How Does Acid Rain Affect The Environment ?

It is important for us to understand what exactly Acid rain is to understand the harmful damages it can because Acid rain is mainly caused due to pollution. Air pollution is caused when every type of fuel is burnt or used by various industries and vehicles. Fuel contains several chemicals which do not dissolve, but instead become a residual gas in the environment. The smoke that comes out when fuel is burnt contains these residues.

The air in the atmosphere cannot absorb this smoke. So, it remains suspended there.However, rainfall absorbs all the impurities from the air, and that is how it absorbs these chemicals that come out of air pollution also. The raindrops turn acidic due to it. These raindrops contain harmful and invisible gases.

Power stations, factories, industries, cars, vehicles, airplanes and ships are all responsible for causing air pollution. The acidity of acid rain can only be measured using the pH scale. The lower the pH balance is, the more acidic the rain is. Acid rain upsets the pH balance of the atmosphere. To live healthily, we need to breathe in air with a normal pH balance. A normal pH balance indicates that the air is fresh and also is pure. Something like 7 is ideal.

However, in today’s circumstances in a city it is difficult to find a normal pH balance between 5 and 6. In some cities the pollution is so severe that the pH balance of the air falls below 3 sometimes. The environment which is not pure and pristine cannot hold life.