INDEX

SR.NO
1. 2. 2.1 2.2 3. 4. 5. 6. 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 7 7.1 7.2 8 8.1 8.2 9 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 10. 10.

TITLE
INTRODUCTION WHAT IS ACID RAIN? WET DEPOSITION DRY DEPOSITION HISTORY OF ACID RAIN CAUSES OF ACID RAIN HOW DO WE MEASURE ACID RAIN? EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN FORESTS LAKES AND RIVERS AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS MAN MADE OBJECTS HUMANS CASE STUDY- THE TAJ MAHAL ISSUE ACTION CASE STUDY- ACID RAIN LIMITS GLOBAL WARMING COMPLETE PICTURE FEEDBACK EFFECT HOW TO REDUCE ACID RAIN? REDUCE EMISSIONS FIND ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY CONSERVING RESOURCES TAKE ACTION AS INDIVIDUALS RESTORING THE DAMAGE CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

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ACID RAIN
1. INTRODUCTION
Rain provides the water that is necessary for the survival of living things. All living things need water to live, even people. Without rain, almost the only life on Earth would be in the oceans. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides suitable conditions for many types of ecosystem, as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation. But in many places in the world, rain has become a menace. Acid rain is a classic example of an environmental threat that originates in one place and causes problems in another, often very far away. It effects large parts of our planet, and is particularly damaging lakes, streams, and forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems.

The picture below informs us about the regions affected by acid rain.

2. WHAT IS ACID RAIN?

A mixture of gases called the atmosphere surrounds the Earth like a blanket. This atmosphere also contains tiny dust particles and polluting gases, which gets dissolved in the clouds and become a part of rain. Rainwater is always slightly acidic in nature. This is because carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere, reacts with rainwater to form carbonic acid, H2CO3. However, we never refer to normal rain as acid rain. The term Acid Rain was first used by Robert Angus in 1872. Acid rain literally means the presence of excessive acids in rainwater. Acid rain is a broad term used to describe several ways that acids fall out of the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid deposition or acid precipitation, since it can occur in the form of snow, dew, fog, frost, hail and dust. It can be divided into two forms: wet and dry.

2.1 WET DEPOSITION

Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and animals. The strength of the effects depend on many factors, including how acidic the water is, the chemistry and buffering capacity of the soils involved, and the types of fish, trees, and other living things that rely on the water.

2.2 DRY DEPOSITION

In areas where the weather is dry, the acid chemicals may become incorporated into dust or smoke and fall to the ground through dry deposition, sticking to the ground, buildings, homes, cars, and trees. Dry deposited gases and particles can be washed from these surfaces by rainstorms, leading to increased runoff. This runoff water makes the resulting mixture more acidic. About half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry deposition. Prevailing winds blow the compounds that cause both wet and dry acid deposition across state and national borders, and sometimes over hundreds of miles.

3. HISTORY OF ACID RAIN

Acid rain was first observed in the mid-19th century, when some people noticed that forests located downwind of large industrial areas showed signs of deterioration. The term acid rain was coined in 1872 by Robert Angus Smith, an English scientist. Smith observed that acidic precipitation could damage plants and materials.

Robert Angus Smith, Father of Acid Rain

Acid rain was not considered a serious environmental problem until the 1970s. During that decade, scientists observed the increase in acidity of some lakes and streams. At the same time, research into long range transport of atmospheric pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, indicated a possible link to distant sources of pollution. Many power plants use coal with a relatively high concentration of sulfur as fuel. Scientists realized that sulfur dioxide emitted from many of these plants could be transported to the Northeast. In the 1984s it became a big problem around the world. The United Nations made an agreement with USA and 24 other nations to control the nitrogen and sulphur emissions to prevent air pollution and acid rain. In the 1990s, the Clean Air Act set rules to cut down 10 million tons of emissions by January 1, 2000.

