Current Environmental Issue

Chosen Topic: Water Pollution
Chosen Area of Focus: Acid rain

Article Title: Mexico: Acid rain damages mango crops
Recent acid rain storms have damaged a large portion of Mexico's mango supply.

Article Title: Acid Rain Has Turned Canadian Lakes into a Kind of Jelly
Acid rain has removed the calcium from the soil and has led to lakes being filled with a gooey species of plankton.
Article Title: China Takes First Steps In the Fight Against Acid Rain
China is the home of many factories that contribute to the problem of pollution. The country is technologically behind the US by about two decades. After many years, their government has finally implemented a monitoring system for SO2, which is the first of its kind in China.

Article Title: A Historic Moment for the Clean Air Act
The EPA has a new "Clean Power Plan" which could reduce carbon emissions, averaging 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Acid rain is caused by pollutants in the atmosphere, caused by the gasses from sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that come from burning fossil fuels and coal. Although much of the fault for acid rain belongs to large factories, everyone can take steps to prevent more acid rain from happening. Power plants produce enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. I can avoid leaving lights on and electronics plugged in and turned on so as not to waste electricity. It is my dream to live in a place where solar or wind power are viable options, but unfortunately living in northern Minnesota doesn't leave many options. In the future, I plan on pursuing owning a car that doesn't guzzle gas and gives off low emissions, such as a hybrid. Until then, I will try to reduce the amount and distance I drive, and carpool whenever possible. I will also try to buy food that is more local, because whenever you buy food that was shipped from states or countries away, you have to think about the amount of fossil fuels that were burned just to get it to your dinner plate. In 1990, Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments, which allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to start the Acid Rain Program. It put limits on how sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that power plants are allowed to release into the air, and other countries are following suit. Government's are actually having to spend money on cleaning and restoring of buildings and historical sites because of acid rain has eroded the building materials. More measures