different and very dangerous. Acid rain is caused by chemical reaction in the rains water that originates from pollution. With the increase of pollution by industries, acid rain has become a serious problem in the world today. As industries around the world dump waste in the ocean or underground, they are constantly endangering the life around the area. We even might find ourselves ignoring the fact that these things are happening around us and this waste will one day evaporate and hinder us. We don’t realize its effect until we experience it happen to us. Patricia Graces’ story “Butterflies” displays a message about nature that we don’t know what really happens to animals or nature until we experience it happen. "She said butterflies are beautiful creatures. (...) They visit all the pretty flowers, she said. They lay their eggs and then they die. You don't kill a butterfly, that’s what she said." Her grandfather then answers that the teacher probably gets all her cabbages from the supermarket. The message from this story is that we must stop the things that we are aware that will ruin or destroy you or nature. If we ignore acid rain, nothing will be done to control or stop it and we will continue to suffer from its consequences. Nobody should have to suffer the consequences of something they have not done. In Jack London’s’ story “To build a fire”, he explains that we must not mess with Mother Nature or ignore the consequences. The protagonist of “To Build a Fire” is no wimp. In fact, he’s very tough but is a little too confident, and he doesn’t really appreciate the things around him in nature. We have a main character whose hands get so frozen he has to try and light a fire by holding a match in between his wrists. London tells us that no matter how safe we feel inside our homes, there is a brutal nature out there. “Well, at least I can still feel my fingers.” I believe this sentence sums up basically everything. Nature has put limits on our stealth. We are not powerful enough to face its consequences. Acid rain has an extremely negative impact on our society, so I believe industries around the world need to take a strong precaution before dumping wastes into the waste or underground. Acid rain is the result of industrial pollution that causes rainwater to carry small quantities of acid such as sulphuric and nitric acid. Contaminated rainwater is killing fish and other organisms and are also damaging plants, and trees. After all, acid rain limits global warming by reducing methane release from natural wetland areas, said by a global climate study. The article “Now or Never” by Bill McKibben suggests that global warming is getting stronger when carbon dioxide or other gases are emitted into the atmosphere. That atmosphere is turned into acid rain and spread across the land, ruining all of plant life and food sources. McKibben says “…human beings are changing the planet more fundamentally in the course of a couple of decades than in all the time since we climbed down from the trees and began making clever use of our opposable thumbs.” The increase of industries in the past decade has has a great impact on this planets’ ability to have a cleaner atmosphere.
Coal, oil , and petroleum burning all create sulphur pollution. Vehicle exhaust and fossil-fueled power plants release nitrogen pollution. In the book “Countdown Acid Rain”, Murray explains that even normal rain holds very small amounts of acid particles in it, but none that can harm or damage anything All these gases combined in the atmosphere drop down as acidic rain and need to be contained or even stopped. A 1983 U.S and Canada report shows that human activity caused 50 million tones of acid air pollution in 1980. The U.S produced 43.4 million tones and Canada released 6.6 million tones. “Acidic precipitation, threatens many fish species by dissipating spawning. It can also kill the aquatic life on which fish depend for food.” Acid rain does not just affect us but also underwater life that lives off of natural resources as well. The acid in the rain burns all of the fish’s food and adds acid particles in the water as well, endangering the aquatic life.
Acid rain damages everything that it touches. It poisons our rivers, ponds, lakes, streams and oceans along with all the life in them. It pollutes our soil and crops, weakens trees and can even kill fish and plants. Acid rain causes a flow of effects that harm or kill fishes, reduce fish population numbers and can even erase fish popularity from a certain spot. As shown in a eBook article “Plankton culprit turns clear lake into jelly”, acid rain have caused lakes in eastern Canada to turn to jelly. Canadian lakes are in serious damage from a form of jelly like organisms. The cause is a shortage of calcium in the lake, which is a very important element in water supply. “The research found acid deposits have been steadily increasing since the 1850s, a time of rapid industrialization.” These industries cause a chemical reaction when they release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen into the air.
Acid rain forms when the gases that are given off by burning fuels, such as coal and gasoline, mix with rain. Power plants burns fuel to give us electricity to use, which eventually leads to tons of acidic wastes that are dumped into places like water or underground. In a research journal, “5 year study of rainwater chemistry in a coastal megacity in south china”, scientist discovered that there were strong amounts of pollutants in the rainwater. A total of 208 rainfalls were recorded over a 5 year period in Shen Zhen, China. It was recorded that every time, after rain, data was collected the naturalizing materials were washed away by acid rain. Damage to crops, trees, lakes, rivers and animals were resulted.
We need to cut down on the pollution that gets into our air. With the increase of pollution of industry, acid rain has become a serious problem in the world today. As research shows, acid rain harms our environment. But people everywhere can take small steps now to help protect our environment for future generations. The best to do this is protest against the government or political leader with power to get this done. If we can cut down the waste dumped into the ocean, I believe we have a chance to have a brighter and more efficient society in terms of natural resources and healthier plant life. Controlling and trying to eliminate acid rain would be expensive and require governments, industries and citizens to take actions but it is the right thing to do. We must save our ecosystems, our food, our people, our water and our health from the effects of acid rain.

Works Cited
Grace, Patricia. “ButterFlies”. Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto and _____William E. Cain. 10th Edition. New York: Pearson. 2014. Pg.612-13. Print Story
Gunther, Matthew. “Plankton Culprit Turn Clear Lakes to Jelly.” New York: Scientific _____American. Nov. 2014. Newspaper.
Huang, Xiao-Feng, Xiang Li, Ling- Yan He, Ning Feng, Min Hu, Yu-Wen Niu and Li-Wiu _____Zheng. “ 5- Year Study of Rainwater Chemistry in a Coastal Mega-City in South China.” _____Elsevler Science. Jul. 2010. Internet Source Journal.
London, Jack. “To build a fire”. Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto _____and William E. Cain 10th Edition. New York: Pearson.2014. Pg. 596-605 Article
McKibben, Bill. “Now or Never.” Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William _____Burto, William E Cain. 10th Edition. New York: Pearson. 2014. Pg. 590-594. Print Story.
Murray, Glen. “Countdown Acid Rain”. Ministry of the Environment. Ontario Council of _____University Libraries and Member Libraries. 1985. Pg.3. Book.