4. CAUSES OF ACID RAIN

Acid precipitation has both natural and human causes. Two primary sources of acid rain are sulfur dioxide (SO2), and oxides of nitrogen (NOX). It is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides dissolve very easily in water and can be carried very far by the wind. As a result, the two compounds can travel long distances where they become part of the rain. Sulfur dioxide is a colourless, prudent gas released as a by-product of combusted fossil fuels containing sulfur. A variety of industrial processes, such as the production of iron and steel, utility factories, and crude oil processing produce this gas. Sulfur is present in nearly all the sources of energy, i.e. coal, fuel, wood or petroleum products. Sulfur dioxide can also be emitted into the atmosphere by natural disasters or means. Most sulfur dioxide comes from power plants that use coal as their fuel. These plants emit 100 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 70% of that in the world. The other chemical that is also chiefly responsible for the make-up of acid rain is nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen oxide is a dangerous gas by itself. These gases are by-products of firing processes of extreme high temperatures (automobiles, utility plants), and in chemical industries (fertilizer production). Natural processes such as bacterial action in soil, forest fires, volcanic action, and lightning make up nitrogen oxide emission. It also contributes to ozone damage, and forms smog. Automobiles produce about half of the world's nitrogen oxide. As the number of automobiles in use increases, so does the amount of acid rain. Power plants that burn fossil fuels also contribute significantly to nitrogen oxide emission.

Though human causes are primarily responsible for acid rain, natural causes exist as well. Fires, volcanic eruptions, bacterial decomposition, and lightening also greatly increase the amount of nitrogen oxide on the planet. However, even the gigantic explosion of Mt. St. Helens released only about what one coal power plant emits in a year.

Once the tiny pollutant molecules have entered the atmosphere, they can travel for thousands of miles. Eventually, the particles will combine with other compounds to produce new, often harmful, chemicals. Acid rain comes down to the earth in the form of rain, snow, hail, fog, frost, or dew. Once it reaches the ground, the acidity in the substance can harm and even destroy both natural ecosystems and man-made products. Thus, Increasing air pollution due to human activities, has led to a rise in the atmospheric concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur oxides (SOSX).During rainfall, these Oxides react with molecules of water and form nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) respectively. Both these acids are strong in nature and thus make rainfall acidic.

5. HOW DO WE MEASURE ACID RAIN?

Acid rain is measured through pH tests that determine the concentration of hydrogen ions in a litre of fluid. The pH (potential for hydrogen) scale is used to measure acidity or alkalinity. It runs from 0 to 14. Water has a neutral pH of 7. Normal rain is slightly acidic because carbon dioxide dissolves into it, so it has a pH about 5.5. Acid rain is usually defined with a pH of 5.5 or lower. The greater the concentration of hydrogen ions and the lower the pH number, the more acidic a substance is; the lower the concentration of hydrogen ions and the higher the pH number, the more alkalineor basica substance is. So a pH greater than 7 indicates an alkaline substance while a pH less than 7 indicates an acidic substance. It is important to note that a change of only one unit in pH equals a tenfold change in the concentration of hydrogen ions. For example, a solution of pH 3 is 10 times more acidic than a solution of pH 4. The pH level can be measured with indicator solutions that change colour when put into different strength of acids and alkalis. Scientists use pH meters. The colour of the indicator solution tells how acidic a substance is.

6. EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN

Acid rain can be carried great distances in the atmosphere, not just between countries but also from continent to continent. The acid can also take the form of snow, mists and dry dusts. The dry dust can cause respiratory illnesses in animals and humans such as asthma. The rain sometimes falls many miles from the source of pollution but wherever it falls it can have a serious effect on soil, trees, buildings and water. In the 1970s the effects of acid rain were at their worst. Forests all over the world were dying, fishes are dying; lakes looking crystal clear but contain no living creatures or plant life. Freshwater fishes are threatened; their eggs are damaged and deformed fish is hatched. This in turn affects fish-eating birds and animals. Animals belong to a food chain and often if one link in a food chain is taken away it can have devastating effects.

6.1 FORESTS
It is thought that acid rain causes trees to grow slower or even to die but scientists have found that the same amount of acid rain seems to have more effect in some areas than it does in others.As acid rain falls on a forest it trickles through the leaves of the trees and runs down into the soil below. Some of it finds its way into streams and then into rivers and lakes. Some types of soil can help to neutralise the acid - they have what is called a "buffering capacity". Other soils are already slightly acidic so these are particularly susceptible to the effects of acid rain. Acid rain can effect trees in several different ways, it may: 1. Dissolve and wash away the nutrients and minerals in the soil which help the trees to grow such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. 2. Cause the release of harmful substances such as aluminium into the soil and waterways which further affects wildlife. 3. Wear away the waxy protective coating of leaves, damaging them and preventing them from being able to photosynthesise properly. A combination of these effects weakens the tree which means that they can be easily attacked by diseases and insects or injured by bad weather. It is not just trees that are affected by acid rain, other plants may also suffer.

