Acid Rain as A Harmful Natural Phenomena

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There are many reasons why the earth can be inhabited by living things. Earth is the only planet that provides oxygen for humans, plants, and animals’ respiratory systems. Not only oxygen but also water as an important substance for humans living fills nearly seventy percents of the earth’s area. Although the earth’s area is dominated by water, however, earth’s top layer is soil ground which humans can stepped on it and built many things on the earth. But above all of that, the most important thing about earth is the layer that protects it. The layer that surrounds the earth and maintains it is called the atmosphere.

The atmosphere in etymologically is interpreted as a layer of air by Greek. While the atmosphere in terminology is defined as the layer that covers and surrounds the surface of a planet where the layer contains certain substances and atmosphere is separated by a certain distance from the planet’s surface. The forming process of the atmosphere continuous with the forming process of the earth itself. At the time of its formation, the earth was still a solid rock surrounded by gas but did not contain water. The earth’s gravitation made heavy substance such as iron pressed into the bowels of the earth while light substances were floating on the earth’s surface. The earth which is in third place after the sun allows sunlight to transmits the heat to the earth so it can form water evaporation and other gasses which then becomes the form of the atmosphere layer. The atmosphere has a very important role because without it, humans, animals, and plants cannot live. The atmosphere plays a role in protecting the earth not only from solar radiation but also from objects in outer space such as an asteroid. The atmosphere also maintains the earth’s temperature so it keeps warm and comfortable to live in.

The atmosphere itself is still divided into several layers. There are five layers in which each layer has its own distance from the earth’s surface. The first layer which is the closest to the earth is called troposphere and then following by stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere that has the furthest distance from the earth’s surface. Each of these layers of the atmosphere has its own characteristics and functions. For example, troposphere layer contains eighty percent of the gasses that compiler the atmosphere. Therefore, in the troposphere layer occurs important phenomenon which is called weather and rain is also one of them.

Rain is one of the phenomena that commonly known by people as a beneficial phenomenon. Rain gives so many positive things for example helping the irrigation system and plant growth process. But besides all of that, rain is not always beneficial for humans being. Large and continuous amounts of rain can cause flooding and even lanslides. However, the rain that is most harmful to the environment and living things is what is called acid rain. Acid rain is one of the harmful natural phenomena. This kind of rain can happen because the condensation core which acts to convert water vaporation into water drops contains substances in the form of acidic substances, namely SO42-, NO3-, Cl-, NO2-, HNO3- and also alkaline substances such as NH3 and CaCO3. These acids can mostly come from the pollution which then reacts within the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and different chemicals to make varied acidic compounds. This day, the earth is polluted by a lot of pollution that comes from various human activities. Pollutants that contain acids come from motor vehicles, cars, or factory fumes. In the atmosphere, wet precipitation of airbone pollutants dissolved in clouds falls to the earth in the form of rain, snow, and also fog. In the presence of SO42-, NO3-, Cl-, NO2-, HNO3- pollutants, the water drops will forming sulphuric acid and nitric acid which make water pH has a number below 5.60.

The harmful effect of acid rain is considered as one of the most serious environmental problems on this earth. Acid rain not only affects the environment but also has a negative effect on human health. But, the ecological effect of acid rain is clearly most visible seen in aquatic or water area, for example in the river, lake, or swamp. If the acidic substance falls directly on aquatic habitats, it makes water becomes acidic (pH value drops) and the surrounding land is not sufficient to neutralize the acid. These acid substances in the water can causes death to several aquatic species such as plankton because it cannot survive if the water has too low pH value. Moreover, in some areas where the acid holding capacity is very low, acid rain can also release aluminium from the ground. Aluminium is one type of substance that is very dangerous for aquatic habitat because it contains toxic which can endanger aquatic organisms. This is certainly very harmful to water environment because there is an ecosystem in the aquatic habitat and the danger that posed by these acids cannot be underestimated.

The atmosphere has a very important role where the atmosphere is composed of five different layers. The first layer is troposphere which is closest to the earth and is the place where rain usually occurs. Acid rain is one type of rain that is harmful to the environment, especially for the water environment. The acids released by rain can damage water and cause death to several aquatic environments because of the aluminium substance that contains toxins.

References :

Ameilia, F. (n.d.). Analisis Hujan Asam dan CO2 Atmosfer. Retrieved November Senin, 2020, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329530109_Review_Jurnal_Analisis_Hujan_Asam_CO2_Atmosfer

Cahyono, w. E. (n.d.). Pengaruh Hujan Asam pada Biotik dan Abiotik. Retrieved November Senin, 2020, from file:///C:/Users/PAV%20GAMING/Downloads/718-636-2-PB.pdf

Mohajan, H. K. (2019). Acid Rain is A Local Environment Pollution but Global Concern. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330506420_Acid_Rain_is_a_Local_Environment_Pollution_but_Global_Concern