Period 5 Groub D

Hello, welcome to this informative speech on the negative effects of acid rain. As I'm sure you all are aware, I am Tony Hawk, and I'm here to tell you that life isn't all about popping a kick flip or doing a casual mctwist. There are dark sides to this planet, and one of the darkest things is the deviating menace known as Acid Rain.

I used to think that acid rain was no big deal. I assumed that the only harm that it did to plants was fall on them and corrode their leaves and what not. Recently I realized that the effects of acid rain can last on an environment for years upon years. It isn't that acid rain simply burns plant life. Acid rain's most dangerous effect is that it strips the land of all Calcium ions and Magnesium ions, both of those ions are staples of life as we know it. This can be a catastrophic phenomenon for forests around the world.

The process through which the land is stripped of it's Calcium and Magnesium ions is quite interesting. The Calcium is stored in the soil in insoluble compounds usually like Calcium carbonate or Calcium hydroxide. These compounds are bases that are insoluble in soil, and will stay insoluble until they react with acids found in acid rains to form soluble products and water. Once the soluble products and water are formed then the Calcium, or Magnesium, is stripped from the land and taken far far away through streams and underground water.

This can have a devastating effect on the environment. All of the plant life needs the Calcium to grow and survive and once the Calcium is striped from the land it takes a really long time to get it back. This isn't just a one year problem I'm talking about. This is a problem that will last for your lives and it is important that we fight acid rain to help our forests and lakes survive.

So how does acid rain directly effect humans? Acid rain itself is no more dangerous than normal rain. It will not hurt you if you walk on it or burn you if you swim in it, but the gasses that are in acid rain such as Nitrogen oxides and Sulfur dioxide are harmful to humans. These gases react with water to form acid rain, and it isn't that acid rain is dangerous to us, but those gases are poisonous. Most of those gases aren't formed naturally on Earth, but human kind has found ways to create it's own poisons. Scientists have found that these gases have been known to cause premature death and illness. There fortunately is a way for humans to help stop the formation of gases. We can support the Clean Air Act and cut back on fossil fuel use and gas emissions.

It is important to understand acid rain. It is important to fight it because even though it will take a long time to make it better, it doesn't take that much time to make it a lot worse. It is devastating to the environment and harmful to human health, and it is important for us all to try and stop acid rain in it's tracks.