What makes acid rain?
The burning of coal, oil and gasoline gives off sulfur, nitrogen and carbon that combine with water vapor in the air to make acids, like sulfuric acid, nitric acid and carbonic acid. These mild acids fall to earth as rain or snow. When they land in lakes and streams they can make the water so acid that fish and frog eggs won’t hatch. Soon those lakes have no fish or frogs left in them. Acid rain can also cause building and statues to rot away. It can build up in the soil and slow the growth of some trees and kill others. Where does acid rain falling on rural and wild forests come from? It is carried by the wind. The wind patterns of North America carry pollutants from busy cities, factories and industrial centers in the Midwestern part of the United States and Canada and drops them on the northeast. Why doesn’t the environment protect itself from the acid, like it does with the natural acids in rain? The soil naturally contains calcium carbonate, a substance that is alkaline, and mixes
