Causes of acid rain?
Answer:
"Acid rain" is a broad term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material) from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. The precursors, or chemical forerunners, of acid rain formation result from both natural sources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man-made sources, primarily emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) resulting from fossil fuel combustion. In the United States, roughly 2/3 of all SO2 and 1/4 of all NOx come from electric power generation that relies on burning fossil fuels, like coal. Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from power plants and other sources, prevailing winds blow these compounds across state and national borders, sometimes over hundreds of miles
sulphur dioxide - burning fossil fuels mostly - it realeases sulphur which reacts with the atmosphere and forms sulphur dioxide
pollution, air pollution-most commonly released from factories/ cars, etc.
air pollution-that comes from cars, factories, wastes, etc.
Until Global Warming became popular, a lot of people pointed the finger of blame at the burning of "high sulphur coal" in power plants in the midwest. It seems there were and are sources of "low sulphur coal" out in the west, but since those mines were "non union" the United Mine Workers threw a fit about it and put in the fix so that the high sulphur type from Senator Robert Byrds mines in West Virginia was still bought by the midwestern power industry.
This was all a few years back and maybe things are different now.
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