pH4

= = =pH = **__What Is It?__ The pH of a solution is a measure of its concentration of specific hydrogen ions. pH was first noticed during the 17th century. The term acid rain came from a Scottish chemist, Angus Robert Smith in 1872. It first became severe in the 1960's. The pH scale measures a solution's pH. This scale ranges from 0 to 14. Scientists inject sodium hydroxide into the water to change the solution of the water and make the pH levels rise. **


 * **A solution with a pH of 1 to 6 is an acidic solution.**


 * **A solution with a pH of 7 is a neutral solution.**


 * **A solution with a pH of 8 to 14 is considered a basic solution.**

How pH Affects Wildlife 1. Certain industries, along with vehicles give rise to increase of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the air. These substances change into sulphates and nitrates under the influence of sunlight and moisture, and get converted into sulphuric acid and nitric acid, which come down as acid rain.
 * **Pure water has a pH of 7 and is considered a neutral solution.**

2. Humans are responsible for a large majority of the sulphates being put into the air along with large coal burning industries.
 * **90% of sulphur dioxide emissions come from man-made sources**
 * **95% of nitrogen oxide emissions come from man-made sources**
 * 3. Coal contains 2-3% sulphur and this sulphur when burned, is released into the air and turns into acidic rain.

4. The majority of nitrogen oxides comes from vehicles and other sources using fossil fuels.**




 * **Acidic Rain will cause harmful elements such as mercury and aluminum to be leached from the soil and then in would then make its way into the lakes and fresh waters where the fish will get poisoned bye this.**


 * **People will then go fishing and catch fish that have been poisoned and they will eat the fish and get sick from this. There have been some reports on people ending up in hospitals and becoming very ill.**


 * The soil under the water will neutralize to try and stop the effects of the acidic rain within a certain limit. As acidity increases the natural mechanisms are no longer able to neutralize the acidic rain.


 * As water gets more acidic, its pH goes down. At a pH level of 5.0 the fish population begins to die. At 5.5, insects and organisms at the bottom of the fresh water begin to die. When pH drops below 5.0, all fish have died and the bottom of the lake is covered with decaying material.


 * Every year there is an acidic acid shock.


 * High calcium rocks, such as limestone or crushed coral, cause an increase in pH in the river, lake, stream, or pond.

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