Question

How has the industrial revolution caused problems concerning acid rain?

Answer 1

Acid Rain is believed to be caused by Sulphur Dioxide dissolving in clouds & this lowers the pH of the rain making it more acidic.

Explanation:

Sulphur Dioxide is one of the by-products of burning Coal, something the Industrial Revolution used to power it's industries.

Coal can have these harmful by-products 'cleaned' from the products of burning it, Wet scrubbing is the process they use to remove Sulphur Dioxide from the flue gases before it escapes from the Power Station chimneys.
There are two methods to remove the Sulphur Dioxide;

• spraying the flue gases with sea water droplets (which are naturally alkaline) which reacts with the Sulphur Dioxide.

• using powdered lime (Calcium Oxide) mixed with water to form an alkaline slurry. When it is mixed with air & sprayed with the slurry
  the Sulphur Dioxide in the flue gases reacts & forms solid Calcium
  Sulphate, this solid is removed & the cleaned gases escape.

It costs more to build a power station with these 'cleaning' functions but in the long run helps the environment out.

However back in the Industrial Revolution, they didn't have this technology or know-how, so the acid rain & the other by-products were free to pollute & harm the environment.

Acid rain strips the protective waxy layers off of tree leaves & damages the trunks so nutrients can't move around, permanently damaging & possibly killing the tree... or forest.

Other by products of burning coal include;

• CO₂ which causes Global Warming, a process capable of changing the climate of the world, it adds to the green house effect.

• Particulates are unburnt hydrocarbons which gather in our atmosphere & reflect light back into space, they reduce global warming by reflecting (light) radiation but adds to the green house effect, they also cause global dimming, basically what the name suggests, since the Industrial Revolution it's been getting darker, Particulates are the main product of Aviation Fuel, so when all Aircraft going to & from America were grounded after 9/11, Scientists in America actually found an increase of light due to the dissipation of Particulates.

Hopefully this helps, I hope this extra info helps too,