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  3. Acid rain, is a form of air pollution, currently a subject of great controve

Acid rain, is a form of air pollution, currently a subject of great controve

游客2024-01-02  23
问题     Acid rain, is a form of air pollution, currently a subject of great controversy because of widespread environmental damage for which it has been blamed. It forms when oxides of sulfur and nitrogen combine with atmospheric moisture to yield sulfuric and nitric acids, which may then be carried long distances from their source before they are deposited by rain. The pollution many also take the form of snow or fog or be precipitated in dry forms. In fact, although the term "acid rain" has been in use for more than a century — it is derived from atmospheric studies that were made in the region of Manchester, England — the more accurate scientific term would be " acid deposition. " The dry form of such precipitation is just as damaging as the liquid form, especially to trees and structures. Furthermore, some of the pollutants also associated with acid rain are not themselves acidic.
    The problem of acid rain may be said to have originated with the Industrial Revolution, and it has been growing ever since. The severity of its effects has long been recognized in local settings, as exemplified by the spells of acid smog in heavily industrialized areas. The wide destructiveness of acid rain, however, has come to be realized only in recent decades. One large area that has been studied extensively is northern Europe, where acid rain has eroded structures, injured crops and forests, and threatened or depleted life in freshwater lakes. In 1983, for example, published reports indicated that 34 percent of the forested areas of West Germany had been damaged by acid rain. The northeastern U. S. and eastern Canada have also been affected by this form of pollution, and other areas of the two countries are also showing increasing signs of damages, as are other regions of the world.
    Industrial emissions have been blamed as the major cause of acid rain. Because the chemical reactions involved in the production of acid rain in the atmosphere are complex and as yet little understood, industries have tended to challenge such assessments and to stress the need for further studies; and because of the cost of pollution reduction, governments have tended to support this attitude. Studies released by the U. S. government in the early 1980s, however, strongly implicated industries as the main source of acid rain.
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答案     酸雨是一种空气污染，正引起激烈的争论，因为人们把广泛的环境破坏归咎于酸雨。酸雨是这样形成的：硫和氮的氧化物与空气中的水蒸气相结合而产生硫酸和硝酸，硫酸和硝酸可以在空气中漂浮到距离产生地很远的地方，然后随雨水落下。污染物可能采取雪或雾的形式，也可能以干燥的形式落下。其实，“酸雨”一词虽已用了一个多世纪——这个词是从英国曼彻斯特地区进行的大气研究工作中产生的——更为精确的科学术语应当是“酸降”。这种以干燥的形式和液体形式落下的东西具有同样的破坏力，对树木和建筑物来说尤其是这样。此外，有些与酸雨有关的污染物本身并无酸性。
    酸雨问题可以说起源于工业革命，从那时起就越来越严重。酸雨的严重性，在局部地区早就为人们所认识，工业化程度较高的地区不时出现的酸性烟雾就是明证。然而，酸雨具有广泛的破坏性，只是在近几十年才为人们所认识。曾在一片很大的地区进行广泛的研究，那就是北欧。在那里，酸雨腐蚀了建筑物，损害了农作物和林木，危及甚至已经灭绝了淡水湖泊里的生物。例如，有公开发表的报告说，1983年西德森林覆盖的地方，有34％受到酸雨的破坏。美国东北部和加拿大东部地区也都受到这种污染，两国的其它地区也有迹象受到日益严重破坏的迹象，世界上其它地区也是这种情况。
    人们认为工业废气是产生酸雨的主要原因。由于在大气层形成酸雨所涉及的化学作用是复杂的，而且人们至今知之甚少，工业部门对上述评价一直持有异议，并强调需作进一步的研究。同时由于减轻污染耗资巨大，政府部门也一向支持这种态度。然而美国政府于二十世纪八十年代初发表的研究报告强调指出工业部门是产生酸雨的主要来源。
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