places Enduring Acid deposition
The Northern Hemisphere contains a high population. Because of this, they have endured many challenges with acid rain occurrences. In the 1980's, there were huge amounts of pollution which caused a significant reduction in animal and plant diversity. Many small lakes, because of the highly acidic rain, were reduced to virtually no life. The acid rain was so serious that, in Norway and Sweden copper was corroded and the hair on people's head turned in to a bluish-green tinge. America and Europe face a bigger risk with acid rain, because their coal has much higher sulphur content than Australia.
Europe
As Industrialization expanded across Europe during the 1970's and 80's, with tall chimneys and an increase in power generation, acid rain became an increasingly occurring problem. Across Europe, the Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen oxide emissions being created in a country, differed to how much they received. Some countries emitted small amounts of pollution such as, Norway, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland, but endured large amounts of acid rain. Other countries such as Bulgaria, Chezch republic, Italy and UK, emitted more pollution than was actually deposited.
In 1979, in a bid to clean the atmosphere of Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen oxide emissions, the United Nations Economic commission from Europe, made an agreement on "long transboundry pollution". This agreement aimed to reduce acidic emissions. Since this convention, a dramatic drop in Sulphur Dioxide emissions has been observed. But, because of the increase in vehicle traffic, there has only been a slight decrease in Nitrogen Oxide emissions. Although there has been a shrinkage in Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide emissions, the problem of acid rain still occurs in Europe and can only be stopped unless there are further dramatic drops in such emissions |
Slide show explanation (Above)The pictures in the slide show, display where Norway has been affected by acid rain (photo 2)and how it has decreased (photo 3) due to more strict measures in Europe in Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide emissions. One picture also displays Europe as a whole (photo 1), and which countries are most at risk when it comes to acid deposition.
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Asia |
Asia is experiencing worsening air pollution due to its major economic expansion. The economic expansion has contributed to the higher acidity in water. The higher consumption of fuels by farmers and industrial plants, in Asia, is worsening the already serious problem.
AmericaThe image of the USA where it shows the wet acid deposition in 1994 (2nd image below) displays high readings for wet acid deposition in the east of the country (eg. New York, Pensylvania and Philadelphia). The eastern section of the USA has a much more population density resulting in more vehicles, electrical power plants, and industrial manufacturers, all of which cause mass Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide pollution. Eastern America is more prone to acid rain, due to the increased pollution rates. They are more at risk and currently at high risk of structural damage and negative impact on ecological diversity.
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Who is most at risk?
There are many countries which are leaders in acid rain occurrences, (image 1 below) they include, America and Canada. Their main reason is due to the high amount of power plants, automotive plants and factories. In Europe, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway and Finland are mostly affected by acid rain. Their main reason is because of British and European factories. In Asia, China (image 3 below) and India are also mostly affected by industrial factories. It can be observed that through geographical evidence, the countries that are most at risk tend to have higher population, as they need to provide energy sources and jobs to their people. It is difficult to change to more environmentally friendly methods of generating electricity and production of materials, as it is expensive, when compared to cheap fossil fuels, such as coal. According to the graph (Image 4 Below) (conversation.com), it shows that India is the highest pollutor of Sulphur dioxide emission in Giga tonnes per year