Chemistry of Acid Rain Six basic steps are involved in the fo | Upsc Environment

Chemistry of Acid Rain

Six basic steps are involved in the formation of acid rain:

The atmosphere receives oxides of sulphur and nitrogen from natural and human-made sources.

Some of these oxides fall back directly to the ground as dry deposition, either close to the place of origin or some distance away.

Sunlight stimulates the formation of photo-oxidants (such as ozone) in the atmosphere.

These photo-oxidants interact with the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and other gases (like NH3) to produce H2SO4 (sulphuric acid) and HNO3 (nitric acid) by oxidation.

Acid rain containing ions of sulfate, nitrate, ammonium and hydrogen falls as wet deposition.