The actual term "acid rain" was first used over one hundred years ago by British chemist Robert Angus Smith. At that time, he realized that smoke and fumes from human activities could change the acidity of precipitation. Unfortunately his awareness was not considered an environmental concern until the 1950's. Around this time, increased levels of acidity were discovered in lakes in both Canada and Scandinavia. At first, this was looked at as an interesting situation, rather than a growing problem. Since that time, much research has gone into identifying the sources

In North America, and in some European nations, public concern over the effects of acid rain has been transformed (after a lot of controversy and fighting) into laws (such as the recent Clean Air Act in the United States), restricting the amount of SO2 and NOx which can be released by electric utilities and industries. The result has been a slight decrease in annual acidic deposition in some areas. There is also evidence that when acid deposition is reduced ecosystems can recover. Many of the lakes near Inco's nickel smelters in Sudbury have drastically improved as local levels of acid deposition have decreased over the last twenty years. In the future, it will be very important for the first world companies to lend the developing world its technology and experience, in order to make sure that the same acid rain problems do not occur as these countries consume more energy during the process of industrialization.

Environment Canada, Canadian Perspectives on Air Pollution, SOE Report No. 90-1, Ottawa, 1990.

of acid rain and the damage that it causes. As research continued, the situation reached catastrophe proportions in the late 1970's. By this time, thousands of lakes in Canada and Scandinavia had been declared dead, devoid of life, while emissions of acid gasses continued to rise.

The other alternative to reduce acid rain is to burn less high sulfur fossil fuel. This can be accomplished by switching to alternative sources of energy, or improving the efficiency of our energy consuming technologies. Coal fired power plants can reduce their SO2 emissions by burning coal with a lower sulfur content. Another alternative is to switch these power plants to fuels with lower acid gas emissions such as natural gas. Ultimately, the most effective methods of reducing acid rain are renewable energy and energy efficiency. Renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind energy can produce electricity without any emissions of SO2 or NOx. There are also many ways that we can decrease our consumption of energy through improving the efficiency of our end use technologies. Examples of efficient technologies include compact fluorescent lights which use up to 75% less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs to produce the same illumination and automobiles which get 30 km/liter compared to the eight km/liter average of today's new cars. Both renewable energy and energy efficiency have the added benefit that they also result in reduced emissions of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming.

In addition to reproductive failures, acidification can reduce the amount of calcium available to vertebrates such as fish, as well as increasing the concentration of toxic heavy metals in surface waters. Both of the above can result in deformed bone structures, and poor growth in fish. The decline of any one member of a food chain impacts on many other species. Birds such as loon

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1969
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)