Acid Rain In China Research Articles

Economic and Industrial Development SignificantlyContribute to Acidity and Ionic Compositions of Rainwaterin China

To achieve a holistic understanding of the intricate interactions among human activities, atmospheric chemistry, and acid rain in China, a rigorous analysis of rainwater chemistry was made using a dataset comprising 2656 data points from 24 sites. The main cation and anion in the chemical composition of precipitation were Ca2+ and SO42− in China, with an average concentration of 169.9 μeq/L and 135.4 μeq/L, respectively. Acid rain generally occurs in southern cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Xiamen, and Chongqing. There were evident regional disparities in acidity and ion concentrations in rainwater, with an increase in acidity and a decrease in ion concentrations from north to south across China. Utilizing positive matrix factorization, the study found that NH4+, SO42−, and NO3− mainly originated from anthropogenic sources such as fossil fuel combustion, vehicle exhaust emissions, agricultural fertilization, and industrial emissions (as reflected by F3 and F4). Ca2+ mainly stems from crustal factors, including industrial dust and natural crust (as represented by F1 and F4). Na+ and Cl− were traceable from marine sources (as reflected by F5), while Mg2+ originated from crust origin (as presented by F1). K+ was mainly derived from a mixed source of crust, marine, and biomass burning (as indicated by F2 and F3). The correlation analyses showed that SO42− and NO3− showed significant correlations with GDP and population. F− was associated with wastewater, which may be linked to the production of brick and tiles from clay with high fluoride contents. The pH was negatively related to industrial wastewater. Long-term analysis of precipitation chemistry in four cities suggested a clear decrease in the proportion of SO42− but a considerable increase in the proportion of NO3− in anions in metropolitans of Shanghai and Chongqing due to the environmental measures that targeted reducing sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions and increase of vehicles. This showed that pollution control strategies had an impact on precipitation ion concentrations. These results can conclude that economic and industrial growth, which will increase energy consumption, utilization of coal combustion, and a subsequent rise in pollutant emissions, can contribute to the change in the chemical compositions of rainwater and the exacerbation of acid rain.

Analysis of the Spatio-Temporal Changes in Acid Rain and Their Causes in China (1998–2018)

With the rapid development of the economy, acid rain has become one of the major environmental problems that endanger human health. Being the largest developing country, the environmental problems caused by acid rain are of increasing concern with the rapid industrialization and urbanization in China. Recently, many researchers have focused on acid rain. To better understand the temporal and spatial dynamics of acid rain in China, the monitoring data on acid rain from 1998 to 2018 were studied using ArcGIS 10.2. The results show that the proportion of acid rain cities, the frequency, and the area of acid rain were decreasing, however, the situation still remains serious. Overall, the chemical type of acid rain was mainly sulfuric acid rain. However, the concentration ratio of decreased by 81.90% in 2018 compared with 1998, and presented a decreasing trend, which indicates that the contribution of nitrate to precipitation acidity has been increasing year by year. This research will help us to understand the distribution characteristics and causes of acid rain in China, and it may provide an effective reference for the prevention and control of acid rain in China.

Response of Quercus acutissima foliage to different types of simulated acid rain

The harm of acid rain (AR) to plants foliage is mainly manifested by changing their physiological and biochemical processes, such as chlorosis, nutrient loss, enzyme activity changes, etc., which in turn impacts plant growth. Since the types of AR in China is changing, the response of plants to different types of AR has become a research hotspot. In this research, we investigated the responses of Q. acutissima foliage to simulated AR with different SO42−/NO3−(S/N) ratios and pH through chlorophyll contents, chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, malondialdehyde content and antioxidant enzyme activities. The results showed that the maximal photochemical efficiency of PSⅡ (Fv/Fm) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of Q. acutissima gradually decreased as the increase of NO3− concentration. With the decrease of AR pH, the inhibitory effect of simulated AR on growth rate and photochemical quenching coefficient (qP) gradually increased, and it also induced the increase of SOD and catalase (CAT) activities. Besides, pure NAR with low acidity (pH = 4.5) significantly increased basal diameter growth rate (DGR), chlorophyll content, peroxidase (POD) activity and qP, while decreased Chla/Chlb, fluorescence efficiency, non-photochemical quenching coefficient (NPQ), malondialdehyde (MDA) content and SOD activity. Correlation analysis indicated that the growth rate, chlorophyll content and fluorescence characteristics of Q. acutissima were highly correlated with foliar antioxidant enzyme activities under simulated AR stress. Our results indicated that different types of simulated AR had discrepant influences on the foliage physiological characteristics and above-ground growth of Q. acutissima, but not always negative, which made the protection of Q. acutissima plantation more complicated.

