Further emissions cuts needed for speedier acid rain recovery

Abstract

Some people may have thought that the problem of acid deposition, commonly referred to as acid rain, had been solved in the United States with the passage of the Acid Deposition Control Program under Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA).Although that legislation has helped to dramatically limit emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide—gases that can react in the atmosphere and form acidic compounds, including fine particles of sulfates and nitrates— much steeper cuts are needed for a quicker recovery from acid rain in the north‐eastern United States, according to a new scientific appraisal of the effectiveness of measures called for in that law. The appraisal was issued on March 26 and is entitled “Acidic Deposition in the Northeastern United States: Sources and Inputs, Ecosystem Effects, and Management Strategies.”