Acid rain how can we reduce it

Minimize the Miles Driving cars and trucks also produces large amounts of nitrogen oxides, which cause acid rain.

To help cut down on air pollution from cars, you can carpool or take public transportation, such as buses and trains. You can do this in a number of ways: Turn off lights, computers, televisions, video games, and other electrical equipment when you're not using them.

Encourage your parents to buy equipment that uses less electricity, including lights, air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, and washing machines. Such equipment might have the Energy Star label. The program limits, or puts a cap on, the amount of sulfur dioxide that power plants can release into the air and issues allowances to the power plants to cover their sulfur dioxide emissions.

It also reduces the amount of nitrogen oxides that power plants can release. Reducing Pollution Scientists have found different ways to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide released from coal-burning power plants. One option is to use coal that contains less sulfur. The power plant can also install equipment called scrubbers, which remove the sulfur dioxide from gases leaving the smokestack. Because nitrogen oxides are created in the process of burning coal and other fossil fuels, some power plants are changing the way they burn coal.

That is a condition that will dissolve rocks," said study team member John Valley. Sulfur dioxide SO 2 and nitrogen oxides NOx released into the air by fossil-fuel power plants, vehicles and oil refineries are the biggest cause of acid rain today, according to the EPA. Two thirds of sulfur dioxide and one fourth of nitrogen oxide found in the atmosphere come from electric power generators. A chemical reaction happens when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides mix with water, oxygen and other chemicals in the air.

They then become sulfuric and nitric acids that mix with precipitation and fall to the ground. Precipitation is considered acidic when its pH level is about 5. The normal pH of rain is around 5. Acid rain affects nearly everything. Plants, soil, trees, buildings and even statues can be transformed by the precipitation. Acid rain has been found to be very hard on trees. It weakens them by washing away the protective film on leaves, and it stunts growth. A paper released in the online version of the journal of Environmental Science and Technology in showed evidence of acid rain stunting tree growth.

Geological Survey scientist who headed the effort.