Despite the fact that Canada imposed strict controls on acid- rain-causing emissions from smelters and coal-burning utilities in 1984, our friends south of the border have steadfastly refused to follow our example. More study is needed on the cause and effects of acid rain to help us understand the problem before a program to limit emissions of sulphur dioxide from industrial and utility plants can be imposed, the Reagan administration argued during heated public debates in 1984-85.
Now that three years have passed and millions have been spent on research it would appear the U.S. government has the information it needs to decide how much money should be spent and who should pay the bills to augment existing pollution controls.
“An enormous body of data leaves no doubt that fuel combustion is the main source of acid deposition and particulate fallout,” according to Dr Robert W. Shaw, chief of chemical diagnostics and surface science at the U.S. Army Research Office in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Writing in Scientific American, Dr Shaw says, “this and the fact that pollution travels across national boundaries, can no longer be questioned.” His work shows that not only does acid rain cause damage to materials and alter the acid-base balance of ecosystems far from its source, but so do fine particles of dry sulphate released into the atmosphere from coal-burning plants.
We trust the U.S. administration will get down to important, practical matters and act on their new understanding of acid deposition.
Be the first to comment on "Editorial The smog of summer"