Period 5, Group A, Post 4 (Final)

Dear Editor of The Forest Acorn,

Subject: Raising Mass Awareness about the Damaging Effects of Acid Rain

Through your esteemed newspaper, I am honored to speak on behalf of the inhabitants of The Forest about the growing threat of acid rain.

Following frequent rainstorms, residents of The Forest have noticed a decrease in the food supply. Alarmed by my dwindling amount of berries, I quickly brought together a group of intellectuals to determine the cause. Those that joined me in this assembly of scientific minds included Orville the Owl, Socrates the Squirrel, and Tina the Trout.

We have attributed this dramatic change in our ecosystem to acid rain. Acid rain is becoming a major issue in our forest, and something needs to be done about it.

The activities of our human "superiors" are the major causes of acid rain. They pollute the air with car and power plant emissions, causing large amounts of sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and carbon dioxide to accumulate in the atmosphere. Another major contributor of pollution is farms. Their use of fertilizer and their disposal of our friends'—the pigs’—fecal matter cause an excess of nitrogen dioxide to gather in the atmosphere. These gases combine with water droplets in clouds to form acid rain.

Once acid rain falls, it chemically reacts with nutrients and minerals in the ground, like calcium and magnesium. The compounds containing these elements neutralize the acid rain, but are consequently leached from the soil. As a result, we lose that natural buffer against the rain’s acidity, leaving plants and microbes vulnerable. Furthermore, these nutrients are essential for the growth of organisms; without them, life dependent upon the soil for sustenance withers and dies. This is why many inhabitants of The Forest have noticed a dramatic decrease in foliage to feed upon.

Acid rain also runs off into lakes, rivers, and streams. It poses a direct threat to organisms within those bodies of water; low pH levels, for instance, can even directly kill fish, insects, and plants. In areas with already low biodiversity, this can be devastating. Tina the Trout has been telling us of the problems it has been giving her fellow water breathers; acidity in the water has been making it so that their eggs do not hatch, preventing their children from ever being born. Because of all the fish being gone, most of the land roamers that feed on fish are now dying of hunger and can no longer feed their young.

Whatever happens to us will also affect our human "overlords." If acid rain kills off a large number of us forest folk, human populations could tumble into even greater food crises. Moreover, while acid rain is not concentrated enough to directly harm humans, the gas particles that cause it can lead to lung problems. Acid rain can also hurt human economies. The loss of fish could be the death knell of fishing industries; the impairment of tree growth could cripple logging industries; and acid rain could slowly break down buildings, statues, and other structures. All of these things, combined with the destructive effect acid rain has on crops, will dissolve the world in an acidic solution. Governments will crumble into anarchy. Economies will crash, making food the sole currency. Mafias will emerge. What remains of the animal kingdom will be hunted to extinction.

To prevent this dark future, I suggest a series of campaigns aimed at raising both human and animal awareness. The outspoken local activist, Peggy the Pigeon, has suggested a massive movement: "Defecation Day." On D-Day the pigeons of the world will unite against a common enemy: the automobile. Why defecate on statues that will be dissolved by acid rain anyway? Preserve your ammo. Peggy has taken the first leadership role in this campaign against acid rain, and I implore you, the animal kingdom, to make similar efforts. We must act NOW to prevent this bleak future!

Sincerely,

Bernard the Bear