The article discussing acid rain in upstate NY mentioned that the lowest pH recorded was about 4. this is almost exactly the same as the recordings mentioned in the article discussing china's problems with acid rain. It's interesting that the same result could occur from such varied environments. Acid rain is primarily caused by sulfur stored in coal. When coal is burned, sulfur gas is released into the atmosphere, where it chemically combines with Oxygen to make SO2. This a concern for the whole world at this point, because so much coal is burned each year, and more and more is being burned each year. Acid rain is important to monitor, research, and prevent because it's of paramount importance that we preserve what forests and ecosystems we still have. Governments have place laws in order to reduce sulfur emissions. China, for example, has set a goal of 20% reduction of acid rain by 2010. There are a few solutions to this problem. The most drastic would be to stop burning coal, but I doubt that'll happen until cold fusion rolls around. One of the more practical solutions would be to gasify coal emissions of both CO2 and SO2. However, since seemingly no solution is fool-proof, we must use caution when gasifying coal. While it is a solution, it's not a really substantial or long lasting one.
Does China stand a chance at reducing it's acid rain? By 20%?
It seems that acid rain came in the 70's as a nice foreshadow of what's beginning today. No one really took this seriously or what?
Is there any existing fuel source that has no harmful effects on the environment that could feasibly be put to use?
My two cents are: Acid rain is well studied in the USA, especially in the New England Region. Two researchers who funded the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire and their followers/colleagues/collaborators published many papers in the last 40 years; and it is a continuous effort to understand, monitor and mitigate the acid rain problem. As we know there is a success in the USA with the reduction of sulfur emissions and it is greatly due to the public actions and implementing new technology. In China, the goverment was/is different; public movements are only in "baby shoes", international push and regulations were not strong due to various political and economic reasons. In addition, China's economy could not "afford" the environmental measures until now. In the last 10-15 years since the country is "open" and its economy is growing rapidly, the world know more about China and environmental consciousness developed. If you look at scienctific journals (geology, environmental science etc.) in each issue there is at least one article about China. The world is developing a better understanding and awardness which help to push environmental measures. However, it is still a long way to go.
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