( adapted / edited from )
one minute readings: issues in S-T-S
Richard F. Brinckerhoff -- addison / wesley -- 1992
Issue 36 Acid Rain
Rain may be bad for you !
Factory and power plant smokestacks emit a variety of chemicals, particularly nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, that make the downwind rain acidic. For example ( simplified ) for sulfur dioxide:

2 S02 + O2 === 2 S03 and then

SO3 + H2O === H2S04.

The rain, turned into sulfuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid may be as concentrated as the acetic acid in vinegar. It falls on lakes, farms, cities, and people. It kills fish, creates lung disorders, damages buildings made of limestone and marble ( H2S04 + CaCO3 === H2C03 + CaSO4 ), rusts autos, & stunts plant growth.

The Parthenon in Athens and the architectural treasures of Venice, as well as numerous stone buildings in the U.S., are being destroyed steadily by acid rain from upwmd factories. The factories employ many people. Should the factories be allowed to expand in order to remain economically competitive ?

Some corrosion products of acid rain also contaminate drinking water because copper, lead, and zinc pipes all dissolve slowly in acid rain,

Zn + H2SO4 === ZnSO4 + H2.

In Latin America, many houses have galvanized sheet iron roofs from which rain is collected for drinking water. In areas of active volcanoes, the rain is made acidic by the volcanic gases. It dissolves the zinc coating on the sheet iron and poisons the drinking water. Zinc poisoning is common in some of these areas.

In the Netherlands, corrosion by acid rain has thinned the walls of bronze church bells. Since the thickness of a bell's wall determines the tone, itspitch is irreversibly altered. Carillon bells normally in tune for 300 or 400 years are completely out of tune in 25 to 50 years.

An epidemic of green-tinted hair among blond and white-haired residents of Columbia, Maryland, was traced to the drinking water. Their well was so highly acidic that it was dissolving copper from the pipes, which they then ingested. The copper caused the change in hair color.

Leyden note:
The acid rain falls on granite rocks in the Adirondacks and in the Scandanavian countries and dissolves the aluminum in them. This gets into the lakes and the metal blocks the gill mechanisms in fish and they sufficate. So that is how "adult" fish die. The fish eggs a laid in acidic waters do not hatch at a very high rate -- thus new fish are not being born.
Copper roofs + acid rain makes a patina --- a "rusting" of the copper -- to a greenish material. The roof of the St. Louis airport is a perfect example -- as is the Statue of Liberty. Put a penny into an atmosphere of vinegar fumes and it turns greenish -- if it is an older penny with a lot of copper ---- and blackish -- if it is a more recent penny.

Lakes and forests are severely affected by acid rain too. Hundreds of lakes in Ontario and the Adirondack Mountains are devoid of all fish, and thousands are damaged. About 9000 are threatened east of the Mississippi. Acid rain has destroyed all aquatic life in 10,000 lakes in Sweden. In Europe, 22 percent of the forests are showing signs of damage, and some are totally destroyed.

In 1988 President Reagan agreed to freeze U.S. nitrogen oxide emissions at the 1987 levels until 1996.

Leyden note:
A For eight years Reagan didn't do a thing about acid rain -- and the topic was totally avoided. Then -- on the eve of his leaving office, he makes a treaty about acid rain. People were stunned. Why the sudden interest ? Remember, acid rain is very easy to "fix" --- just close down the factories and put all kinds of "travel laws" on the use of autos and trucks, etc. Thus -- acid rain is the perfect example of how the $$$$$$ economy and science blend together. The "answer" isn't easy. However, the GOP is always thought to be in favor of "autonomy" -- while the Democrats are the model of "heteronomy" -- with regulations, regulations, regulations.
An international acid rain treaty is now ( 1989 ) being negotiated. Any laws that may be passed requiring factories to install expensive scrubbers in their smokestacks, however, will take 10 or 15 years to have an appreciable effect on the acidity of rain in the Northeast and may cost many jobs.

Leyden note:
shNotice how this dicussion takes you to Greece; NYS; Canada; Scandanavia; Latin America; etc. Acid rain is not a local problem.
Who should pay for any cleanup required by legislation ? What consequences ( political, economic, environmental ) do you think will follow if (a) corrective action is taken promptly and (b) action is not undertaken promptly ? Should the people living around a Midwestern power plant have to pay to clean up the rain in eastern Canada ?

Is it right that pollution-control laws should force a company to go bankrupt or cause workers to lose wages or jobs ? Should the U.S. replace its coal-burning plants with nuclear power plants? Should you be restricted from driving your air-polluting car into a nearby city ?

If you are a senator or representative for a state in which much of the pollution originates and immense numbers of jobs and dollars are at stake, what are you going to do ?

Think about this...
If a few aging aircraft suffer explosive decompressions, should all old airliners be grounded ?