Acid Rain

Air Pollution
Chernobyl

Sulfur and nitrogen which are
found in acid rain eat holes in the
surfaces of statues and buildings
Sandstone figure over the portal of a castle in Westphalia, Germany,
photographed in 1908 (left) and again in 1968 (right). Acid rain
produced by air pollution generated in the heavily industrialized Ruhr
region of Germany probably accounts for the severe damage. The castle
was built in 1702. (Photos courtesy of Herr Schmidt-Thomsen.)
 In the past 30 years
acid rain has killed
more than half of the
Black Forest in
Germany
Forest trees damaged by acid rain in Germany.
Which branch has been exposed to acid rain?
 Pollutes the
rivers and kills
the wildlife
 Main cause is smoke
from factories and
power plants
 Air current bring
chemical-filled air
from other countries
to Germany
 Emissions
from cars and
buses add to
the problem
Europe's Worst Pollution Pocket Found Above Western
Germany

Home to Germany's steel and coal industries,

the area between Amsterdam and Frankfurt is
the most polluted in Europe, scientists said.
Use the map on
page 281 to
finish these
notes.
Northwestern
Germany, and
northern Italy
have such high
levels of
pollution
because . . .
London, Paris,
Moscow, and
Madrid have
high levels of
pollution
because . . .
 London is notorious  London is notorious
for air pollution called for air pollution called
smog which is caused smog which is caused
by sunlight acting on by sunlight acting on
the gases from cars the gases from cars
and factory exhausts. and factory exhausts.
 The Great Smog of
1952 lasted for 4
days and killed
thousands of people.
 This event made
people around the
world realize they
needed to work on
the problem of air
pollution.
 Today the British government has regulations
for industries and regularly checks air quality.
 The use of cleaner forms of energy and cars
with less harmful emissions has helped the air
quality
Disaster at
Chernobyl
Location of the Nuclear Power Plant
 April 26, 1986- Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in then
Soviet Union (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist
Republic), now Ukraine
 Worst nuclear power plant disaster in history
 A reactor exploded that caused other reactors
to explode, fires, and a plume of highly
radioactive fallout
 400 times more than the fallout of the
Hiroshima atomic bomb
Chernobyl nuclear
reactor after the disaster.
Reactor 4 (image centre).
Turbine building (image
lower left). Reactor 3
(centre right)
 Lumps of graphite moderator ejected from the core.
The largest lump shows an intact control rod channel.
 The plume drifted over extensive parts of the
western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western
Europe, and Northern Europe
 Light nuclear rain falling as far as Ireland
 Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia
were badly contaminated, resulting in the
evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000
people
 Land was poisoned with
radiation
 Drinking water was unsafe
for months
 Animals died
 Forests turned brown and
died
 30 mile radius of the
power station was
abandoned and became a
ghost town
Evacuation of Pripyat
The abandoned city of Pripyat with Chernobyl in the distance .
Lava flows formed by fuel-containing mass in
the basement of the plant. Lava flow (1).
Concrete (2). Steam pipe (3). Electrical
equipment (4)
Radio-operated bulldozers being tested prior to use
The Sarcophagus, the concrete block surrounding reactor #4
Map of radiation
levels in 1996
around Chernobyl.