A brief history of Acid Rain
Nain Singh
Grade Level
6, 7, 8
Number of Days: 3 class periods of 50
mintues
Number of Half-Hour Segments per Day: 2
Number of Days: 3-4 class periods of 50 minutes
Number of Half-Hour Segments per Day: 3
Brief Description of Acid Rain
• What is acid rain?
• What causes acid rain?
• How does acid rain affect humans, plants
and buildings?
• What is being done to reduce acid rain?
• What can I do to reduce acid rain?
Objectives
Student will:
• Be able to define acid rain
• Be able to identify efforts to prevent
damage to the ecosystems
• Make choices to reduce acid rain
• Know the historical development of acid
rain
Procedure
• Teacher introduce topic, follow up with discussion
and questions & answers
• Arrange students in groups
• assign each group a particular time period in acid
rain history
• Each group collect resources for the time period
• Construct a time line for the time period
Procedure contd
• Give a brief description of the importance
of acid rain for the year within the time
period
• Consider coloring any illustration/drawing
on a single sheet
Assessment
• Tests/quizzes on the materials covered
• Quality of the project submitted on hard
copy
• Drawings, graphics, and tables inserted in
report
• Jeopardy with the different groups and a
prize to the winner.
Let’s begin with a definition…
• The term acid rain is used to describe when
precipitation is more acidic than normal
with a pH below the 5.0-5.6 range.
Sources of Acid Rain
•
•
•
•
Mainly fossil fuel combustion-automobile (SO2 & NOx)
Industrial plants- refineries.
Natural sources-volcanoes, lighting, marshes, etc.
Sulfuric acid & nitric acid are produced to reach the
earth’s surface as acid precipitation.
Effects of Acid Rain
• Aquatic ecosystems e.g. fish, birds, crustaceans,
phyto & zooplanktons.
• Terrestrial ecosystems e.g. soil, forest
ecosystems
• Materials e.g. buildings, corrosion of metal
objects
Acid Rain Timeline
“Bad Air” in England
• 1661: John Evelyn, an Englishman,
described how farmers in parts of
France complained how smoke carried
from England by the wind injured their
grapevines when in blossom.
Effects of “Bad Air”in England
• 1662: John Graunt described birth & death
rates in parts of England, including possible
effects on human health.
• Higher in cities with polluted air.
Major Gases Identified
• 1770s: Oxygen was discovered by two chemists.
• 1770s: Joseph Priestley of England used mercuric
oxide & energy from the sun to produce oxygen.
How Plants Produce Food
• 1770s & 1780s: Priestly & Ingenhousz, a
Dutchman, showed how green plants produce
food, a process called photosynthesis when
oxygen is produced.
Analysis of rainwater in England
• 1872: Robert Smith, a chemist in England,
described the differences in rain water from rural
areas & from the center of the city.
• He found sulfuric acid & acid sulfates in the rain.
The term “Acid Rain”
• 1872: Robert Smith coined the term “acid
rain’ based on the acidic nature of the rain
water in the city.
The ph Scale for Measuring Acidity
• 1909: Sorensen, a Danish biochemist,
proposed pH scale for measuring the
strength of acids & bases.
The pH scale
1923: W. H. McIntire & J.B.Young found
rainwater in Tennessee to contain large
quantities of dissolved materials.
1950s: Acid rain tied to burning of fossil
fuels.
1952: Polluted air kills thousands
in London.
Clean Air Act passed in United
States in 1963
• Air pollution in the US had become a major
problem by1963.
Major fish kills due to acid rain
• 1967: Fish kills alert the public to the
potential dangers of acid rain.
• pH of many lakes was much lower than
normal.
Clean Air Act Amended
Primary Air Quality Standard
1970: US EPA established primary air quality
standards to protect health of humans.
Decline of fish population
• 1972: Harold Harvey & others demonstrated
the effect of acid rain on the salmon population.
1975: In Connecticut, where have all the
salamanders gone?
National Study on Acid Rain
1980: The US began a national study of
acid rain.
US Congress passed the U.S. Acid
Precipitation Act.
Amendments to the Clean Air Act
Quic kTime™ and a
Y UV 420 c odec dec ompr es sor
are needed to s ee this pic tur e.
“We do not inherit the Earth from
our parents… We borrow it from
our children,”
Quic kTime™ and a
Y UV 420 c odec dec ompr es sor
are needed to s ee this pic tur e.
Quic kTime™ and a
Y UV 420 c odec dec ompr es sor
are needed to s ee this pic tur e.
For making an impact
Quic kTime™ and a
Y UV 420 c odec dec ompr es sor
are needed to s ee this pic tur e.