6.2 LAKES AND RIVERS

It is in aquatic habitats that the effects of acid rain are most obvious. Acid rain runs off the land and ends up in streams, lakes and marshes - the rain also falls directly on these areas. As the acidity of a lake increases, the water becomes clearer and the numbers of fish and other water animals decline. Some species of plant and animal are better able to survive in acidic water than others. Freshwater shrimps, snails, mussels are the most quickly affected by acidification followed by fish such as minnows, salmon and roach. The roe and fry (eggs and young) of the fish are the worst affected as the acidity of the water can prevent eggs from hatching properly, can cause deformity in young fish which also struggle to take in oxygen. The acidity of the water does not just affect species directly; it also causes toxic substances such as aluminium to be released into the water from the soil, harming fish and other aquatic animals. A high amount of sulfuric acid in the seawater interferes with the ability of fish to take in nutrients, salt, and oxygen. As far as freshwater fish is concerned, in order for them to stay alive, they need to balance the amount of minerals and salts in their tissues. The molecules of acid result in mucus forming in their gills, which prevents them from absorbing oxygen in adequate amounts. Plus, the acidity, which reduces the pH level, causes the imbalance of salt in the tissues of fish.

This change in the pH level also impairs some of the fish's ability to maintain their calcium levels. It in turn affects the reproduction processes of the fish. Lack of calcium also causes deformed bones and weakened spines in fish. Lakes, rivers and marshes each have their own fragile ecosystem with many different species of plants and animals all depending on each other to survive. If a species of fish disappears, the animals which feed on it will gradually disappear too. If the extinct fish used to feed on a particular species of large insect, that insect population will start to grow, this in turn will affect the smaller insects or plankton on which the larger insect feeds.

6.3 AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS

Over the past two decades, there have been numerous reports of damage to automotive paints and other coatings. The reported damage typically occurs on horizontal surfaces and appears as irregularly shaped, permanently etched areas. The damage can best be detected under fluorescent lamps, can be most easily observed on dark coloured vehicles, and appears to occur after evaporation of a moisture droplet. In addition, some evidence suggests damage occurs most frequently on freshly painted vehicles. Usually the damage is permanent; once it has occurred, the only solution is to repaint. The general consensus within the auto industry is that some form of environmental fallout causes the damage. Environmental fallouta term widely used in the auto and coatings industriesrefers to damage caused by air pollution (e.g., acid rain), decaying insects, bird droppings, pollen, and tree sap. The results of laboratory experiments and at least one field study have demonstrated that acid rain can scar automotive coatings. Furthermore, chemical analyses of the damaged areas of some exposed test panels indicate elevated levels of sulfate, implicating acid rain. All forms of acid rain, including dry deposition, especially when dry acidic deposition is mixed with dew or rain, may damage automotive coatings. However, it has been difficult to quantify the specific contribution of acid rain to paint finish damage relative to damage

caused by other forms of environmental fallout, by the improper application of paint or by deficient paint formulations.

6.4 MAN MADE OBJECTS

In 1856, Robert Angus Smith - wrote: "It has often been observed that the stones and bricks of buildings crumble more readily in large towns where much coal is burnt.... I was led to attribute this effect to the slow but constant action of acid rain." Every type of material will become eroded sooner or later by the effects of the climate. Water, wind, ice and snow all help in the erosion process but unfortunately; acid rain can help to make this natural process even quicker. Statues, buildings, vehicles, pipes and cables can all suffer. The worst affected are things made from limestone or sandstone as these types of rock are particularly susceptible and can be affected by air pollution in gaseous form as well as by acid rain. Acid rain and the dry deposition of acidic particles contribute to the corrosion of metals (such as bronze) and the deterioration of paint and stone (such as marble and limestone). These effects significantly reduce the societal value of buildings, bridges, cultural objects (such as statues, monuments, and tombstones), and cars. Granitic-based rocks are more resistant to acidity. Other vulnerable materials include carbon-steel, nickel, zinc, copper, paint, some plastics, paper, leather and textiles. Stainless steel and aluminium are more resistant metals. Structural damage to underground pipes, cables and foundations submerged in acid waters can also occur, in addition to damage to buildings, bridges and vehicles above ground. It also corrodes ceramic, textiles, paints, and metals. Rubber and leather deteriorate if exposed to acid rain. Stone monuments and carvings lose their shine when exposed to this contaminated rain.

