IS ACID RAIN DESTROYING BIODIVERSITY?

Nowadays, the acid rain or acid deposition is any form of precipitation with acidic
components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the
atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust
that is acidic. This is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, vehicles and heavy
equipment and manufacturing. But it is often said that this creates a beneficial
effect on the environment…is it true?

Experts have recently discovered that Acid precipitation has a good impact on
earth. Global warming is created by different types of gases, such as carbon
dioxide, it is really present on the atmosphere. These gases block excess heat
from leaving the Earth's atmosphere in what is called the greenhouse effect. Also,
one of the gases that produce GHE is Methane; it is 21 times more powerful than
carbon dioxide. However, sulfur acid removes some significant portion of Methane
in the atmosphere that slow the global warming consequences. Additionally, other
studies have shown that a rise in temperature, with high concentrations of nitrogen
in the atmosphere, can help to higher growth in forests. For example, the nitrogen
in acid rain allows the trees to store more carbon. This is called carbon
sequestration, and is really effective: higher carbon reserves allow a tree to
produce the level of sugars and carbohydrates necessary for growth. 

Acid precipitation is the result or the product of the emission of sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen dioxide, by the wind and air currents. This compounds react with water,
soil, oxygen and other chemicals that produced sulfuric and nitric acids, which
contribute with the destruction and/or extinction of trees and plants, because they
get exposed to a high quantity of aluminum that removes the minerals from the soil
where they need to grow. Eventually they become unable to absorb the sunlight,
this is really bad, bringing in mind that the sunlight is a very important factor to the
fabrication of oxygen. Acid precipitation includes also the emission of nitrogen
dioxide can be really harmful to health. It attacks the pulmonary cells and causes
trouble in the respiratory system (depends of how much nitrogen is inside of the
body) . Moreover, this procedure contributed to lower pH levels in streams and
rivers across the United States, that means that the water is more acidic rather
than natural. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that pH levels of
water be between 6.5 to 8.5 for drinking purposes. Bodies of water with lower pH
levels may have higher iron and sulfur deposits, which in turn can prove harmful to
the health of wildlife and humans.

To sum up, the consequences acid precipitation gives to the humans and various
species are really worrying, but it is also contributing as a solution to big
problematics. I strongly recommend decreasing the acid precipitation, just
performing this type of procedures when it is need to. This will regulate the
extinction of organisms, help with the process of restoring lands or territory in order
to make a plant growth in rain forest, and reduce the amount t of global warming
that we have been confronting for years. It is destroying biodiversity and health in
humans, yes, but it is compensate (sort of) with the fact that this has also a positive
impact to the variety of living organisms.