Data suggests it is a non-problem
By Steve Goreham
For almost a month, the ongoing saga of the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has captured the attention of world media. Fountains of red-orange fire, lava flows, and ash-plume explosions destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee the area. But media warnings about dangerous acid rain resurrected a long-believed myth of the environmental movement.
CBS and CNN ran with headlines listing acid rain as a danger from the Kilauea eruption. US News said, “Acid rain could be the next threat Hawaii residents face in the coming days…” CNN stated “if you do come in contact with acid rain, wash it off as soon as possible.”
The sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) emitted by Kilauea is a pollutant that can be harmful if inhaled. Inhalation of SO2 causes irritation of the nose and throat and can cause life-threatening accumulation of fluid in the lungs at high concentrations. In contrast, there is no evidence that anyone has ever been directly harmed by acid rain.
Scientists measure the acidity or alkalinity of solutions using a 14-point logarithmic scale, called the pH scale. Water is neutral with a pH of 7. Battery acid has a pH of about one. In contrast, lye, which is alkaline or basic, has a pH as high as 13. Rainwater is naturally acidic, along with milk and most of our foods.
Both nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide gases react in the atmosphere to form nitric and sulfuric acid. These gases dissolve in water droplets and can increase the acidity of rainfall. But acid rain is only mildly acidic with a pH of about 4, about 100 times less acidic than lemon juice.
In the early 1980s, acid rain caused by NO2 and SO2 emissions from industry became a major environmental concern. Acid from rain was blamed for acidifying lakes and damaging forests in Eastern Canada, the Northeastern United States, and Northern Europe. Magazines and newspapers showed images of dying trees, blaming industrial air pollution.
In Germany, the word “Waldsterben” (forest dieback) was coined, and acid raid was said to be destroying Germany’s Black Forest. In 1981, Professor Bernard Ulrich of the University of Göttingen, predicted, “The first great forests will die in the next five years. They are beyond redemption.”
The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP), a $500 million multi-year research effort, was established in the US in 1982 to study the issue. The Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution began efforts in Europe in 1983. Acidification of lakes and destruction of forests from air pollution became a widely held belief taught in universities across the world. Acid rain became a driver of US and European efforts to reduce SO2 and NO2 emissions.
But the actual impact of acid rain was much less than feared. The 1990 NAPAP report, titled “Acidic Deposition: State of Science and Technology,” concluded that “acidic deposition has not been shown to be a significant factor contributing to current forest health problems in North America,” with the possible exception of the high-elevation red spruce in the northern Appalachian Mountains. Another study found that damage to Appalachian red spruce forests was caused by the conifer swift moth, not acid rain.
The NAPAP study also found that only 4.2 percent of lakes in the Eastern US were acidic, and that acidic conditions for many of these lakes were due to natural factors or surface mining runoff, not acid rain. The NAPAP study also concluded that 1990 levels of pollution-caused acid rain were not harmful to agriculture or human health.
In Europe, subsequent analysis showed German forest dieback to be due to disease, weather, and other factors, with acid rain playing an insignificant role. The great forests of Europe remain with us today.
Over the last four decades, the United States and the nations of Europe have been remarkably successful reducing emissions of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and other dangerous pollutants. According to EPA data, US emissions of NO2 are down 61 percent and emissions of SO2 are down 87 percent from 1980 to 2016. Emissions in Europe have also been reduced to a small fraction of 1980 levels.
Possibly the greatest evidence against harmful effects of acid rain is the fact that acidic lakes have not “recovered” after most sulfur and nitrogen pollution was removed from the atmosphere. The 2011 NAPAP report to Congress stated that SO2 and NO2 emissions were down, that airborne concentrations were down, and that acid deposition from rainfall was down, but could not report that lake acidity was significantly reduced. The report states, “Scientists have observed delays in ecosystem recovery in the eastern United States despite decreases in emissions and deposition over the last 30 years.” In other words, the pollution was mostly eliminated, but the lakes are still acidic.
Unfortunately, both the news media and many colleges continue to proclaim the myth that acid rain is a dangerous problem. In any case, if you do come in contact with either lemon juice or acid rain, be sure to wash it off as soon as possible.
Originally published in Master Resource. Republished here at request of the author. Steve Goreham is a speaker on the environment, business, and public policy and author of the book Outside the Green Box: Rethinking Sustainable Development.