Whilst dry deposition contributes to the corrosion of materials, in most areas with substantial rainfall it is the effect of wet deposition on building surfaces which is more damaging. Building stone can be damaged when calcium carbonate in stone dissolves in acid rain to form a crust of calcium sulphate or gypsum. The sulphated layers are more readily washed away by rainfall or removed by the action of frost and other weather conditions, resulting in more stone being exposed. This permanent alteration of stone surfaces by the action of acid deposition is known as sulphation. The miraculous and historical monuments built by long years of efforts are losing their faces. The Parthenons of Athens, the Coliseum and arch of Titus in Rome and the San Marco basilica in Venice are fast deteriorating and are slowly dissolving or flaking out mainly due to acid rain. The disease is popularly known as Stone leprosy or Stone Cancer.

6.5 HUMANS
Most of all, acid rain affects human health adversely. It can harm us through atmospheric and soil pollution. Acid rain leads to the formation of toxic compounds by reacting with naturally occurring chemical compounds. Once these toxic compounds are formed, they can seep into the drinking water, and also enter the food chain. This contaminated food can damage the nerves in children, or result in severe brain damage, or even death. Scientists suspect that aluminum, one of the metals affected by acid rain, is associated with Alzheimer's disease. The emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide cause problems like irritation of throat, nose and the eyes, headache, asthma, and dry cough. One of the serious side effects of acid rain on human is respiratory problems.

7. CASE STUDY - THE TAJ MAHAL

Mark Twain once remarked the world is divided between two types of people: those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not. The Taj is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world and the image most associated with India. The Taj Mahal pollution has been a major issue over the past two decades in India. Pollution has managed to do what 350 years of wars, invasions and natural disasters have failed to do. It has begun to mar the magnificent walls of the Taj Mahal,declared U.S. President Bill Clinton during his visit to the taj.

7.1 ISSUE
It has been reported that the Taj Mahal has been deteriorating due to acid rain, mostly due to sulphur dioxide. This is due to the Mathura refinery, iron foundries, glass factories and brick kilns. Automobiles and generators in Agra are also releasing acid rain causing gases. The acid is corroding the marble of the Taj Mahal. On repeated occasions, sulphur dioxide emissions from industries have reached levels ten times above the prescribed standard level. Combined with oxygen and moisture, sulphur dioxide settles on the surface of the tomb and corrodes the marble, forming a fungus that experts refer to as marble cancer. Taj Mahal is made of calcium carbonate (CaCo3) which is white marble .When acids like H2SO4 and HNO3 come in contact with it, it forms a yellowish salt. This salt over time will turn black. This is termed as marble cancer. Acid rain has a corroding effect on the gleaming white marble. The white marble has yellowed and blackened in places. It is inside the Taj that the decay is more apparent. Yellow pallor pervades the entire monument. In places ugly brown and black spots magnify the yellow hue Fungal deterioration is worst in the inner chamber where the original graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal lie.

7.2 ACTION
Blaming pollution and regulatory negligence for the Tajs decay, Mahesh Chandra Mehta, a prominent environmental lawyer, filed a case before the Supreme Court of India in 1984. He pointed out that the white marble had blackened in places, while inside, the monument was being eaten by fungus

Mehta pleaded with the court to order the various industries to take anti-pollution measures or to close. He also stressed that pollution was affecting the health of workers and people living in Agras residential areas, It was not until 1996 that the Supreme Court finally ruled that the industries in the area were actively contributing to air pollution and ordered major industrial units to install pollution control devices. Not even a one per cent chance can be taken when human life apart the preservation of a prestigious monument like the Taj is involved, stated the court order. The court ordered 292 coal-based industries to switch to natural gas or else to relocate outside the protected zone by April 30, 1997. Coke, the fuel commonly used in the cupola furnaces in foundries, is known to cause high levels of air pollution. Factories that opted for relocation would be obliged to re-employ workers under favourable terms and to give them a one-year bonus. And if their plant were to close down, workers would be entitled to six years worth of wages in compensation. As a result, the oil refinery and a number of Agras foundries installed expensive pollution control devices. Sterling Machine Tools (SMT), the biggest factory in Agra, obtained a gas connection from the Gas Authority of India.

The Supreme Court of India ordered the closure of oil refineries and foundries releasing sulfur dioxide. The Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) is an area of around 10,400 square kilometres around the Taj Mahal. Within this area steps are taken to reduce pollution so that the Taj does not suffer. Some of these steps are: 1. Relocation of the polluting industries in the Taj trapezium. 2. Cars are not allowed to be parked around 500 metres of the Taj. 3. Industries must switch to natural gas or install pollution control devices. Besides the Taj Mahal, the zone includes two other world heritage monuments, the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.

