Traduccion II Universidad de las Amricas

Acid rain turns into an unlikely ally in the battle against global warming
ACID rain, the pollutant blamed for killing fish and damaging forests, has been shown by new research to have an unexpected environmental benefit.

British scientists have discovered that it reduces emissions of a key greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Their research suggests that the high sulphur content of acid rain cuts the production of methane, which is thought to be responsible for about a fifth of todays enhanced global warming effect. Acid rain occurs when chemicals produced by coal-fired power stations, particularly sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, combine in the atmosphere with water and oxygen to form acidic compounds. This causes rainwater to contain weak solutions of sulphuric and nitric acid, which are harmful to trees and contaminate rivers, lakes and ponds, killing the fish and other organisms that live there. It can also corrode stone and metal, causing extensive damage to buildings and outdoor sculptures. Acid rain was a particular problem in the 1980s, when Britain was labelled the dirty man of Europe by Scandinavia because emissions of sulphur dioxide were causing acid rain on the other side of the North Sea. Tougher emissions regulations have since reduced the scale of the problem. The new research, led by Vincent Gauci, of the Open University, has suggested that although acid rain is clearly an environmental hazard, it is not without benefits. Dr Gauci, with colleagues from the United States and Scandinavia, has shown that the sulphur content of acid rain mitigates the production of methane from natural wetlands the chief source of the greenhouse gas. Wetlands normally release large quantitites of methane into the atmosphere owing to the activity of microbes that thrive there. The emissions contribute to global warming, and are predicted to increase because of a feedback effect: methane-producing microbes are sensitive to temperature, and make more of the gas when temperatures rise. In the study, details of which are published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr Gaucis team sought to establish whether acid rain had any mitigating effect on this process, with an exhaustive study of wetlands in Morayshire, Scotland.

Sulphur concentrations and methane emissions have been measured in these wetlands since 1997, and show that acid rain reduces the production of the greenhouse gas. The data have been cross-checked with other studies worldwide, which show a similar effect. Acid rain has such a big impact that it shuts down 30 to 40 per cent of the methane in wetlands that are affected by this pollution, Dr Gauci said. When we used all the collected data with a Nasa model and applied it to a global scale, it shows that the effect of acid rain from 1960 to 2030 actually reduces methane emissions to below pre- industrial levels. The effect more than compensates for the increase in methane emission that would be expected as wetlands become warmer. In effect, acid rain is acting like a lid on the largest methane source, he added. He said that acid rain remains a pollution problem, but that the results show it has environmental benefits. We wouldnt want to give the impression that acid rain is a good thing it has long been known that acid rain damages natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, rivers and lakes, he said. But our findings suggest that small amounts of pollution may also have a positive effect in suppressing this important greenhouse gas. Moreover, they point to how complex the Earth system is. Quite rightly, most attention has been given to the negative aspects of pollution but if we want to understand all of Earths complexities and make better predictions of future climate we also need to understand the good side to these problems. Potential benefits of acid rain on global warming, however, would be partially offset by the damaging effect it has on forests which are one of the worlds natural sinks that stores carbon dioxide. THE ACID TEST
Emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides mix with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to

form dilute sulphuric and nitric acid Normal rain has pH of about 5.5. Acid rains pH is 4.3 or below

Damages the leaves of trees and other plants Kills fish and other water-dwelling animals by lowering the pH of lakes and rivers and releasing toxic

aluminium from soil Corrodes rock, particularly limestone and marble, damaging buildings

Sulphur dioxide emissions fell by 71 per cent in 1987-2001