For some people, acid rain seems such a far-fetched notion about rain that melts and eats away at the flesh of any person. However, nothing can be farther from the truth. Acid rain is something that describes the chemical makeup of rain which has become pollutants to the environment more than a harmless light drizzle.

What is acid rain?

Acids are substances which have a sour taste and is entirely characterized chemically by the ability to react with a base in order to form salts. When it is tested with blue litmus paper, the litmus paper turns red. Some strong acids are the kinds that can burn your skin.

Acid deposition is a particular jargon which encompasses more than simply "acid rain". Acid deposition essentially results from the transformation of sulphur dioxide (SO2) as well as nitrogen oxides into dry or moist pollutants with the example of sulphuric acid being one of the examples. Other examples of acidic substances are ammonium nitrate as well as nitric acid.

The transformation of sulphur dioxide as well as nitrous oxide to acidic particles as well as vapors occurs as all of the pollutants are whisked away in the atmosphere over distances of hundreds of thousands of kilometers. The acidic particles and vapors are all deposited through two different processes-wet and dry deposition.

Wet deposition

Wet deposition is acid rain which is the process wherein acids that have a pH which is lower than 5.6 are taken out of the atmosphere through rain, snow, sleet or hail.

Dry deposition

The dry deposition is the type of transportation of acidic particles wherein ash, nitrates as well as gases such as SO2 and NOx are then deposited on or absorbed onto different surfaces. The gases, once in contact with water can also be turned into acids.

The effects of acid rain

Acid rain is very destructive as it can cripple soil and water systems of a particular area. If one is not too careful, these acidic rains will be doing more damage than what is expected. More than doing damage to the agriculture and the environment, acid rain may also cause inconvenient damage to certain buildings as well as the materials that are used to build them.

This is because sulfuric acid in the rain is able to react chemically with the different calcium compounds in the stone such as limestone, thus destroying these concrete monuments. This will definitely do more than its share of reminding people that all should do whatever it is they can to take care of the environment