Tag: air and air pollution

At ground level, ozone is an air pollutant that is a major component of smog which is dangerous for both humans and plants. Long-term ozone exposure has also been shown to reduce life expectancy. 

Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. 

Over a number of years the average pH of a stream changes from a pH of 6.9 to a pH of 5.9 due to acid rain. The pH of the stream is now 10 times more acidic than it was years ago.
Years ago, the pH was 6.9. The present day pH is 5.9. The change in pH is
$\displaystyle  = \Delta pH= 5.9-6.9 = -1$
The corresponding change in hydrogen ion concentration is:
$\displaystyle 10^{-\Delta pH}= 10^{-(-1)} = 10$

The major natural causal agent for acid rain is volcanic emissions. Volcanoes emit acid producing gases to create higher than normal amounts of acid rain or any other form of precipitation such as fog and snow to an extent of affecting vegetation cover and health of residents within the surrounding. 

Carbon dioxide would react with rainwater to produce acid rain.

The principal cause of acid rain is sulfur and nitrogen compounds from human sources, such as electricity generation, factories, and motor vehicles. Electrical power generation using coal is among the greatest contributors to gaseous pollutions that are responsible for acidic rain. The gases can be carried hundreds of kilometers in the atmosphere before they are converted to acids and deposited.

Photochemical smog is the chemical reaction of sunlight, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere, which leaves airborne particles and ground-level ozone.
Hence option A is the correct answer.

Smog is two types:-
1) Classical smog is also called as London smog or sulphurous acid smog.
2) Photochemical smog is also called as Los angles smog.

The troposphere is the lowest portion of earth's atmosphere and is also where all weather takes place. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapour and aerosols.

Smog is two types:
1) Classical smog is also called as London smog or sulphurous acid smog.
2) Photo chemical smog is also called as Los angles smog.