f radishes wither. In addition to this, acid rain is eating away stone monuments and concrete structures, and corroding the pipes, which channel the water away to the lakes, and the cycle is repeated. Paints on houses and automobiles have their lives reduced by nearly half, due to the pollution in the atmosphere speeding up the corrosion process. In some communities the drinking water is laced with toxic metals, which have been freed from metal pipes by the acidity. As if urban skies were not already gray enough, typical visibility has declined from 10 to 4 miles, along the eastern seaboard, as acid rain turns into smog. There are indicators that the components of acid rain are a health risk, linked to human respiratory disease. Although there is very little data, the evidence indicates that in the last twenty to thirty years, the acidity of rain has increased in many parts of the United States. Presently, the United States annually discharges more than 26 million tons of suffer dioxide into the atmosphere. Three states, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are responsible for nearly a quarter of this total. Overall, two-thirds of the sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere over the United States comes from coal-fired and oil-fired plants. Industrial boilers, smelters, and refineries contribute 26%; commercial institutions and residences 5%; and transportation 3%. The outlook for future emissions of sulfur dioxide is not a bright one. Between now and the year 2010, United States utilities are expected to double the amount of coal they burn. The United States currently pumps some 23 million tons of nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere throughout the course of the year. Transportation sources account for 40%; power plants, 30%; industrial sources, 25%; and commercial institutions and residues, 5%. What makes these figures particularly disturbing is that nitrogen oxide emissions have tripled in the last thirty years. Acid rain is very real and a...
