by the EPA
http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/whatcauses.html
Picture: Does this picture creep you out a little bit? It definitely scares me. This is an example of what acid rain can do to statues made of hard concrete and stone. Imagine what is can do to plants and animals!
Summary: Earlier this year, I posted a blog about acid rain during our biosphere unit and how it affects trees. Today, I found an article that highlights what acid rain really is, and how it happens. Acid rain is formed by the mixture of unnatural chemicals in our atmosphere. These chemicals are caused by the release of sulfur dioxide and (non-atmospheric)nitrogen oxides into our atmosphere and ozone layer. These chemicals are most commonly released by factories burning fossil fuels for electricity and the release of exhaust from cars and trucks on the road. Since over 1 billion cars are on the road every day worldwide, this accounts for a huge amount of exhaust release and acid rain likelihood.
Reaction:
It seemed like everybody was pretty unaware of what acid rain was last time I posted, so I wanted to find an article that summarized how it's made and what it consists of. Did you also know that acid rain can, in high consistencies, burn the skin? That scared the crap out of me, to be completely honest, as a person who is very sensitive to air quality and skin condition. I really hope that in future years the amount of acid rain can significantly decrease as more people become aware of the terrifying circumstances it presents.
Questions:
1) How aware were you of this situation before this point?
2) Do you think environmental groups should make an effort to spread awareness about acid rain? Why or why not?
3) Do you think the affects of acid rain will increase or decrease in the future? Why?
Opinion/ Reflection
ReplyDeleteThis article is very helpful! It is commonly known (in our science class at least) that all these factories burning fossil fuels, and cars giving out exhaust every day is really impacting us and how we live. All these pollutants pollute our air, water bodies, and now our rain?! Enough, I say! I do realize that a fourteen (almost fifteen!!!) year old girl saying “enough” really won’t make much of an impact on how acidic the rain that pours down is, yet it is a scary topic. I would really hope that if I were to be walking in the rain one day, the acid rain would not burn my skin. That’s just taking it too far. Of course, I’m not going to say all factories need to be closed down and all cars need to stop running, but perhaps instead of driving a few miles to school everyday, maybe sometimes we could walk. This could even solve the obesity epidemic! Alright, I’m getting off topic. The gargoyle in the picture scares me... especially the caption! Imagine what it could do to plants and animals! Even humans! Don’t we care about any of these things enough to prevent acid rain?
Do you think the affects of acid rain will increase or decrease in the future? Why?
I think acid rain will decrease in the future because scientists are working every day to create clean, alternative energy, which will help acid rain in the long run. In addition to alternative energy, cars and factories are slowly beginning to make the change from fossil fuels to electricity, or even garbage. The human brain keeps developing new ideas for the greater good of this earth, and hopefully people will start listening to these people and saving our planet one step at a time.
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteOf course I have to say this again, WOW! I really want you to know Navy what a great idea it was to go and connect this blog to your previous one, because I still wasn't sure what acid rain exactly was. With the amount of negative affects burning fossil fuels and the waste our factories give out, I wonder why we haven't switched to an alternate energy source. With this unit of air quality, of course all of us are going to say how horrible it is and how we should stop burning fossil fuels, but we all know we will never stop using these fossil fuels until they run out. The thing is, we really need to cut back. Nothing too drastic, but enough to make a significant change. I definitely agree with Perie, since I walked home from school today in the rain, I could never imagine having my skin burn while walking outside in the rain.
1) How aware were you of this situation before this point?
I've definitely heard of acid rain before, but I always thought it was some kind of sci-fy nonsense. If I had to give it a number on a scale from 1-10, i would definitely be lower, around a 2 or 3. I can only recall hearing something about acid rain in rain forests, and when all of my friends from last semester environmental science hear Mrs. Deluca talk about "acid snow".
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!!! I have been waiting to actually find out what acid rain was because i've been really confused about it. I tried to look it up, but science articles tend to use very big words that confuse me. lol. Anyway, as soon as i hear acid rain, I automatically feel a bad vibe (anything with acid usually gives me a bad vibe). But now that vibe is even worse considering Navy decided to tell us it burns skin! OUCH! Hopefully in the future acid rain will decrease because of the new eco-friendly cars and other environmentally friendly things scientists are coming up with. Helping the environment is one of the things that all the electronics and gadgets we have can obviously help us with, and I think we should take advantage of this. I don't think you can ever over help the environment, so why not raise awareness, do research, and take action to make a healthier planet for everyone.
How aware were you of this situation before this point?
As I said in the beginning, I knew the words acid rain, have heard them in context, but never really new exactly what it was. I am going to use Dianna's idea of ranking my knowledge on a scale of one to ten. In the beginning I would have said I was a 1 (because all I knew was that it was called acid rain and it was bad). Now, I would say I am about a 4 or 5. I would honestly like to learn more about this subject especially since Dianna has now brought up "acid snow". Is this like the same thing just frozen? Is it better or worse then acid rain? I have questions and I need answers! I think people should really be aware of this since it can effect anything from rocks and stones to live animals and humans. Yes, i know many people don't know how much driving a car hurts the environment and humans would be no where without cars, but why can't most people drive eco-friendly cars. I guess it just really comes down to us wanting to save our planet and saying, "Enough is Enough!".
Relfection:
ReplyDeleteI stared at this picture for a good minute wondering what affects this could actually have on us humans. I liked that you brought that picture to my attention because it honestly scared me! Other than doing harm to humans and animals, it is destroying art. This past summer my family and I went to Italy. I remember all of the beautiful statues outside and learning the history about them. They all came with a story and all of them were so special, I cannot imagine if I went back to Italy in a couple of years and some of them were destroyed by acid rain. The worste part is that it would be humans' fault for destroying art. I always think it is so simple, stop polluting, but after reading so many articles about all the ways we use fossil fuels, it may not be so easy.
question 1
I have always known the term "acid rain." I always knew it was bad for us, but I never knew how bad it was or really what it was. After reading this blog I have realized how aweful it is! It affects so many different things. When I think of air pollution the first thing that comes to my mind it smoke and inhaling chemicals. Rarely do I ever think of air pollution relating to acid rain because we are not very educated on the subject. I think we should learn more about this topic because it negativly affects many living and nonliving things.