8. CASE STUDY - ACID RAIN LIMITS GLOBAL WARMING

Acid rain restricts global warming by reducing methane emissions from natural wetland areas, suggests a global climate study.

The new study shows that sulphur in acid rain may have benefits, limiting global warming by counteracting the natural production of methane gases by microbes in wetland areas. Methane is thought to account for 22% of the human-enhanced greenhouse effect. And microbes in wetland areas are its biggest producers. They feed off substrates such as hydrogen and acetate in peat and emit methane into the atmosphere. Global warming itself will only fuel the production of methane as heating up the microbes causes them to produce even more methane. But the new model suggests that sulphur pollution from industry mitigates this. This is because sulphur-eating bacteria also found in wetland regions outcompete the methane-emitting microbes for substrates. Experiments have shown that sulphur deposits can reduce methane production in small regions by up to 30 per cent by activating the sulphur-eating bacteria.

8.1 COMPLETE PICTURE

The new study, led by Vincent Gauci of the UK's Open University, sought to determine how real sulphur pollution may affect wetland areas globally. Gauci and colleagues created a computer model at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to simulate this interaction. The simulation incorporated the latest data on global methane emissions and sulphur pollution along with climate change models and data from wetland field studies. "Basically we looked at where wetlands and acid rain overlap," Gauci told NEW SCIENTIST.

8.2 FEEDBACK EFFECT

The model examined and predicted the interaction between sulphur pollution and natural methane emissions from wetland areas from 1960 to 2080. "Even as early as 1960 we found that methane has been suppressed by sulphur pollution," Gauci says. Furthermore, the model suggests that sulphur pollution will continue to suppress methane emissions despite the feedback effect that global warming has on the process. While sulphur emissions reduce methane emissions by about eight per cent currently, the figure should rise to 15 per cent by about 2030, predicts the model. "All our projections show that, if you don't include acid rain, methane pollution is going to increase," Gauci adds. Sulphur pollution is already estimated to have cut methane emissions from wetlands from about 175 to 160 million tonnes per year in 2004. By 2030, this is predicted to fall to 155 million tonnes per year with the help of sulphur-eating bacteria.

9. HOW TO REDUCE ACID RAIN?

There are several ways to reduce acid rain, ranging from societal changes to individual action. It is critical that acid deposition be reduced throughout the world to preserve the integrity of natural habitats, as well as to reduce damage to man-made structures.

9.1 REDUCE EMISSIONS

1. Removing of SO2 particulates, as well as NOx, from the smokestack gases from industrial plants.

2. Burning fossil fuels is still one of the cheapest ways to produce electricity so people are now researching new ways to burn fuel which don't produce so much pollution. 3. Governments need to spend more money on pollution control even if it does mean an increase in the price of electricity. 4. Sulphur can also be 'washed' out of smoke by spraying a mixture of water and powdered limestone into the smokestack. 5. Cars are now fitted with catalytic converters which remove three dangerous chemicals from exhaust gases.

9.2 FIND ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY:

1. Governments need to invest in researching different ways to produce energy. 2. Two other sources that are currently used are hydroelectric and nuclear power. These are 'clean' as far as acid rain goes. 3. Reduce coal use and increase the use of natural gas and renewable resources. If the need to burn coal is still necessary then the using a low-sulfur coal would be an alternative. 4. Other sources could be solar energy or windmills. 5. All energy sources have different benefits and costs and all these have to be weighed up before any government decides which of them it is going to use.

9.3 CONSERVING RESOURCES

1. Greater subsidies of public transport by the government to encourage people to use public transport rather than always travelling by car. 2. Every individual can make an effort to save energy by switching off lights when they are not being used and using energy-saving appliances - when less electricity is being used, pollution from power plants decreases. 3.Walking, cycling and sharing cars all reduce the pollution from vehicles.

9.4 TAKE ACTION AS INDIVIDUALS:

It may seem like there is not much that one individual can do to stop acid deposition. However, like many environmental problems, acid deposition is caused by the cumulative actions of millions of individual people. Therefore, each individual can also reduce their contribution to the problem and become part of the solution. Individuals can contribute directly by conserving energy, since energy production causes the largest portion of the acid deposition problem. For example, you can: 1. Turn off lights, computers, and other appliances when you're not using them. 2. Use energy-efficient appliances: lighting, air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. 3. Only use electric appliances when you need them. 4. Insulate your home as best you can. 5. Carpool, use public transportation, or better yet, walk or bicycle whenever possible 6. Buy vehicles with low NOx emissions, and properly maintain your vehicle. 7. Be well informed.

