Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystems essays

Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystems essays In the past century, one of the greatest threats to North America's aquatic ecosystem has been the widespread acidification of hundreds of thousands of waterways. Acid rain has effected plant and animal life within aquatic ecosystems, as well as microbiologic activity by affecting the rates of decomposition and the accumulation of organic matter. What causes this poisonous rain, and what can be done to improve North America's water quality and prevent future catastrophes? To answer these questions, we must first examine the cause and formation of acid rain, as well as understand ways to decrease or prevent its formation. Acid deposition, more commonly known as acid rain, occurs when emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and oxidants to form acidic compounds. This mixture forms a mild solution of sulfuric and nitric acid which then falls to the earth in either wet (rain, snow, sleet or fog) or dry (gas and particles) form. Approximately one-half of the atmosphere's acidity falls back to earth through dry deposition in the form of particles and gases, and are then spread hundreds of miles by winds where they settle on surfaces of buildings, cars, homes, and trees. When acid rain falls, the dry deposited gases and particles are sometimes washed from buildings, trees and other surfaces making the runoff water combine with the acid rain more acidic than the falling acid rain alone. This new combination is referred to as acid deposition. Strong prevailing winds and public sewer systems into lakes and streams then transport the runoff water. Although some natural sources such as volcanic eruptions, fire and lightening contribute to the emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, more than 90% is the result of human activities such as coal burning, smelting of metals such as zinc, nickel and copper, and the burning of oil, coal and gas in power plants...

Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter

Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter Non-Hyphenation Is a Nonstarter By Mark Nichol A friend of mine recently posted online a humorous observation to the effect that it’s ironic that non-hyphenation is hyphenated. In true word-nerd fashion, I figuratively cleared my throat and pushed my taped-together black horn-rimmed glasses up my nose before offering the deflating response that nonhyphenation does not in fact have a hyphen. (What are friends for?) My friend’s misapprehension is a common one. Hyphenation in prefixed words remains rampant in writing ranging from social media posts to scholarly journals, though style manuals have more or less long advocated minimizing their use. Why, then, the persistence of non-profit, multi-billion (as in â€Å"multi-billion dollar budget,† which errs also in lacking a hyphen before dollar), pre-approved, post-modern, and the like? First, some history: The hyphen began as an arc-shaped symbol called the enotikon, which was marked underneath letters in Greek script to denote a connection between two words. (The Greek term means â€Å"uniter.†) During the Middle Ages, a straight line with a similar role was adopted in Latin, and Gutenberg raised the symbol to the middle of the line of text, and furthermore adopted an angled double line resembling an equal sign at the end of a line, borrowing from writing of Latin script, when insufficient room remained to set an entire word with uniformly sized metal type, allowing him to break words to fit where necessary. (Many proofreaders who proof on paper still use an equal sign to denote a hyphen; the rationale for retaining the double line when marking proofs is that it is less likely than a single line to be missed or to be mistaken for an accidental mark.) The trend in English is to phase out hyphenation when terms become more familiar. British English has also historically been more conservative than American English about retaining hyphens not only in prefixed words but also in compound nouns, as in dining-room or shop-keeper, which are now in both forms of English open and closed, respectively; many such constructions were purged from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary only in the last decade. Meanwhile, style guides strive to minimize inconsistency, but individual or regional preference and specialized occupational usage may resist progress. However, the most significant factor in the persistence of hyphens in prefixed words and in compounds may be that most people, including many professional writers, do not check dictionaries or style guides to verify or correct their assumptions, often relying on what they learned from (sometimes misinformed) teachers or from published resources- sometimes decades ago, before the hyphen became an endangered species in compounds and prefixed words. To recap (not re-cap): Hyphens in such constructions are the exception, not the rule. (They do have valid applications, as many DailyWritingTips.com posts discuss; search the site for â€Å"hyphen† or â€Å"hyphenation† for examples.) If you are inclined to hyphenate a prefixed word or a compound word, double-check a dictionary or a style guide for prevailing style before you commit yourself. There’s no hyphen, and thus no irony, in nonhyphenated. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Cost-Effective vs. Cost-EfficientItalicizing Foreign Words"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?