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 effects 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, and it pollutes the water and air which can harm many organisms. It can also pollute the air and water, which can harm an ecosystem along with its species. 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 but 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.
How acid rain affects the water is just as bad as the depletion of Calcium and Magnesium. If you go up to a lake and see that it is really clean and can see all the way to the bottom you might think it is really healthy and good for its organisms. But, in a lot of cases the water only looks clean because the algae and the plankton are all dead. This happens when acid rain falls into the lake. When acid rain falls upon lakes, rivers, streams, etc., it can cause the water to become more acidic than normal. The life forms can no longer live in the water because they cannot adapt to the sudden change in pH. What eventually happens is only a few species that can handle the acidity survive and the rest die which effects the biodiversity in the ecosystem and the food chain.
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.
Nice Job! I just think there are a few important facts that are missing.
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