Transboundary+pollution

Transboundary defined: • ‘pollution that originates in one country but, by crossing the border through pathways of water or air, is able to cause damage to the environment in another country’ (OECD). • One way by which transboundary pollution can occur is through Acid Rain. • We learnt about Acid Rain in IB 1, when we treated Urban heat Island. You may refer to the notes and read more about it. • Acid rain forms when sulphur dioxide produced by burning hydro carbon mixes with water to produce rain which is a form of sulphuric acid. • (SO2 + H2O H2SO4 • Sulfur dioxide is produced by: cars and factories that burn hydrocarbon fuels. Coal fired power stations • Because the sulfur dioxide is unaffected by national boundaries, it becomes a trans-border issue, especially with respect to acid rain. E.g. In Europe, acid rain produced in Britain, Spain and France can ‘cross-boundary’ by the prevailing winds over Switzerland due to orographic rainfall. • Dry and wet acid deposition • Dry deposition: • This usually occur around the source of the pollutant. It is ‘dry’ because it contains less amount of water. • Wet deposition: • This takes place several km away from the pollutant. They are ‘wet’ because they dissolve in rain water to form weak acids that have serious environmental consequences. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">• Wet deposition is most often referred to as ‘transboundary pollution’, because they tend to occur across national boundaries.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">For more on causes, effects and solutions to acid rain
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">• Effects of acid rain **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Buildings are weathered
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">It increases soil acidity.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">It kills forest trees due to high levels of acid in rain water.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">It causes water pollution, especially when metals and aluminum are mobilized by acid water.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Health hazards, especially senile dementia
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Lakes become acidic
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">• Solution to problems of Acid Rain **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">A major solution to this problem would be to reduce the production of polluting gases by means of efficient sources of energy.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">E.g. reducing fossil fuel combustion
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Using hydro-electric power
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Removing pollutants before they reach the atmosphere
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Passing laws that bind countries to reduce their sulphuric acid emissions.*
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Passing laws that bind countries to reduce their sulphuric acid emissions.*