Effect of acid wet deposition on operation of power grid equipment in China

The distribution law of acid rain in China is counted, and the operation of power grid equipment in acid wet deposition area is investigated. It is found that southern China has the strongest acidity of precipitation in the country. The ratio of SO42-, N03-, NH4+, Ca2+ concentration in acid rain is higher. Acid rain causes serious corrosion of transmission line and transformation equipment in Shandong, Sichuan, Shanxi and Henan provinces of China. The acid rain and corrosion products aggravate the dissolution and chemical reaction of the original dry deposition pollution on the external insulation surface of power grid, which may lead to corrosive flashover.

Ammonia emission control in China would mitigate haze pollution and nitrogen deposition, but worsen acid rain

China has been experiencing fine particle (i.e., aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 µm; PM2.5) pollution and acid rain in recent decades, which exert adverse impacts on human health and the ecosystem. Recently, ammonia (i.e., NH3) emission reduction has been proposed as a strategic option to mitigate haze pollution. However, atmospheric NH3 is also closely bound to nitrogen deposition and acid rain, and comprehensive impacts of NH3 emission control are still poorly understood in China. In this study, by integrating a chemical transport model with a high-resolution NH3 emission inventory, we find that NH3 emission abatement can mitigate PM2.5 pollution and nitrogen deposition but would worsen acid rain in China. Quantitatively, a 50% reduction in NH3 emissions achievable by improving agricultural management, along with a targeted emission reduction (15%) for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, can alleviate PM2.5 pollution by 11-17% primarily by suppressing ammonium nitrate formation. Meanwhile, nitrogen deposition is estimated to decrease by 34%, with the area exceeding the critical load shrinking from 17% to 9% of China's terrestrial land. Nevertheless, this NH3 reduction would significantly aggravate precipitation acidification, with a decrease of as much as 1.0 unit in rainfall pH and a corresponding substantial increase in areas with heavy acid rain. An economic evaluation demonstrates that the worsened acid rain would partly offset the total economic benefit from improved air quality and less nitrogen deposition. After considering the costs of abatement options, we propose a region-specific strategy for multipollutant controls that will benefit human and ecosystem health.

Two-step-hybrid model based on data preprocessing and intelligent optimization algorithms (CS and GWO) for NO2 and SO2 forecasting

The harm of air pollution to human health has received close attention, and many scholars have done research on the relationship between air pollution and human health. NO2 and SO2 are two important air pollutants, which are the two major sources for acid rain. Acid rain has potential harm to water, soil, plants, buildings and people’s health. So, it is significant to develop effective model for NO2 and SO2 forecasting and warning. However, it is not easy to get precise forecasting results for the irregular NO2 and SO2 series. This research focuses on modeling and prediction of the two major sources of acid rain, NO2 and SO2, and four cities in Central China region are selected as the test data. Specially, Central China region has the most severe regions with the acid rain in China for a long time. The proposed procedure is named as two-step-hybrid model, the detailed procedure of the proposed model can be summarized as three steps: First, the original NO2 (or SO2) sequence is decomposed into high-frequency and low-frequency sequences by the Complementary Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (CEEMD); Second, Support Vector Regression (SVR) model combined the Cuckoo Search algorithm (CS) and Grey Wolf Optimizer algorithm (GWO) are employed to model the high-frequency and low frequency sequences, respectively; Third, forecasting data of low frequency and high frequency are summed as the final prediction results for NO2 (or SO2). In terms of model selection and assessment process, the proposed model and the other established models are compared by the forecasting error measures, such as MAE, MAPE and RMSE. The forecasting comparisons showed that the proposed two-step-hybrid model based on CEEMD, SVR, CS and GWO has higher forecasting precision compared with other forecasting models. Specially, the hybrid model CEEMD-CS-GWO-SVR, the low-frequency data using the SVR-CS and the high frequency data using SVR-GWO, is the best model for the prediction of NO2 and SO2 for the cities in Central China.

