| Acid Rain |
| Acidification has damaged natural ecosystems, from the lakes and streams of southern Norway, where 80% are dead or nearly devoid of fish life, to the Waldsterben (tree death) of the German forests. Great buildings are slowly dissolving, from Cologne Cathedral and the Parthenon in Athens to India's Taj Mahal.
Acidic rain results when sulphur and nitrogen compounds are emitted from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Dry particles of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphates and nitrates settle on sites within 300km of a pollution source. More widely dispersed pollutants combine with water vapour, sunlight and oxygen in the atmosphere to create a mix of sulphuric and nitric acids which can travel over 1,000km (625m) before returning to Earth as acid rain, hail, snow, sleet or fog. In industrialised regions, over 90% of the atmospheric sulphur is from man-made emissions. Particularly high sulphur levels are found in some types of coal burned in power stations. Much of the nitrogen dioxide is from motor car exhausts and this poses a direct threat to human health, penetrating the lining of the lungs and causing breathing difficulties. |