Earth Equity News

Acid Increasing Threat to Adirondacks. By Laura Grace Thomas, Abu Dhahi National, June 26, 2008. "The rest of the world may have forgotten about acid rain -- turning our heads towards such modern green concerns as biofuels and carbon footprints -- but the folks of the Adirondacks in far northern New York have not. It was here that the phenomenon began in the 1970s, when scientists noticed freshwater fish dying in remote lakes and streams. As the term gained gravitas, it was splashed across front pages and activists' T-shirts from Dubai to Denver. There was even Acid Rain the band. When George H W Bush as president signed the Clean Air Act of 1990, designed to significantly reduce the precursors of acid rain -- sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide -- Adirondack State Park became the symbol of the fight against rising acidity levels in the United States. By the time the act was passed, it was already too late for 352 of the Adirondacks' 1,460 lakes -- they had been pronounced dead... This month, scientists published data that suggests soils in the Adirondacks are steadily increasing in acidity, thrusting the park back into the limelight and acid rain back into everyday conversation... 'The issue is not solved,' said David Gibson, executive director of The Association for Protection of the Adirondacks. 'It continues to be a serious problem in areas that have shallow soils and small watersheds, which characterize the Adirondacks.' Acid rain in the Adirondacks is caused primarily by emissions from coal power plants in the Midwest (that is, from Ohio to Illinois) blowing east."