The precipitation chemistry and acidity over China during 2018

This paper reports the acid rain observation data from 376 Acid Rain Monitoring stations and the precipitation chemistry data from 5 Global Atmosphere Watch stations of China Meteorological Administration(CMA) during 2018. The variation characteristics of acid rain in China and that of precipitation chemistry in Eastern China are discussed. The results show that the acid rain area in China is mainly distributed in the Southeast and South of China and dispersively in North and Southwest of China. Heavy acid rain area is only limited in Eastern part of Hunan province. The annual mean precipitation pH value of all stations in 2018 ranges from 3.73 to 8.07 and the national annual mean precipitation pH value is 5.94, which is higher than those of 2010-2017. The national annual mean precipitation conductivity is 47.7 μS·cm-1 with the higher conductivity in Northern China and lower in Southern China. Compared with 2010-2017, the acid rain pollution situation over China has been improving nationwide. The precipitation chemistry data shows that the concentration of sulfate is close to nitrate in precipitation and keeps decreasing in recent years.

Effect of acid rain erosion on steel fiber reinforced concrete

Acid rain can deteriorate the performance of reinforced concrete structure. Combined with the characteristics of acid rain in China, the properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete subjected to acid rain were studied. The effects of steel fiber content and pH value of acid rain on the mass loss, erosion depth, neutralization depth, and splitting tensile strength of tested concrete were investigated. The mercury intrusion pore (MIP) test was used to analyze the influence of steel fiber on the acid rain resistance of concrete matrix. The results show that the corrosion of steel fiber reinforced concrete subjected to acid rain results from the combined effect of H+ and SO4 2- in the acid rain, and steel fiber can improve the acid rain resistance of the tested concrete by improving the pore structure and enhancing the tie effect of the concrete matrix. The experiment further indicates that the optimum content of steel fiber is 1.5% compared to the various mixing proportion in this tests. The tested concrete mass loss and splitting tensile strength decrease followed by increasing as a function of corrosion time when the pH value of the simulation solution is 3 or 4, while they decrease continuously in the simulation solution at pH 2. Thanks to the tie effect of steel fiber, the spalling of concrete matrix is significantly improved, and the erosion depth and neutralization depth are less than those of conventional concrete.

Long-Term Trends in Acid Neutralizing Capacity under Increasing Acidic Deposition: A Special Example of Eutrophic Taihu Lake, China.

While North America and Europe have been recovering from acidification, China is experiencing impacts of acid deposition. The Taihu region is a seriously impacted area by acid rain in China, with the average rainfall pH < 5. However, the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) and pH of Taihu Lake have significantly increased over the past 60 years (p < 0.05). Analyses showed that watershed neutralization by carbonates and in-lake alkalinization by algae activities were the two major reactions responsible for the increase. In the Taihu basin, the dominant carbonate bedrocks are the major source of base cations (particularly Ca2+ and Mg2+) and act as the acidification buffer. In addition, our field measurements across the lake showed that the pH values were significantly higher in algal bloom waters than in areas without blooms. This observation was further supported by our statistical analysis showing that the Taihu ANC and pH were significantly correlated with the chlorophyll increase (p < 0.05; 1985-2015). However, our regression analysis indicated that the base cations in the watershed would be depleted by the early 2040s if the acid deposition continues at the current rate. Our results suggest that interactions between human accelerated weathering, watershed geochemistry, and in-lake algae activities significantly impact the water chemistry of the lake. We urgently recommend an "integrated and balanced" recovery plan for the lake ecosystem.

