Acid rain is one of the major environmental issues confronting industrialized countries, and is a wet form of acid deposition. Acid deposition is composed of sulfuric acid, nitric acid and ammonium, and occurs as wet deposition (rain, snow, sleet, hail), dry deposition (particles, gases and vapor), and cloud or fog deposition. Understanding the nature of acid rain and its impact requires a working knowledge of the concept of acidity and means by which atmospheric processes affect the potential for acid deposition.
Acidity
The acidity of a material is associated with the relative abundance of free hydrogen ions (H+) when that substance is in a water solution. The pH scale is a logarithmic scale, where a value of 7 indicates neutrality; decreasing values on the scale indicate an increase in acidity and increasing values represent alkalinity. A pH scale with representative examples is shown in Figure A1.
The pH scale denoting examples of some common substances.
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Driscoll, C.T., Lawrence, G.B., and Bulger, A.J., et al., 2001. Acid Rain Revisited: advances in scientific understanding since the passage of the 1970 and 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Hubbard Brook Research Foundation. Science Links Publication, Vol. 1, no. 1.
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Cross-references
Aerosols
Air Pollution Climatology
Atmospheric Nuclei and Dust
Climatic Hazards
Precipitation
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Kemling, M.L. (2005). Acid Rain. In: Oliver, J.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_1
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