Backgrounder
Acid pollution. It’s as horrible as it sounds. It poisons the air we breathe and the rivers and lakes we drink from. It harms the soil we grow our food in and the forests that give us wood. And it also harms us. This is because we are all part of the chain of living things that make up the environment. What happens to one part of the earth will touch us, sooner or later. Like acid pollution. Let’s see how.
When we say something is “acid,” we mean it is sour. For example, lemon juice is a mild acid. Pollution in the air is much more acidic. You know how a drop of lemon juice on a cut on your hand feels sharp? Well, the acids in polluted air are so strong that when they land on water, soil or buildings, they start to damage them.
Acid pollution starts wherever there are many cars and factories.
It’s formed when dangerous chemicals called sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides mix with moisture in the air.
These chemicals are released into the air through car exhaust pipes and factory smoke stacks when people burn coal, oil and natural gas. When acid pollution falls back down to earth, it makes whatever it falls on go sour. And this is a big problem.
Acid pollution comes in two forms: it can be wet or dry. Wet pollution falls from the sky as rain, snow and fog. Dry pollution falls as dust.
But acid pollution doesn’t just stay in cities. Some acid pollution is carried away by the wind and falls on forests, villages, farms, lakes, rivers and oceans. Acid pollution makes plants and trees in the world’s forests so weak they lose their leaves and often die. On farmlands, it poisons the soil so crops don’t grow strong. Rye grass and barley are especially sensitive to acid pollution. Acid pollution makes lakes and rivers so acid that fish and other underwater life die, and it makes the water unsafe to drink. It attacks buildings and statues turning some stone, such as sandstone and limestone, into powder that is washed away by the rain.
Air pollution Another form of pollution that also hurts people, especially in cities, is called air pollution. Most air pollution is invisible. But when there is a lot of pollution in the air, you can see it. This is called smog. Smog is a dirty blanket of air that forms when sunlight mixes with chemicals in the air called nitrogen oxides. In some cities with a lot of smog, like Mexico City, the sky looks brown, not blue.
When polluted air enters our lungs, it can make it hard to breathe, especially for very young and very old people. Some cities have so much air pollution that people get breathing diseases, such as asthma. For example, it has been said that breathing the air in Bombay, India is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day.
What can we do to reduce air pollution? It’s much easier to prevent air pollution than to clean it up. Here are some things we can do everyday to help reduce pollution in the air.
Factory smoke stacks make a lot of air pollution. While we can’t control this ourselves, we can get together and ask factory owners to install equipment that will make their machines run properly and make less air pollution. We can also ask factory owners to try not to burn as much coal and oil since burning them pollutes the air.
If you live in a city and have a car, try to take the bus, or walk, or ride a bicycle more often. Leave your car at home as much as possible. This helps the air stay clean. When you must use your car, share rides with neighbours going the same way, and don’t drive too fast. You create less air pollution if you keep your speed to about 90 kph. Also, when you buy gasoline, buy unleaded gasoline if you can. Unleaded gasoline is better for the air than regular gasoline and it is also less dangerous to your health.
If you’re going to buy a car, remember: smaller cars are better than bigger cars, and newer cars are better than older ones. That’s because new cars are made to burn fuel better and to cause less pollution.
Also, if you burn fuel to warm your home, make sure you have thick walls and strong, insulated windows. This way, you can keep heat inside your home longer and use less fuel. You can also save fuel if you cook your food in large amounts. This too helps cut down air pollution.
Both acid pollution and air pollution are big problems. Now that we know what causes this pollution, it is important to ask ourselves, “If I do this, will I hurt the environment?” as we go about our daily activities. If the answer is yes, it’s up to us to find less harmful ways of doing things. So, remember the serious problem of pollution in our air, land and water and do what you can not to make it worse.
Acknowledgements
This script was written by Chris Szuskiewicz, a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada. It was reviewed by the Hon. Charles Caccia, Member of Parliament, Canada, and Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment; and Kevin Jardine, Atmosphere and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace in Canada.
Information sources
“Global Warming and the Third World”, Issue 15, Tiempo, March 1995.
“The Changing Atmosphere Part 4: Acid Rain & Air Pollution” in Outreach, Issue 59, 42 pages. Outreach Teaching and Learning Center, 200 East Building, 239 Greene Street, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
“Acid Earth: The Global Threat of Acid Pollution”, John McCormick, Earthscan Bulletin, Vol. 8, No. 5, December 1985, page 3. Inter national Institute for Environment and Development, London, England.
Acid Rain, John McCormick, 1986, 32 pages. Gloucester Press, New York, USA.
The World Watch Reader on Global Environmental Issues, “You Are What You Breathe,” Hilary F. French, 1991, page 97. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10110, USA.