Do we still have acid rain? Is there less emphasis on it because of the emphasis on global climate change?
Answer:
Acid rain has decreased because the government passed a law which limited emissions of sulfur dioxide which caused it. The Clean Air Act of 1970. Explanations of the Act for the general public are here:
http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/peg/index.htm...
The Supreme Court recently ordered the EPA to either regulate carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act to reduce global warming, or to give a scientifically valid reason why they should not. The Bush Administration opposed this case, and wrote a long argument why they thought they didn't have to. The Supreme Court said that argument had no legal or scientific validity.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17911853/...
All rain is acidic, some are just more acidic than others.
It's decreased a lot in the US since the 70's. Mostly it affects areas where large amounts of SO2 are being emitted.
It can make soils more acidic which means you have to add lime to your lawn to make it grow better.
I wouldn't worry about it. The changes in our climate are really quite normal, and one volcano emits more SO2 than all the cars in history.
Most of the climate change data is hyped to create hysteria, making some people extremely wealthy.
It must be part of human nature to always create problems where there are none at all, like ozone holes, acid rain, bird flu, global warming, global cooling, Y2k, etc etc.
If you can create the next hysteria business, invest in it heavily. Right now the "carbon credits" business is booming. People pay hundreds of thousands a year for someone to promise to plant trees.
Was it Barnum or his competitor who said "there's a sucker born every minute." ?
Yes we still have acid rain but in the 70s the chemical pollutants that cause acid rain were more stringently monitored and in some cases banned. As well the aerosols which were emitted up to this point were responsible for the slight global cooling over this time due to their sunlight reflective properties thus the world warmed and the focus shifted.
On another note why are so many people in denial about man made global warming because any real scientist would take an objective look at all the real unfabricated or distorted data and com to the same conclusion as the majority of scientists.
yes we do still have acid rain since too much pollution causes acid rain, while all rain is acid some sre more than others
global climate change is being emphasised by the media because it has become controversial since it is now a politcal issue and there are those who deny it and those who know we have to do something to slow down the drastic climate change
global warming is very real and we need to acknowledge change and that our actions have consequences on the environment and that denying it isnt going to slow it down or make it go away
We still have it--though not nearly to the degree it used to be. Thats due to the changes made (especially emissions controls oused by industries). There's been a modest upsrge the last few years--due to efforts by the Bush administration efforts to block the EPA from enforcing the laws. But that's already being reversed.
In short--that's a problem that's "under control"-which is why you don't see the same emphasis on it now. It is becoming a major problem in China, however--whith the same damage to forests and human health--not that the dictators in Beihing care about that.
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