eds of miles, sometimes even thousands. They are easily moved through the air because of the high wind speeds until they are combined with water and form acidic precipitation. However, how they reach our atmosphere is also very important. Large smokestacks from big fossil fuel burning factories are the leading cause of how Sulfur dioxide reaches the environment. These tall smokestacks reach high into the air, so when the emissions are released they are able to catch the wind and travel long distances. These smokestacks let out close to30 million tons of Sulfur dioxide every year, which is unfiltered and is poured directly into our atmosphere. The Inco, Limited copper and nickel smelter in Subbury Ontario discharged 3,400 tons of sulfur dioxide a day which is 1 percent of all sulfates released in the world(Pringle21). When first thought of these large smokestacks were supposed to be a remedy to help clean up the air. The government insisted that large smokestacks would help clean the air around these big factories. They did see positive results of cleaner air around the new taller smokestacks. Unfortunately they didnt realize that they werent cleaning up the sulfates, they were just making the wind carry them away from the power plant. This is what helped create the acid rain problem in the eastern United States and as far away as Europe. Previous scientists felt that the higher the smokestack was the gases would eventually disipate causing no environmental harm whatsoever. Many factories would agree to this idea to keep their production output high, instead of having it drop because they need to regulate what they release into the air. Years after years factories would release tons of sulfur dioxide into the air and it would come down as acid rain hundreds of miles away unnoticed. So what has it done to our environment? There are many serious affects that are just recently being discovered. When acid rain is mentioned the firs...
