Acid Rain, or acid precipitation, is the word used to describe rainfall that has a pH level of less than 5.6. This form of air pollution is currently a subject of great controversy because of its worldwide environmental damages. Acid rain is formed when oxides of nitrogen and sulfite combine with moisture in the atmosphere to make nitric and sulfuric acids. The two primary sources of acid rain are sulfur dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen. Scientists have discovered that air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels is the major cause of these oxides ("Acid Rain"). Power plants and factories burn coal and oil. Power plants use that coal and oil to produce the electricity we need to heat and light our homes and to run our electric appliances. We also burn natural gas, coal, and oil to heat our homes.

The smoke and fumes from burning fossil fuels rise into the atmosphere and combine with the moisture in the air to form acid rain. Acid rain usually forms high in the clouds where sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water, oxyge

One big fact that the party who feels man's emissions are not a big problem believes that the other party seems to overlook is the fact that acid precipitation occurs naturally. According to Dixie Lee Ray, "The decline of a forest may be part of the slow but natural process of plant succession, or it may be any of several stress-causing factors (61)." This means that acid precipitation is a natural process that must take place in nature, and the fact that man causes it is not necessarily a bad thing.

There are also natural sources of acids such as volcanoes, natural geysers and hot springs. Nature has developed ways of recycling these acids by absorbing and breaking them down. These natural acids contribute to less than 5% of the acidic rainfall in the world today (Bender 215).

One side of the argument says that this worldwide phenomenon is entirely man-made. They feel that nature has a planned sulfur cycle, but the burning of fossil fuels by man, causing the emission of SO2 into the environment, is so great that it overshadows the natural cycle and upsets the balance of nature on a planetary scale. By knowing the chemical changes that take place in sulfur and nitrogen oxides when they are in the atmosphere, and by calculating the amount of sulfur and nitrogen that is emitted from various sources and returned to the earth, scientist are able to conclude that most of the acid rain is caused by man. As stated above, biological sources of SO2 account for less than 5% of the total amount emitted into the atmosphere. Man emits the other 95%. Also, 90% of NOX in the atmosphere is due to man (Bender 215).

But not everyone goes with this view. Others say that man-made emissions are not the primary cause of acid rain. They believe that many of the findings of the other party are irrelevant and that the environment is not being harmed by the emission of SO2 and NOX by man. According to this party, the levels of SO2 and NOX in the atmosphere have not drastically changed in the past years proving that it is not a problem. Most rain is naturally acidic anyways. Values lower than pH 5.6 are considered acidic, but in many cases the clean, unpolluted rainwater is more acidic than this. This value has been disregarded by many scientists who believe it is an unrealistic value for determining the acidity of the water. These scientists feel that many of the other side's results are exaggerated because of the use of pH 5.6 as th

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1650
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)