Water geochemistry of the Qiantangjiang River, East China: Chemical weathering and CO2 consumption in a basin affected by severe acid deposition

The chemical composition of the Qiantangjiang River, the largest river in Zhejiang province in eastern China, was measured to understand the chemical weathering of rocks and the associated CO2 consumption and anthropogenic influences within a silicate-dominated river basin. The average total dissolved solids (TDS, 113mgl−1) and total cation concentration (TZ+, 1357μeql−1) of the river waters are comparable with those of global major rivers. Ca2+ and HCO3− followed by Na2+ and SO42−, dominate the ionic composition of the river water. There are four major reservoirs (carbonates, silicates, atmospheric and anthropogenic inputs) contributing to the total dissolved load of the investigated rivers. The dissolved loads of the rivers are dominated by both carbonate and silicate weathering, which together account for about 76.3% of the total cationic load origin. The cationic chemical weathering rates of silicate and carbonate for the Qiantangjiang basin are estimated to be approximately 4.9tonkm−2a−1 and 13.9tonkm−2a−1, respectively. The calculated CO2 consumption rates with the assumption that all the protons involved in the weathering reaction are provided by carbonic acid are 369×103molkm−2a−1 and 273×103molkm−2a−1 by carbonate and silicate weathering, respectively. As one of the most severe impacted area by acid rain in China, H2SO4 from acid precipitation is also an important proton donor in weathering reactions. When H2SO4 is considered, the CO2 consumption rates for the river basin are estimated at 286×103molkm−2a−1 for carbonate weathering and 211×103molkm−2a−1 for silicate weathering, respectively. The results highlight that the drawdown effect of CO2 consumption by carbonate and silicate weathering can be largely overestimated if the role of sulfuric acid is ignored, especially in the area heavily impacted by acid deposition like Qiantangjiang basin. The actual CO2 consumption rates (after sulfuric acid weathering effect deduction) is only about 77% of the value calculated with the assumption that carbonic acid donates all the protons involved in the weathering reaction.

Monitoring responses of Mason Pine to acid rain in China based on remote sensing vegetation index

Since the 1970s, acid rain has remained in the public spotlight in both Europe and the United States and recently has emerged as an important problem in other regions such as Southeast Asia. To reveal responses of Masson Pine to acid rain during a long time series in central China, we used the interpolation dataset of acid rain and the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data to derive the monthly pH and NDVI trajectories based on acidity gradients from 1992 to 2006. Then we analyzed inter-annual and seasonal variation of vegetation growth by improved sinusoidal fitting and regression analysis. In the environment of strong acidity and moderate acidity, the growth of Masson Pine was inhibited during the study period, while the slight acidity promoted growth of Masson Pine to some extent. For the multi-year monthly changing trend of NDVI, late spring to mid autumn, the NDVI showed a decreasing trend, especially in June, while from late autumn to the following spring, the NDVI showed a rising tendency, specifically in December and March.

The impact of acid rain on China’s socioeconomic vulnerability

Acid rain has been a great threat to socioeconomic sustainable development of China; therefore, we develop an indicator system based on the sensitivity and adaptive capacity perspectives and employ the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) approach to investigate the impact of acid rain on socioeconomic vulnerability of China. Some empirical findings are obtained. First, there is significant provincial difference of socioeconomic vulnerability caused by acid rain in China. Specifically, Tibet, Qinghai, and Shanghai are the top three provinces with the largest vulnerability but Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Jilin are bottom of the rankings. Second, adaptive capacity indicators overall appear more important than sensitivity indicators to measure the vulnerability of acid rain, and the most important indicators are population density and output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery while GDP per capita ranks the last. Third, upgrading energy structure and reducing outdated capacity in China prove to be effective means to mitigate vulnerability of acid rain, which has been validated in Guizhou and Hunan provinces. Finally, great attention should be attached to the population increase so as to curb the acid rain vulnerability, especially in Beijing and Tianjin. These results present a basis for future acid rain prevention planning and economic development in China.

