Acid Rain: Effects, Mitigation Strategies and Stakeholders

This article discusses the effects of acid rain on the ecosystem, materials and human beings. It also explores mitigation strategies and stakeholders involved in the process. The article provides insights into the causes of acid rain and its impact on aquatic and terrestrial life forms and human health.

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ACID RAINS
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Introduction
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), acid rains, also
known as acid deposition, is any form of precipitation containing different forms of acidic
components such as sulfuric acid. As we know, these acidic substances, whether dry or wet, fall
from the atmosphere to the ground either as fog or rain, hail or snow; or sometimes as acidic dust
or fog. Acid rains originate from nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Nitrogen
oxides and sulfur dioxide have high affinity for oxygen, water and other chemicals suspended in
the atmosphere; they react by forming nitric acid and sulfuric acid respectively. While it is easy
to associate natural sources such as volcanoes with higher production of NOX and SO2, a higher
concentration of these gases originate from our activities and negligence including burning of
fossil fuels, establishment of industries, and the process of mechanization.
Effects of Acid Rain
Acid rain has devastating and far reaching effects on the ecosystem, materials and on
human beings. I have witnessed major threat of acid rain on fish and other wildlife. According to
a recent study by (Cole and Marney 2012 pp 8), the more acid gains its way into the soil, the
higher the concentration of aluminum it produces. Aluminum in rivers and streams lowers the
overall pH of such aquatic environments, making it difficult for organisms to reproduce
successfully; hence the diminishing number of fish population in the recent years (Date,
Grundon, Rayment and Probert 2012). For instance, I discovered recently that frogs can survive
in low pH media better than mayflies they feed on.
Similarly, acid rains have affected plants and forest distributions across the globe. We
constantly come across drying or dead trees as we walk around our localities. In my

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understanding, acid rain facilitates leaching of major minerals ideal for plant growth. Deficiency
of these components in any area encourages stunted growth or deteriorating plant population
(Muir and Roberts 2012). In fact, this is a common scenario in higher altitude areas affected by
acid fog and clouds. In these places, the acid rain strip trees’ foliage of stored nutrients,
inhibiting sunlight penetration to encourage further processing of nutrients. Thus, we will
definitely see weak and wasted trees that survive on needle-like leaves.
Finally, we, the human beings are also affected by this menace originating from our own
greed and negligence. A recent data from the WHO shows worrying trends of sulfur dioxide and
nitric oxide on human population (Muir and Roberts 2012). When we inhale these gases, we feel
the impact on our respiratory systems. This situation can be risky to people experiencing heart
failures and periodic attacks, a case I witnessed with my immediate neighbor. At times we lose
our friends or family members due to our ignorance of what we expose them to on a daily basis.
Why is it becoming harder each day for asthmatic patients to survive in acidic environment? The
answer is that, we have failed to explore the dangers associated with acid rain on us and the
people close to us. Possibly, we are going to understand why so many people have skin cancer.
Mitigation Strategies for Acid Rain
First, fuel switching to low-sulfur coal is the most applied. If only we could divert our
attention away from coal to other sources of energy, acid rain would be history. For instance, in
China, the government has been encouraging its citizens and different industries to adopt sulfur-
fixed briquettes as alternatives to the devastating sulfur-bound fuel (Weng, Mudd, Martin and
Boyle 2012 pp 80). Besides, if can use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), then we will definitely
reduce the amount of sulfur gaining its way into our environment. Furthermore, electricity is

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another alternative source of energy that when we use, we will be sure less gases will leak into
our surrounding.
Secondly, sulfur removals from coal combustion and flue gas desulfurization have also
contributed significantly to the reduction in sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. It is a common
strategy in utility boilers that use sorbent injection techniques that target the furnace. Again, flue
gas desulfurization has been effective in coal-fired plants known for their excessive release of
sulfur dioxide. Ideally, it encourages the use gas or liquid reactions to facilitate the removal
process. These two approaches together with enactment of government policies have contributed
to lowered concentrations of sulfur-associated products in our environment.
Stakeholders
For us to monitor the amount of sulfur dioxide released into the Australian atmosphere,
we must bring on board key players (Lindenmayer et al. 2012 pp 750). Most people exhibit
different but interrelated roles across the diverse stakeholders – classified at local, state, and
national levels.
i. Local Stakeholders: Are responsible for creating awareness, initiating acid rain
management action plan and implements different control strategies.
ii. State Stakeholders: Facilitates coordination process, development and implementation
of policies that regulate the coal burning and sulfur dioxide emission, and risk
mapping to help in dissemination of information to people and industries.
iii. National Stakeholders: Are responsible for research on mitigation strategies,
enactment of policy direction to the public and non-governmental institutions, and
funding of the proposed strategies.

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Since the effects of acid rain are diverse, affecting the aquatic and terrestrial life forms and
human health, it is difficult to settle on a single entity as a stakeholder. However, we can
perceive different categories based on their regions and responsibilities (Lindenmayer et al. 2012
pp 745). Therefore, when we use the term local stakeholders we mean a single ecosystem
together with its players – whether those affected or those facilitating the effects of acid rain on
the environment.
Part II: Stakeholder Definition and Role Understanding
Stakeholders refer to all the parties involved in the mitigation of adverse effects of acid
rain on environment and human health. In Australia, we have a long list of stakeholders; hence,
we synthesize it into different segments (Weng, Mudd, Martin and Boyle 2012 pp 83). The list
below is a summary of what stakeholders entail and their responsibilities in ensuring sound and
conducive surrounding that guarantees quality of air and life.
i. Statutory Authority (Local Governments)
Works alongside the state departments to facilitate coordination of human activities geared
towards mitigating the devastating effects of acid rain.
ii. Industry Organizations
Encourage the treatment of waste products that would facilitate the emission of sulfur dioxide
that contributes to the acid rain. Besides, it informs the public about the available options on
better strategies to lower the extensive spread of acid rain. Others include federal governments
and state and territory governments, each with distinct responsibilities touching on the
management of acid rain.

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Reference List
Cole, I.S. and Marney, D., 2012. The science of pipe corrosion: A review of the literature on the
corrosion of ferrous metals in soils. Corrosion science, 56, pp.5-16.
Date, R.A., Grundon, N.J., Rayment, G.E. and Probert, M.E. eds., 2012. Plant-Soil Interactions
at Low pH: Principles and Management: Proceedings of the Third Intenational
Symposium on Plant-Soil Interactions at Low pH, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 12–
16 September 1993 (Vol. 64). Springer Science & Business Media.
Lindenmayer, D.B., Likens, G.E., Andersen, A., Bowman, D., Bull, C.M., Burns, E., Dickman,
C.R., Hoffmann, A.A., Keith, D.A., Liddell, M.J. and Lowe, A.J., 2012. Value of long‐
term ecological studies. Austral Ecology, 37(7), pp.745-757.
Muir, J.F. and Roberts, R.J. eds., 2012. Recent advances in aquaculture (Vol. 3). Springer
Science & Business Media.
Weng, Z., Mudd, G.M., Martin, T. and Boyle, C.A., 2012. Pollutant loads from coal mining in
Australia: Discerning trends from the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI). Environmental
science & policy, 19, pp.78-89.