Acid Rain

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Acid Rain

• By Connie Ferch and Jamie Floris

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What is acid rain?

• Acid Rain is the term used to describe the
  precipitation in our world that has a pH level
  that is less than 5.6.
• The term pH is refers to a scale that measures
  the levels of acidity in a solution.
• These pH levels have become an important factor
  in some of the problems that our planet is
  facing.
• The two main sources of acid rain are sulfur
  dioxide and oxides of nitrogen.
• These two substances, when together, react and
  turn into Nitric Sulfuric Acids, and are what is
  stored inside of acid rain that creates the risk
  factors for our planet.

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Where the Gases Come From

• Sulfur dioxide
• 69.4 from industrial combustion
• 3.7 from transportation
• Nitrogen oxides
• 43 from transportation
• 32 from industrial combustion
• 5 from natural processes

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Effects Plant Life

• When the Nitric Sulfuric Acids are absorbed into
  the soil which helps accelerate the weathering of
  soil and remove nutrients within
• Toxins like aluminum are more soluble in the soil
  which isnt a good thing because it prevents the
  use of nutrients in the plant
• Plants become more susceptible to cold weather,
  disease, and insects that could eventually kill
  it

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Effects Animal Life

• The pH level of acidic rain does not only affect
  plants but animals on land and in the water as
  well
• Fish are harmed by the pH level in rain too

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Rain around Louisville

• First we selected five site around Louisville to
  collect rain.
• We choose to place containers at Waterfront Park,
  near downtown, one out in Jeffersontown, one near
  Browns Lane, one at Bellarmine, and one out off
  Dixie Highway.
• We also decided that we would collect the rain
  and check the acidic levels three times.
• Before we tested the water we thought that the
  rain from the downtown area would be most acidic.

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• The second time we tested the containers was on
  November 10th.
• We got almost the same exact results, but this
  time the rain water around Dixie Highway did not
  come off as dark as the water from Bellarmine and
  from the waterfront, so we determined that it was
  at about a 5 pH level.
• The third time we checked was on November 28th.
• The results were the exact same as the second
  readings we got.
• This led us to conclude that the rain in
  Louisville, Kentucky is acidic.   

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What can we do?

• Acid rain is a big problem, but it is not
  unstoppable.
• If the amount of sulfur dioxides and nitrogen
  oxides in the air is reduced, then acid rain will
  be reduced.
• There are many things that people can do to help
  reduce acid rain.
• We need to conserve energy and pollute less. By
  using less energy, less coal is burnt, and as a
  result, there is less acid rain.
• Another way to help the problem is to clean the
  coal before it was burnt, the dangerous
  pollutants that cause acid rain would be cleaned
  away.
• If coal is crushed and washed in water, the
  sulfur washes out.
• However, this is a very costly method, and many
  power companies and governments do not want to
  spend their money cleaning coal. It is also
  costly to burn low-sulfur coal.
• By burning low-sulfur coal it would give off less
  sulfur in the air as opposed to high-sulfur coal.

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THE END