The biggest result of the reduction in sulphur deposition in agriculture in the UK has been to make the routine application of sulphur in fertilisers necessary. In the 1960s samples of kale and wheat showed satisfactory levels of sulphur uptake from the soil. However sulphate ions are leached from soil almost as readily as nitrate ions, so without the annual replenishment of sulphur from the air sulphur has to be added to the spring nitrogen top dressings.
As far as organic farming is concerned with their antipathy to ‘chemical’ fertilisers, a farmer friend in South Devon had considerable problems establishing clover in his ‘fertility building’ part of his rotation. The problem was traced to a shortage of sulphur, so a derogation from the organic monitoring organisation was needed to allow him to apply sulphur. Problem solved.
On the heavy metal front, the old lead mining district of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, which dated from Roman times, had high levels of lead, zinc, selenium and other heavy metals. Enough in some areas to cause yellowing of the grass growing on these fields.
Imperial College caused a bit of a panic in the 1970s with some routine analysis of the soils in the area, and suggested that people should not eat vegetables grown in their gardens. However it turned out the soils were mostly high in lime which reduced the availability of the heavy metals, and analysis of the vegetables showed a low risk in most cases.
It is useful to be reminded just how consistently deceptive and flat out wrong the green grifters really are.
I have been involved in reducing pollutants from coal fired power plants for over 35 years. In earlier posts, I could not find them, I talked about the fact we have reduced the SO2 emissions to such a point that farmers are buying gypsum generated by the removal of the SO2 from the environment to supplement the soil to add sulfur. Very costly an inefficient method to do this. Simple solution – allow the utilities to emit more SO2. That would not be allowed by the regulatory agencies.
At the beginning of the acid rain scare in the late 70s early 80s 2 videos were made. To quote the UPI “Dying trees in the Great Smoky Mountains are turning the pristine wilderness into a barren wasteland, a researcher said Thursday, and the Tennessee Valley Authority is stepping up a study of whether acid rain is to blame.” There was a massive die off of red spruces and Fraser firs. One showing the damage that acid rain was doing to the forests in the Tennessee mountains, it was the fault of acid rain. The other showing that aphids were the cause along with other environmental issues.
Guess which of those got the attention of the media. There you have the start of an environmental movement with limited facts.
As an engineer I presented both sides to management and our conclusion was that it needed more study and could not reach a conclusive reason for the die off. Of course the environmentals did not wait. The dramatic pictures made for good drama and promoted the acid rain story.
Years later the same area was used to show how NOx was killing more of the trees. The theory (I hope that I am recalling in correctly) was that the extra NOx was causing the trees to produce new growth too early in the growth season and freezing weather biting back the new growth retarding the growth of the trees.
I do not think that this theory had legs to stand on so the story was switched to NOx causes a type of smog that makes the sky appear with a grey haze. The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for their dramatic sunrises and sunsets with the blue haze adding dramatic effects. The blue haze is generated by the unique growth of the trees in the mountains. This theory was that the NOx was causing a different light refraction changing the blue to grey therefore ruining the natural blue of the mountains. It was a theory and required a lot of study. Never the less NOx controls were dictated on power plants.
This just shows that the environmentalists do not let facts get in their way. The mantra is that some issues that are too important to wait until the facts are in.
[Thanks for your thoughtful contribution Gary. I believe this is the post you referenced above: garywgrubbs_comment -mod]
Thank you Mod. That was the post that I could not find.
Not to be nitpicky… “Water is neutral with a pH of 7″… Distilled water has a pH of 7. Water from any other source will not be likely to be pH 7 due to naturally occurring minerals dissolved in it (TDS). Even filtered water is less than likely to be pH 7. Most plants on the planet Earth like slightly acidic soil and water. There are exceptions (potatoes and blueberries come to mind immediately, one loving acid, and the other loving base…) I see no problem with “scid rain” and blew it off as “chicken little hogwash” back in the ’80s when I first heard about it…
Very curious to get a link to the “subsequent analysis” about Waldsterben in Europe. Could you post it here? Thx
The acid of concern here is hydrochloric and is not from the volcano. When the hot lava enters the sea hydrochloric is produced from the dissociation of salt dissolved the seawater. The evolution of steam bearing HCl also carries particles of volcanic glass so dont breath the stuff.
tty May 23, 2018 at 1:19 pm
“Coca cola is actually helpful if you get “Montezuma’s revenge”. I was told this by a peruvian physician many years ago. I was very skeptical, but I have had reason to try it a few times and it really seems to work.”
I only drink Coca cola or Pepsi when eating KFC, the phosphoric acid is the only thing that will break up the fat and grease, the two neutralize each other perfectly.