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03/08/2004
Acid rain has 'unexpected' environmental gains
Acid rain, pollutant charged precipitation which has been long associated with various environmental wrongs, could help cut back on harmful greenhouse gas emissions, researchers have claimed today.
Open University (OU) bio-geochemist researchers have claimed that the sulphur in acid rain can help cut back emission of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
According to Dr Vincent Gauci, of the OU Department of Earth Sciences, who has been researching acid rain since 1997, natural wetlands – a big producer of methane – is stifled by sulphur in the rain.
In research to be being published by the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US', Dr Gauci claims that acid rain can shut down 30 to 40% of the methane in wetlands.
The experimental research was carried out in Morayshire Scotland, but is backed up with independent data from all over the world including America, Europe and Sweden, enabling Dr Gauci to estimate the worldwide impact of this effect.
“When we used all the collected data with a NASA model and applied it to a global scale, it shows that the effect of acid rain from 1960 to 2030 actually reduces methane emissions to below pre-industrial levels” Dr Gauci said.
“The effect more than compensates for the increase in methane emission that would be expected as wetlands become warmer. In effect, acid rain is acting like a lid on the largest methane source.”
However, Dr Gauci said that the OU would not want to give the impression that acid rain is a good thing as it been associated with damage to natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, rivers and lakes.
"But our findings suggest that small amounts of pollution may also have a positive effect in suppressing this important greenhouse gas. Moreover, they point to how complex the Earth system is,” he added.
The UK was known as 'the dirty old man of Europe' in Scandinavian countries in the 1980s because UK industry poured out sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere by the tonnes. The resulting acid rain killed fish and other aquatic life and damaged forests.
(gmcg)
Open University (OU) bio-geochemist researchers have claimed that the sulphur in acid rain can help cut back emission of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
According to Dr Vincent Gauci, of the OU Department of Earth Sciences, who has been researching acid rain since 1997, natural wetlands – a big producer of methane – is stifled by sulphur in the rain.
In research to be being published by the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US', Dr Gauci claims that acid rain can shut down 30 to 40% of the methane in wetlands.
The experimental research was carried out in Morayshire Scotland, but is backed up with independent data from all over the world including America, Europe and Sweden, enabling Dr Gauci to estimate the worldwide impact of this effect.
“When we used all the collected data with a NASA model and applied it to a global scale, it shows that the effect of acid rain from 1960 to 2030 actually reduces methane emissions to below pre-industrial levels” Dr Gauci said.
“The effect more than compensates for the increase in methane emission that would be expected as wetlands become warmer. In effect, acid rain is acting like a lid on the largest methane source.”
However, Dr Gauci said that the OU would not want to give the impression that acid rain is a good thing as it been associated with damage to natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, rivers and lakes.
"But our findings suggest that small amounts of pollution may also have a positive effect in suppressing this important greenhouse gas. Moreover, they point to how complex the Earth system is,” he added.
The UK was known as 'the dirty old man of Europe' in Scandinavian countries in the 1980s because UK industry poured out sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere by the tonnes. The resulting acid rain killed fish and other aquatic life and damaged forests.
(gmcg)
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