Acid rain all but eliminated over Britain - Polidicks

[URL]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9342276/Acid-rain-all-but-eliminated-over-Britain.html[/URL] [QUOTE]A new report on Britain's environment found that levels of sulphur in our atmosphere have dropped 90 per cent compared with their peak level in the 1950s, thanks to measures to control emissions from coal-fired power stations in the 1980s. Now a similar political drive is needed to tackle the problem of nitrogen emissions from cars, power stations and farms and prevent the pollution from killing off wild flowers, experts said. Having too much nitrogen in the atmosphere over-fertilises the Earth and allows grasses and weeds such as nettles to flourish, causing the disappearance of wild flowering plants. The warning came in a new report led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, which analysed how the chemical climate of the UK has changed in recent decades. In the 1970s sulphur pollution released in Britain caused acid rain which damaged limestone buildings and made freshwater lakes in Britain and Scandinavia more acidic, killing fish. During the 1980s Mrs Thatcher's government committed to tackling the problem, resulting in a major improvement in the cleanliness of air and water, but similar efforts are needed to tackle the problems of ground level ozone pollution and nitrogen, the report said. Prof David Fowler, who led the study, said: "Margaret Thatcher decided there was a problem and we needed to fix it...you only have to see the air quality across the UK, how clean the air is, to see we've made big progress. "No-one has decided to do the same for nitrogen. There is no great policy we have to fix the nitrogen problem, and that is why it is generally becoming a bigger issue." [/QUOTE]

It's great to see efforts on a large scale actually become successful

Holy shit, I didn't think people were actually getting anywhere with this type of thing.

now they just have to worry about normal rain year round

When I think of acid rain all I can think of is the episode of Simpsons where Homer's TV is broken and he goes out to fix the antenna but there is acid rain and he goes in and out but keeps getting burned.

Saying all but eliminated always confused me. Grammatically, it says everything EXCEPT it being eliminated happens. Oh well, good news irregardless!

Geniunly surprised, it's pRety cool a climate problem lik atheis m has been solved in my lifetime I thought it wiuld auk a lot longerr [highlight](User was banned for this post ("PUI" - Orkel))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=E1025;36461888]Geniunly surprised, it's pRety cool a climate problem lik atheis m has been solved in my lifetime I thought it wiuld auk a lot longerr[/QUOTE] What the fuck?

[QUOTE=E1025;36461888]Geniunly surprised, it's pRety cool a climate problem lik atheis m has been solved in my lifetime I thought it wiuld auk a lot longerr[/QUOTE] Posting while wasted is never a good idea hombre

[QUOTE=meppers;36461868]now they just have to worry about normal rain year round[/QUOTE] Story of the UK; that's what we get for being an island nation with a stonking great ocean to the west. It's probably the Gulf Stream's fault too, though we probably need that current to keep the place reasonably stable in comparison to lands on the same latitude. (apparently Moscow's scorching in summer as well as ball-losingly FUCK-IT'S-FUCKING-COLD in winter)

[QUOTE=Sr.;36461901]What the fuck?[/QUOTE] [img]http://facepunch.com/fp/browser/ipad.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Super_Nova;36461873]Saying all but eliminated always confused me. Grammatically, it says everything EXCEPT it being eliminated happens. Oh well, good news irregardless![/QUOTE] because it hasn't been eliminated (or whatever the desired end result is in a different context) reduced by 10% reduced by 50% reduced by 90% with just 10% more, it'll be gone. hence those percentages fall into the category of acid rain being "all but" gone

[QUOTE=valkery;36461781]Having too much nitrogen in the atmosphere over-fertilises the Earth and allows grasses and weeds such as nettles to flourish, causing the disappearance of wild flowering plants.[/QUOTE] Correct me if I'm wrong, but the atmosphere is already 78% nitrogen, would an increase by a tiny amount actually cause the massively increased fertilization?

[QUOTE=E1025;36461888]Geniunly surprised, it's pRety cool a climate problem lik atheis m has been solved in my lifetime I thought it wiuld auk a lot longerr[/QUOTE] this is literally the best post ever

[QUOTE=Trumple;36461846]It's great to see efforts on a large scale actually become successful[/QUOTE] Same with the ozone layer, it's stopped eroding and is going to be back to normal by 2080 or so There is hope

[QUOTE=Super_Nova;36461873]Saying all but eliminated always confused me. Grammatically, it says everything EXCEPT it being eliminated happens. Oh well, good news [I]irregardless[/I]![/QUOTE] Not really an expert on grammar yourself :v:

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;36462247]Correct me if I'm wrong, but the atmosphere is already 78% nitrogen, would an increase by a tiny amount actually cause the massively increased fertilization?[/QUOTE] Different type of nitrogen. Nitrogen in air is just that, diatomic nitrogen gas, and biologically inactive. Nitrogen emissions are the different nitrogen oxides, which when combined with water in the atmosphere (aka clouds and rain) comes back down to earth as nitrates and such. Nitrate being the nitrogen source of fertilizers like ammonium nitrate, and is biologically active.

Every time i hear acid rain or see it written somewhere, i remember that episode of Sliders where the group goes to a universe where the rain is acid that corrodes metal and burns flesh, and that executions are performed in gameshow form. On-topic, it's great to see that our(humanity's) efforts to eliminate the damaging effects of industry are actually leading to something.

[QUOTE=Killerelf12;36462397]Different type of nitrogen. Nitrogen in air is just that, diatomic nitrogen gas, and biologically inactive. Nitrogen emissions are the different nitrogen oxides, which when combined with water in the atmosphere (aka clouds and rain) comes back down to earth as nitrates and such. Nitrate being the nitrogen source of fertilizers like ammonium nitrate, and is biologically active.[/QUOTE] Ahh ok, thanks for clearing that up.

Industrial working class new wave has taken a massive blow, other than that well done.

But I thought humans couldn't affect the environment! Those liberals must be making this up! EDIT: Sometimes, I feel like my sarcasm sounds exactly like conservatives' sarcasm...

Doesn't come as too much of a surprise when you consider that this is what london looked like in 1924: [IMG]http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/12000/12013v.jpg[/IMG] ...it's gotten a lot better

[QUOTE=Rents;36462365]Not really an expert on grammar yourself :v:[/QUOTE] Never claimed to be an expert on grammar ;)

[QUOTE=E1025;36461888]Geniunly surprised, it's pRety cool a climate problem lik atheis m has been solved in my lifetime I thought it wiuld auk a lot longerr[/QUOTE] Nominated for best post of 2012.

We still have a long ass way to to getting rid of the effect of coal and oil, it's still killing many people and causing shitloads of damage all around the planet, I hope we don't irreversibly damage a large portion of it.

[QUOTE=Rents;36462365]Not really an expert on grammar yourself :v:[/QUOTE] irregardless is a word! it means "without a lack of regard"! nsync's for FAGS

[QUOTE=KaIibos;36470299]irregardless is a word! it means "without a lack of regard"! nsync's for FAGS[/QUOTE] Yeah but he should've used regardless.

[QUOTE=Super_Nova;36461873]Saying all but eliminated always confused me. Grammatically, it says everything EXCEPT it being eliminated happens. Oh well, good news irregardless![/QUOTE] Yeah. Some people should just not be allowed to talk, really.

[QUOTE=Hiccuper;36461852]Holy shit, I didn't think people were actually getting anywhere with this type of thing.[/QUOTE] If they didn't, there wouldn't be much forests in Europe, anymore. [img]http://chemie-kvarta.wz.cz/obrazky/kysely-dest/kysely-dest9.jpg[/img] We had enough of this some time back.