Materials on Acid Precipitation

Across New Hampshire citizens at town meetings are petitioning the federal government to force reductions in sulphur emissions. Canada's film, “Acid from Heaven” is being labeled “political propaganda” when it is shown to American audiences. In California, the fog stings the eye; in the Adirondacks, some lakes are now crystal clear but devoid of fish and all other life—victim, some scientists claim, of highly acidic snow melt and rain; in Wheeling, West Virginia, rain has been recorded that is sourer than vinegar. There seems to be a consensus that acid rain, the catchall term being used for all kinds of acidic deposition from the air, is a problem. Why them the controversy? In this country, the electric utilities, which emit sulphur and nitrogen compounds, the coal industry, and some scientists argue that not enough is yet known about the precise relationship between specific sources of emissions and particular damaged sites. Environmental groups, some scientists, and the New England states and Canada, which find their areas particularly threatened, argue that there is sufficient evidence to begin a cleanup now. Libraries need to be collecting information for their patrons on this hot dispute. Luckily, some of the best is free or inexpensive.