Air Pollution and Acid Rain in China

Air Pollution and Acid Rain in China

Sulphur Emission Control in China: Domestic Policy and Regional Cooperative Strategy

This paper investigates the economic costs of pollution due to sulphur dioxide emissions in China and their impacts on human health and ecosystems in Northeast Asia, specifically China and Japan. We compare actual emission charging as practiced in China with the estimated domestic and regional “optimal” charges. The analysis demonstrates that, while the actual SO2 emission charge in China has been increased, it may be still less than the estimated domestic “optimal” charge incorporating damage costs only on human health by dry deposition in a gaseous form, excluding damage costs caused by acid rain in China. Nevertheless, it would be still beneficial for Japan to financially assist China with its SO2 reduction because the percent contribution by northeast China to deposition in Japan is increasing.

Sulphur Emission Control in China: Domestic Policy and Regional Cooperative Strategy

This paper investigates the economic costs of pollution due to sulphur dioxide emissions in China and their impacts on human health and ecosystems in Northeast Asia, specifically China and Japan. We compare actual emission charging as practiced in China with the estimated domestic and regional “optimal” charges. The analysis demonstrates that, while the actual SO2 emission charge in China has been increased, it may be still less than the estimated domestic “optimal” charge incorporating damage costs only on human health by dry deposition in a gaseous form, excluding damage costs caused by acid rain in China. Nevertheless, it would be still beneficial for Japan to financially assist China with its SO2 reduction because the percent contribution by northeast China to deposition in Japan is increasing.

Acid rain in China and Japan: A game-theoretic analysis

Chinese sulfur dioxide emissions cause acid rain in China and in Japan. This is an interesting case of transboundary pollution to which economists have paid little attention. We examine simultaneous and sequential noncooperative games to illustrate the shortcomings of decentralized policy making. Sequentiality seems to be important, since one may interpret China's disposition against limiting its sulfur dioxide emissions as signaling policy leadership vis-à-vis Japan. Motivated by the inefficiency of decentralized behavior, we design an efficient and potentially implementable international scheme under which a benevolent international agency, mirrored after the Global Environment Facility, makes income transfers from Japan to China.

Acid rain in China—Input-output budgets of major ions in four forested catchments

Acid rain in China—Input-output budgets of major ions in four forested catchments

Acid Rain in China

Rapid industrialization has put citizens and ecosystems at risk. Acid rain emerged as an important environmental problem in China in the late 1970s. Many years of record economic growth has been accompanied by increased energy demand, greater coal combustion, and larger emission of pollutants. As a result of significant emissions and subsequent deposition of sulfur, widepsread acid rain is observed in southern and southwestern China. In fact, the deposition of sulfur is in some places higher than what was reported from the back triangle in central Europe in the early 1980s. In addition, nitrogen is emitted from agriculture, power production, and a rapidly increasing number of cars. As a result, considerable deposition of pollutants occurs in forested areas previously thought to be pristine. Little is known about the effects of acid deposition on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in China. In this article, we present the current situation and what to expect in the future, largely on the basis of results from a five-year Chinese-Norwegian cooperative project. In the years ahead, new environmental challenges must be expected if proper countermeasures are not put into place.

中国の酸性雨問題及び抑制対策

Acid rain has harmed the soil, the lake and the swamp, and failed the forest reserves. It has spread to all over the world. Nowadays, three large acid rain regions have been formed separately in Northern Europe, North America and Asia. Based on the analysis of the newest data about acid rain in China, we describe the distribution, features and current situation, the cause of formation and the forecast of acid rain in near future, with an emphasis on countermeasures planned in China.

Stages in the History of China’S Acid Rain Control Strategy in the Light of China-Japan Relations

We analyze the history of acid rain in China over the last three decades in the light of the relationship between China and Japan. China has been aware of the problem of acid rain and has been conducting scientific research since the late 1970s. However, little effort has been put into practical countermeasures. In the early 1990s, acid rain was re-evaluated as an international environmental problem. Meanwhile, Japan became concerned about trans-boundary air pollution from China. What is important is that Japan's concern strongly influences China's acid rain policy. In the context of growing international concern for environmental problems, China has taken remarkable steps to control acid rain. In this respect, dealing with acid rain is an issue of national pride for China.