How does acid rain affect lakes and streams?
When acid rain passes through soils or falls directly into lakes and streams, it can increase the acidity of the water. Higher acidity can hinder some fish and water plants from reproducing, growing and surviving. In some acidified lakes and streams, entire fish populations have disappeared. For example, many lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and many streams in the Appalachian mountain region have lost trout and other aquatic life due to acid rain. The effects of acid rain can be either”chronic” or “episodic”. Chronic acidity occurs when lakes and streams cannot counteract the chemical changes brought about by acid rain. This results in constant high acidity levels in the water. Episodic acidity occurs only periodically, primarily as a result of storms or snowmelts that empty large amounts of acidic water into lakes and streams. In the case of episodic acidity, lakes and streams suffer from intense but short-lived increases in acidity.
When acid rain passes through soils or falls directly into lakes and streams, it can increase the acidity of the water. Higher acidity can hinder some fish and water plants from reproducing, growing and surviving. In some acidified lakes and streams, entire fish populations have disappeared. For example, many lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and many streams in the Appalachian mountain region have lost trout and other aquatic life due to acid rain. The effects of acid rain can be either”chronic” or “episodic”. Chronic acidity occurs when lakes and streams cannot counteract the chemical changes brought about by acid rain. This results in constant high acidity levels in the water. Episodic acidity occurs only periodically, primarily as a result of storms or snowmelts that empty large amounts of acidic water into lakes and streams. In the case of episodic acidity, lakes and streams suffer from intense but short-lived increases in acidity. In the spring, when such episodes oft
