The Long and the Short of It - The Changing Arctic Environment: The Arctic Messenger - page 337

Acidification
Anticipation:
There seems to have been no general anticipation that industrial emissions of such sub-
stances as the dioxides of sulphur and nitrogen could acidify rain, which would lead to
damaged freshwater and forest ecosystems.
Perception:
Robert Smith first demonstrated the relationship between acid rain and atmospheric pol-
lution in 1853. He was an English chemist working in the rapidly developing industrial
heartland around Manchester. In 1872, Smith published a topic entitled Air and Rain: The
Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology in which he introduced the phrase “acid rain”. The
first concerns were related to the increased erosion of limestone building materials.
Despite this early perception, it was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that scientists
began to link damaged forest and freshwater ecosystems to the long-range transport of acid-
ifying substances from sources in distant countries. Regions that were mountainous (en-
couraging rain to fall), possessed an underlying geology dominated by acidic rocks (such as
granite) and downwind of industrial sources were particularly sensitive even if the distance
between source and deposition was in the order of 2,000 kilometres.
Reaction:
The first reaction to the observations of Smith was to build taller chimneys in order
to help winds carry the acidifying pollutants away. As industrial plants became larger,
smokestacks became taller. This approach was still alive and well in the late 1960s. At
thattime,IworkedatHarwellinsouthernEngland.Onthehorizon,wewatchedamassive
coal-fired power station being constructed at Didcot. The chimneys were 199.5 metres
(655 feet) high. It was a perfect formula to spread acid rain over long distances because
it released gases into the regional atmospheric circulation. This explained the large dis-