'Should I Be Worried?' 2 - Textbooks of Today & A 1989 Newspaper Article

          So many thoughts are swimming around my head, demanding further explanations and popping up more questions. Yup, I finished the book ('Rainwater And You' - if you didn't see the previous post, please read that one first), and I'm left slightly numb with all the new information. There is so much I didn't give enough thought to, and heaps more that I want to find more about. The next step to take, though, is surely not to run about wildly flapping my hands with a 'Help' sign but to organize what I've learned, adding further knowledge, evidence and ideas. I will be posting several more posts for the weeks to come. I'm sorry that my posts will be up with varying lengths of intervals between; I try to find at least a few satisfactory answers before I post, and the time this takes is unpredictable.  Still, the next post will be up in less than a week, so keep up with the updates!
          
 

Image from the NY Department of Environmental Conservation
 http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8418.html
We have seen such images in many textbooks!

        Firstly, we have to talk about textbooks. While this book only deals with Korean ones, books I studied from in my middle school years and IGCSE curriculum all had similar information. The overall picture is this: human activity releases harmful gases into the atmosphere, causing air pollution. Sulfur dioxide from burning fossil fuels and oxides of nitrogen from car engines form acid rain in damp air. * Acid rain causes great damage to forests, crops, lakes, stonework and metal in buildings. The books I used to study from didn't have detailed chemical reactions, but my classmates and I got the general idea. Acid rain is dangerous, and is partly the reason why we see horrifying pictures of dead fish by the shore - lifeless eyes, dirty scaled skin and blackened teeth. Such images hunt us from the very first time we see them.
          This book claims that rainwater cannot have caused such damage. This applies to most areas around the world, but definitely to the Korean peninsula. As mentioned in the previous post, the yellow dust that swept to the land for the past centuries is mixed with the soil.  According to the book, more than 1 million tonnes of yellow dust land every year. Basically, there is enough on Korea to neutralize any acid rain that falls. Furthermore, it is not just the yellow dust that has this effect - even if "a bit of dust" gets added to rain, it gets neutralized. 

          Professor Han explains an experiment he conducted on the roof of a university building. The pH of rain collected on a clean dish was 5.6 - a weak acid. The rain that flowed down the dusty roof, however, was alkaline - 7 ~ 8.5 in pH. He also observed that the pH rose further as time passed by. 
          When asked about the destruction of lake ecosystems in Scandinavia**, Professor Han says a big part of the reason is the territorial characteristics. There are only lots of rock, thus, there is little to neutralize acid rain. He adds that he heard bits of calcium carbonate is sometimes thrown over the lake for neutralization. He goes on to say that such events have usually taken place long ago - as late as the 1950s. This was a time when air pollution was much more severe than the present, to such an extent that a walk through smog could result in death. The professor states that stories of such events are "more history than science". 

          The interviewer in the book asks the professor about a Korean newspaper article from 1989, published by the Forestry Research Institute. Research in the Hongneung forest area showed the lowest pH of 3.7, highest of 7.6 and average of 4.7. Professor Han says it is hard to understand pH levels as low as 3.7  could be found in forests. If there was exceptional air pollution in the area, perhaps, it could be a reason why. He states, however, that pH of 7.6 is "strange". Rain that goes through clean water has pH of about 5.6. Yellow dust season could be a way to explain this unusual alkaline rain, except it would contradict the pH 3.7; rain cannot have such a low pH when there is yellow dust in the atmosphere. The professor says rain of high pH may have been collected from the ground, which would suggest a situation similar to that of his experiment. He concludes that without knowing the specific method of measurement, he cannot be completely sure.

Even light snowfall means umbrellas and hoods

          The answer he gave for the next question, though, was a little unsatisfactory. The interviewer asks about the possible harmful effects of directly getting in contact with acid rain. *** The professor replies that he is not a medical expert, but doesn't think it would be bad for our health. He compares the situation to taking a bath in a hot spring of high sulfur levels. The water is much more acidic than most rain, but nobody considers that the bath could be dangerous. I think this is a poor answer in a few ways. Just as he explained, the rainwater loses its acidity when it flows down a surface or lands on the ground. But the interviewer specifically asked about rain that fell directly on us, not after contact with another object. Surely the example of the bath is not a very suitable comparison. Moreover, there is a notable difference in his attitude in addressing this question. Only a few pages earlier in the same chapter does he pronounce the absurdity of getting harmed in any way through rain. He clearly says that there is no reason to be afraid of acid rain falling on us. What caused this sudden change in the tone? These are only minor details, but they nevertheless make me pause in my tracks. 


