Acid rain is thought to have originated during the Industrial Revolution when concerns for the environment were not a priority. It is predominantly found in North Americas East Coast, parts of Northern Europe, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Acid rain causes nutrients from the soil to disappear, it causes trees to grow slower, and it is also responsible for the death of aquatic life in most lakes. Acid ra

When there are no nutrients left in the soil, the growth of plants and trees are reduced dramatically. When acid rain falls upon trees, the corrosiveness of the precipitation destroys the waxy coating on the leaves and needles causing the leaves and needles to die. When the tree loses its needles and leaves, the tree loses the ability to create food for itself through photosynthesis. Also, without its protective coating, the tree loses its ability to defend against disease, insects, drought, and cold temperatures. The cold temperatures are mainly responsible for the death of most trees under the condition of acid rain. Acid rain has been blamed for the decline of spruce forests on the highest ridges of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. In the Black Forest of southwestern Germany, half of the trees are damaged from acid rain and other forms of pollution.

Since about half of the acid rain in eastern Canada comes from American sources, the cooperation of the U.S. was needed to reach the target. In 1990, the U.S. launched action to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide by amending its Clean Air Act and, in 1991, by signing the Canada-U.S. Air Quality Agreement. By the year 2000, U.S. emissions should be about a third lower than they were in 1980, and by 2010, they should decrease by a total of 40%.

Although these actions have resulted in favorable outcomes such as the amount of acid rain is now decreasing, some serious problems remain. More action is needed to fully protect Canada's ecosystems. When present U.S. and Canadian control programs are fully implemented in 2010, an area of some 800,000 square kilometers, extending from central Ontario through southern Quebec and across much of Atlantic Canada, will still be receiving more sulphate than its natural systems can tolerate. Back in 1985, when the original targets for reducing sulfur dioxide were set, the effects of acid rain on lakes and other ecosystems were not well understood. Since then, many eastern Canadian ecosystems have been found to be more sensitive to acid rain than scientists had originally thought. Now scientists estimate that a further 75% reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions beyond the current commitments in targeted regions of eastern Canada and the U.S. would be necessary to protect all of the 95,000 lakes in this area.

It is apparent that the effects of acid rain are detrimental to our Canadian way of life, both economically and ecologically. The Canadian government realized corrective measures were needed. In 1985 the governments of Canada and the seven eastern provinces joined forces to take action on reducing sulfur dioxide, the major contributor to acid rain. They launched a program to cut sulfur dioxide emissions in the eastern provinces in half by 1994. It was hoped that this action would reduce the deposition of sulphates in rain and snow in eastern Canada from levels as high as 40 kg per hectare per year (kg/ha/yr) to no more than 20 kg/ha/yr, a level that would cause considerably less damage to ecosystems. Canada has been very successful in meeting its target in that by 1994, sulfur dioxide emissions in eastern Canada were 54% lower than 1980 levels.

As part of the Acid Rain Program, all affected utility units (which account for more than 99% of utility sulfur dioxide emissions) are allocated a specific number of emissions allowances, with one allowance equaling one ton of sulfur dioxide emissions. Allowances are tradable and utilities are free to buy, sell, or bank them for future use. In Phase II (to begin the year 2000), the total number of allowances allocated is set at half the 1980 utility emissions level, providing a legally binding cap on national utility sulfur dioxide emissions. The SO2 Allowance Trading Program is the first large-scale emissions trading program in the United States. The flexibility of this program, and other compliance options has resulted in significantly lower than expected cost

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Approximate Word count = 3564
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)