9.5 RESTORING THE DAMAGE:

Acid deposition penetrates deeply into the fabric of an ecosystem, changing the chemistry of the soil and streams and narrowingsometimes to nothingthe space where certain plants and animals can survive. Because there are so many changes, it takes many years for ecosystems to recover from acid deposition, even after emissions are reduced and the rain pH is restored to normal. For example, while visibility might improve within days, and small or episodic chemical changes in streams improve within months, chronically acidified lakes, streams, forests, and soils can take years to decades, or even centuries (in the case of soils) to heal Lakes and rivers can have powdered limestone added to them to neutralise the water - this is called "liming". Liming, however, is expensive and its effects are only temporary - it needs to be continued until the acid rain stops. Add phosphate fertilizers to acidified lakes to neutralize the acidic water. The people of Norway and Sweden have successfully used liming to help restore lakes and streams in their countries. A major liming programme has been taking place in Wales where 12,000 km of its waterways were acidified. In 2003 liming of the river Wye led to a return of the salmon which had completely disappeared in 1985. However, other parts have taken longer to recover and there are still no signs of life. But it is considered a short-term remedy in only specific areas, rather than an effort to reduce or prevent pollution. Furthermore, it does not solve the broader problems of changes in soil chemistry and forest health in the watershed, and it does nothing to address visibility reductions, materials damage, and risk to human health. However, liming does often permit fish to remain in a lake, allowing the native population to survive in place until emissions reductions reduce the amount of acid deposition in the area. Recently a more positive side of acid rain has been noted as it can be very effective at reducing the natural production of methane, a greenhouse gas approximately 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, especially in wetland areas.

CONCLUSION The ozone hole and acid rain were once considered the big-gest environmental concerns. Today, however, they don't hold prominence in the list of potential environmental disasters. WHAT HAPPENED TO IT? A new study on acid rain concludes that, while some affected areas have seen improvement, the impact of emissions may be much more complicated than previously understood. And, it may take as long as 100 years before many forests, lakes and streams recover. Use of catalytic converters in cars and the switch to cleaner forms of coal and natural gas have helped bring down acidity levels throughout Europe and America and parts of Asia and will soon be virtually eliminated. Whereas in India it has been found that potential neutralizer of the acidic components of rain water in Indian region is Calcium which is mainly naturally derived from the soil. As the soil of the most part of Indian land is Calcareous, it contains abundance of calcium. So, the Indian soil has as yet put a check on the acidification of rain water, but how long? There have been many reports of acid rain in India in the past and that too have been only the episodic. Reported acid precipitations in India includes the acid rain in Chembur and Colaba industrial areas of Mumbai, in the vicinity of Singrauli Super thermal Power Plant ( average pH value 5.3), at a rural site of Bhubaneswar (median pH value 5.0) and the Silent Valley (pH=5.3). Latest reports on acid rain are at Kalyan (pH=5.28), Chembur (pH=4.8), Sinhagad (pH=5.2), Delhi (pH<5.6) and very recently at Panipat (pH<5.6) of National Capital Region of Delhi. Although the pH value of rainwater at Pune has been reported to lie in the alkaline range, its value has shown decreasing trend from value of 7.5 to 6.2. The main reason is attributed to the decrease in the level of calcium ion and increase in sulphate and nitrate ions. Rain fall in Agra and Delhi regions have also shown decrease in pH value with the passage of time. Acid Rain studies are being carried out by IITM since last three decades. The pH values are higher (pH>7.0) in north & north-west parts of India. They are slightly lower (6.0 pH 7.0) in north-eastern & southern parts of India. The higher pH is due to neutralization of acidic ions (SO4 & NO3) by soil originated cations (Ca, K & Mg) as well as by NH4. However, the pH values are acidic (pH 5.56) at some industrial, rural & remote locations which could be either due to anthropogenic emissions (Kalyan & Singrauli), acidic soil (Goraur & Mohanbari) or due to thick cover of vegetation that prevents soil erosion (Trivandrum, Silent Valley & Tungnath). This work is being carried out at IITM, Pune by a team of scientist led by Dr. P.S.P. Rao. Could it come back? Absolutely. The international shipping industry continues to rely on high-sulfur fuels, but the worst offender by far is China. As long as we will burn fossil fuels, acidic liquid will fall from the sky. The only way to resolve this problem is to cut back the emissions.