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Environmental chemistry

End of the acid reign?

Nature volume 401, pages 537–538 (1999)Cite this article

From the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century right up to the mid-1970s, the emission of acidifying compounds to the atmosphere increased steadily. This trend, reflecting the growth of industrialization in Europe and North America, led to the release of sulphur and nitrogen compounds, largely from the burning of fossil fuels. These pollutants are transported in the atmosphere throughout the Northern Hemisphere and deposited as ‘acid rain’, causing acidification of soils and surface waters, with adverse effects on terrestrial and freshwater biota. In recent decades there have been considerable attempts to reduce the emission of problematic sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, and it is encouraging to see new evidence that these expensive measures are beginning to take effect. For, on page 575 of this issue, Stoddard et al.1 report that the chemistry of surface waters is showing signs that the acidification process is reversing.

The first legislation aimed at reducing sulphur emissions to combat the acidification problem was signed under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1985 (also known as the First Sulphur Protocol). The signatory countries committed themselves to a 30% reduction in sulphur emissions (relative to the 1980 levels) by 1993. This was followed, in 1994, by the Second Sulphur Protocol, under which the signatories agreed to reduce emissions by about 60% by the year 2010, again relative to the 1980 levels.

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Figure 1: Effects of sulphate and nitrate deposition on surface waters.

References

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  1. Institute of Hydrology, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, Oxfordshire, UK

    Alan Jenkins

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Correspondence to Alan Jenkins.

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Jenkins, A. End of the acid reign?. Nature 401, 537–538 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/44032

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