anthonyqkiernan
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Whatever happened to acid rain?
Jul 31, 2006, 20:15
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I was wondering about this on the bus on the way home listening to the news that Dixons are about to start selling solar panels (and it was raining). Remember in the 80s this was all you heard about? Is it just that, as an issue, it's been superceded? Or was it not as big an issue as it was made out to be?
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caramelsauce
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Re: Whatever happened to acid rain?
Jul 31, 2006, 21:24
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain
Might be helpful, only read it briefly, too much science for my head. But mentions flue's for ridding coal fired plants of nasty sulphur. I remember most of Britains used to go to Scandanavia, but I guess Thatcher shutting down all the pits put a stop to that.
It still gets mentioned on news bulletins, mainly in relation to its damaging effects on old buildings; frequently Cathedrals. Hope it helps.
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mercian
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Re: Whatever happened to acid rain?
Jul 31, 2006, 21:25
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Maybe the death of coal in Britain has something to do with it ? Well in Northern Europe anyway.
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cancer boy
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Re: Whatever happened to acid rain?
Aug 01, 2006, 12:35
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Sulphur dioxide emissions in western Europe have gone down by over 70% since 1970, and nitogen oxide emissions have dropped by over a third across the same period. The main reasons are the replacement of coal generation by nuclear and gas generation, less use of oil and solid fuel for domestic heating, replacement of waste incinerators by more modern designs and landfill, and as caramelsauce observed use of flues to reduce harmful emissions from the remaining large coal power stations such as Drax.
Rain is slightly acidic naturally (pH typically between 5.0 and 6.0) but there's a lot less that falls into the "tastes nice on chips" category these days. This means it's a not really a problem for the UK and Scandinavia now, and many of the areas that were badly affected in the past are starting to recover.
The north-eastern states of the US still have a big problem with it though, as this pH map illustrates:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/acidrain/2.html
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anthonyqkiernan
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Re: Whatever happened to acid rain?
Aug 01, 2006, 13:31
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So, a situation where heeding the warnings and acting on them has had (or is having) the desired effect? Nice.
Are you listening Mr Bush?
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cancer boy
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Re: Whatever happened to acid rain?
Aug 01, 2006, 13:43
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Unfortunately I think it had more to do with the economics of the situation than the environmental politics - cheap North Sea gas driving the increase in CCGT construction. Still, nice to see places like the Round Loch of Glenhead which were totally trashed starting to recover.
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Vybik Jon
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Irrelevant
Aug 01, 2006, 15:30
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cancer boy, I note from your avatar that you've adopted a new image from when we last met.
Very fetching!
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cancer boy
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Re: Irrelevant
Aug 01, 2006, 17:28
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Vybik Jon wrote: cancer boy, I note from your avatar that you've adopted a new image from when we last met.
Very fetching!
Ah, if only. I think I'd suit the 'tache though.
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