Ecology and sustainability Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ecology and sustainability - Assignment Example Nutrients present in the soil, are destroyed by the acidity. Useful micro organisms which release nutrients from decaying organic matter, into the soil are killed off, resulting in less nutrients being available for the plants. The acid rain, falling on the plants damages the waxy layer on the leaves and makes the plant vulnerable to diseases. Acid rain erodes limestone and carbonate stones which are used as building materials upon acid deposition. Though stainless steel and aluminum are more resistant to acid rain, other materials such as carbon-steel, nickel, zinc, copper, paint, and some plastics, paper, leather, and textiles are vulnerable to corrosion by acid rain. b.1. Clean Air Act amendments required that power plants make significant cuts in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions (by installing "scrubbers" in their smokestacks and switching to low-sulfur coal.) b.2 Through the market-based allowance trading system, utilities regulated under the Acid Rain Program decide the most cost-effective way to use available resources to comply with the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Utilities can reduce emissions by employing energy conservation measures, increasing reliance on renewable energy, reducing usage, employing pollution control technologies, switching to lower sulfur fuel, or developing other alternate strategies. Dobson unit (DU) - One Dobson unit represents the amount of atmospheric ozone that would form a uniform layer 0.01 millimeter (10 micrometers) thick at standard temperature (0 Â °C) and pressure (1 atmosphere or 1013.25 millibars). Because they do not contain chlorine or bromine, HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer (ODP = 0). Some HFCs have high GWPs and are revealed as extremely powerful greenhouse gases which could account for up to 19% of global warming by 2050. It either percolates into the ground and in turn contaminates the groundwater or is discharged into the natural drainage system causing pollution in