Much like how we all hear the complains about how the world isn’t quite what it used to be, well neither is the rain. Rain these days isn’t at all as clean or as safe as it used to be. Before, rain water could be collected and used unfiltered or untreated for a variety of functions such as gardening, washing laundry, showering or even cooking. These days you won’t even dare to try using it because rain water is anything but pure or only containing harmless minor sediments. No Sir, the rain water of today is the one that causes your head to itch once you’ve come in contact with it, the one that comes with a nasty pungent chemical smell, and the one that doesn’t leave the grass fields green.
All because rain these days is acid rain, rain with a high content /abnormal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids contributed by the industry that rely heavily on fossil fuel combustion. You’ve heard the saying, ‘what goes up must come down’ haven’t you? Well acid rain is the perfect embodiment of that saying – gaseous and particulate pollutants in the rises up into the atmosphere then comes back down with the rain – literally poring death on the environment.
But don’t be mistaken that the toxic acid effect has to always be rained down on the environment (wet deposition) because in drier weather, the acid chemicals may become incorporated into dust or smoke and fall to the ground through a process known as dry deposition. The acidic dust then sticks to the ground, buildings, homes, cars, and trees before rainwater washes the off to create potent acidic runoff.
What can we do about acid rain? Not much I’m afraid unless you can influence the mega industries’ consumption of fossil fuel. But every bit counts so as an individual, you can in your own home conserve energy (don’t waste electricity ) and reduce your carbon footprints through the keeping your vehicles well maintained and their use to minimum.