         In case some of you are wondering, I couldn't find a satisfactory answer on the Internet about the type of acidity which I talked about in the previous post. When school starts after the spring break ends (soon) I will ask my earth science professor and chemistry professor about it! Keep up with the updates!

* For anyone who's interested: the beautiful chemistry of it!

Nitrogen Oxides:
N2(g) + O2(g) -> 2NO *This takes place with lightning
NO(g) + 0.5O2(g) -> NO2(g)
3NO2(g) + H2O(l) -> 2HNO3(aq) + NO(g)
Then nitric acid dissociates into H+ ions and NO3- ions.
Since this takes place in water, it lowers its pH.

Sulfur Dioxide
S(s) + O2(g) -> SO2(g)
SO2(g) + O -> SO3(g)
H2O(l) + SO3(g) -> H2SO4(aq)
Then sulfuric acid dissociates into H+ ions and (SO4)2- or HSO4- ions.
This also takes place in water, thus lowering its pH.

**  See the following websites for more information:
http://www.environment.no/Topics/Air-pollution/Acid-rain/
http://sustainabilityandthecommons.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/scandinavian-moan-acid-rain/

*** The majority of people in Korea fear rain falling on them; this may be different in other parts of the world. 

'Should I Be Worried?' - Acid Rain/Snow

         Last night's news report on TV included another horribly unnerving coverage on massive snowfall around Korea. With the greatest depth of snow being 110.1cm this month (as of 14/02/14) and the damage costs adding up to 5 billion Korean won in just the Gangwon East Sea area*, Korea is facing a colossal catastrophe like nearby Asian countries, North America and others.
         Already February, most of us have had enough of snow. But even without news about greenhouses, factories and houses collapsing due to abnormal snowfall, we fear it for another reason: "Acid Snow". 
          When the tiny flakes make our surroundings more than beautiful (see pictures below of my school campus grounds in December), a few (very few) of us in Korea go outside and dance in glee. Most of us stay inside, fearing a myriad of health implications we hear about. Occasionally the former but usually the latter, I would open my umbrella like the others during snowfall, gloomily thinking about the "good old days" when there was no such thing as acid snow. I would sigh and take comfort in capturing the little beauties in the pictures I take, sometimes thinking of solutions to minimize the acid snow impact on our health. 

         But what if I could go out without an umbrella, taste a snowflake melt instantly on my tongue, not caring about the pH levels of snow? What if I shouldn't be worried at all? What if all the purported consequences of getting in contact with it don't exist? 

        I started reading a book that was on the Recommended Books list at school: "Rainwater And You" by Professor Moo Young Han and Chang Rae Kang. The book jacket told me that it would correct all the misconceptions we have about acid rain - with a focus on Korea. This book's main point is that the concept of acid rain may be completely wrong and that we shouldn't fear rain so much. Since snow and rain are both precipitation, I thought that learning about rain would teach me about snow along the way. 
         I'm only about a third through the book, but I've already read some mind-boggling ideas that brought me both answers and questions. Firstly, Chapter 1 holds an interesting subtitle: "Being Acidic Doesn't Make it Bad". For example, orange juice's acidity is 100 times more acidic than acid rain's, with coke's as 500 times more. Even some shampoos or conditioners can be 100 times more acidic. By taking only this into consideration, the idea that acid rain causes baldness** would seem absurd, just like the book insists. To be honest, I

'Rainwater And You' By Professor Han
and Chang Rae Kang

felt that this was too weak a reason to use. Surely, most of us are aware that simply being acidic or alkaline doesn't make a substance toxic. We should NOT drink sodium hydroxide (NaOH) - an alkaline solution - but we can consume green leafy vegetables and fruits like watermelon*** - also alkaline foods. There can be a difference in the type of acidity between acid rain and orange juice, don't you think? I'll find out more about it and get back to you on this!
       One of the things I really found interesting was that acid rain cannot have harmful effects on the soil. According to Professor Han, the yellow dust that flew over to Korea for the past hundreds of years would neutralize any acid rain that falls. Although I had learned about the neutralization effect of yellow dust in Korean Geography class, I was not aware of its strength. I also didn't know that yellow dust could settle over land and remain. I will try to find more about it, and tell you the best I can!




       Updates to come soon-!
         
*http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/society/2014/02/14/0701000000AKR20140214068951062.HTML?template=5565
 **This idea is very popular in Korea; I'm under the impression that people in other countries have not even heard of this. Please tell me in the comments whether such a view exists where you live!
***http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/alkaline-foods.html