The Unknown Threat: Is Acid Rain Real or Just Hype?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the reality and impact of acid rain, contrasting it with historical environmental concerns like DDT and the ozone hole. Participants agree that while acid rain poses a significant threat to ecosystems, particularly affecting trees, limestone structures, and aquatic life, its dangers are often downplayed. The conversation highlights the long-term environmental damage caused by acid rain, including the release of heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium into food chains, which can lead to health advisories for fish consumption in regions like Maine.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of acid rain and its chemical composition
  • Knowledge of environmental pollutants, specifically sulfur oxides (SOx)
  • Familiarity with bioaccumulation processes in ecosystems
  • Awareness of health advisories related to mercury and cadmium exposure
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the chemical processes involved in acid rain formation
  • Study the impact of sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions on forest ecosystems
  • Learn about bioaccumulation and its effects on aquatic life
  • Investigate current regulations and health advisories regarding fish consumption in areas affected by acid rain
USEFUL FOR

Environmental scientists, ecologists, public health officials, and anyone interested in the long-term effects of pollution on ecosystems and human health.

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What is going on here? Should I shelter my children from the rain? One of my friends was telling me about acid rain how it used to happen. I said I don't remember it raining acid. ? :cry: The unknown!

But seriously, is this a real threat, was it? Was it just a bunch of hype caused by environmentalists? Compareable to Love Canal, Times Beach, DDT, Radon, the ozone hole, global warming, Bovine Growth Hormone, the coming Ice Age, the Day After Tomorrow, overcrowding of the Earth, the population bomb etc... Wow I just realized this has been going on for a while.
 
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DDT is hype?

Didn't like.. thousands of people die from that?
 
Pengwuino said:
DDT is hype?

Didn't like.. thousands of people die from that?

Nope. Millions die annually from malaria --- tens of millions w'out DDT.

It was implicated in declining raptor populations due to bioaccumulation processes; believed to result in thinning of egg shells to a degree that they were too fragile for successful nesting and incubation.
 
Well about 20-30 years ago the forests in Western Europe were strongly declining, known here as "das grosse waldessterben" and indeed every casual observer could not conclude anything else.

So we cut back on SOx emissions and other pollutants and yo and behold the forests are thriving again as never before.

Or were it the early 1970 draughts that led to many trees to perish?
 
Andre said:
Well about 20-30 years ago the forests in Western Europe were strongly declining, known here as "das grosse waldessterben" and indeed every casual observer could not conclude anything else.
So we cut back on SOx emissions and other pollutants and yo and behold the forests are thriving again as never before.
Or were it the early 1970 draughts that led to many trees to perish?

What about the effects on aquatic life, and acid rain elsewhere in the world? Can this all be tied into drought? Have decreases in forest cover on such a magnitude been caused by droughts in the past?
Acid rain seems like the more likely culprit to me.
 
matthyaouw said:
Acid rain isn't a threat unless you are a tree, a limestone building, or a lake ecosystem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain
Acid rain is quite a threat because when it comes in contact with soil, rocks, and sediment it can unlock metals like mercury, cadmium, and aluminun that bioconcentrate in the fish and the animals that we eat. Here in Maine, when you get your fishing license, they also issue you a book of regulations, that contains prominent health advisories warning pregnant women not to eat wild fish, and suggesting strict limits to how much wild fish anybody should eat - to avoid mercury poisoning. The state also advises that you not eat deer liver because of high concentrations of cadmium.

Acid rain has already caused damage to our environment that might take decades to mediate, even if man-made acid-forming emissions stopped right now.
 
turbo-1 said:
Acid rain is quite a threat because when it comes in contact with soil, rocks, and sediment it can unlock metals like mercury, cadmium, and aluminun that bioconcentrate in the fish and the animals that we eat.

Right you are:blushing:
 
turbo-1 said:
Acid rain is quite a threat because when it comes in contact with soil, rocks, and sediment it can unlock metals like mercury, cadmium, and aluminun that bioconcentrate in the fish and the animals that we eat.
So it is not the acidity of the rain that is bad, it is the reactions that go on underground, that bring heavy metals into the ocean?

Thank you for helping, but I don't quite understand yet.
 

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