Acid deposition is the deposition of air pollutants to ecosystems leading to acidification and eutrophica­tion, which cause negative effects in these ecosystems. The components contributing to acid deposition are sulfur compounds (SO2 and SO4), oxidized nitrogen compounds (NO, NO2, HNO2, HNO3, and NO3), and reduced nitrogen compounds (NH3 and NH4). Some rain is naturally acidic […]

The alarm regarding the increasing acidification of precipitation in Europe and eastern North America was first sounded in the 1960s. Since then, most attention has focused on acid rain’s effects, estab­lished and suspected, on lakes and streams, with their populations of aquatic life, and on forests, although the list of concerns is far broader: It […]

The history of human culture can be viewed as the progressive development of new energy sources and their associated conversion technologies. Advances in our understanding of energy have produced unparalleled transformations of society, as exempli­fied by James Watt’s steam engine and the discovery of oil. These transformations increased the ability of humans to exploit both […]