E-grāmata: Acid Deposition: Long-Term Trends

How damaging is acid rain? Current opinions differ widely, in part because for every proposed link between acid rain and adverse environmental effects an alternative explanation based on other phenomena can be or has been proposed, and in many cases cannot be readily dismissed. The specific areas addressed in this volume include the emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, precipitation chemistry, atmospheric sulfates and visibility, surface water chemistry, sediment chemistry and abundance of diatom taxa, fish populations, and forest productivity. The book then draws conclusions about the acid deposition-phenomenon relationship, identifying phenomena which are directly acid deposition-caused and suggesting others apparently caused by human activities unrelated to acid deposition.

Table of Contents



Front Matter 1. Summary and Synthesis 2. Emissions of Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides and Trends for Eastern North America 3. Uncertainties in Trends in Acid Deposition: The Role of Climatic Fluctuations 4. Patterns and Trends in Data for Atmospheric Sulfates and Visibility 5. Precipitation Chemistry 6. The Nature and Timing of the Deterioration of Red Spruce in the Northern Appalachian Mountains 7. Streams and Lakes 8. Fish Population Trends in Response to Surface Water Acidification 9. Paleolimnological Evidence of Trends in Atmospheric Deposition of Acids and Metals Appendix A: Method for Sampling and Analysis of Red Spuce Data Appendix B: Input Sulfate Fluxes to Lakes from Wet-Only Deposition and Output Sulfate Fluxes Appendix C: Characteristics of Bench-Mark Streams Appendix D: Historical Correction Factors for Alkalinity and Acid Status of Surface Waters Appendix E: Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Some Lakes in North America for Which Sediment-Diatom Data Exist