Acid Rain

[dead_weight]

I was recently reading over a publication called "Fishing in Algonquin Park" .. originally published in 1978 but revised in 2002. Really good book if you are doing a trip there and want to increase your chances of fish.

Anyway they mention a term that I hadn't heard since I was a kid .. "Acid Rain" ... I recall as a kid and a fisherman this was a terrifying thing that was going to wipe out most of the lakes in my home province (NS). That didn't happen. But this publication despite its recent update is still sounding the warning bells. In a nutshell acid rain is the result of chemicals that wash out of the air and come back to earth with rain or snow ... some of these chemicals react with the rain and form acid on the way down. Lake nutrients normally neutralize the acid but many algonquin lakes are already low in nutrients so the water becomes very acidic. They even go as far as to say that a trout would die of acid shock if placed in a bucket of rainwater.

I guess what I'm wondering is why haven't I heard this term for such a long time? I mean we're still burning coal, etc ... likely even more now.
Isn't this still an issue? It certainly was when this book was revised in 2002.

[cprince]

I was recently reading over a publication called "Fishing in Algonquin Park" .. originally published in 1978 but revised in 2002. Really good book if you are doing a trip there and want to increase your chances of fish.

Anyway they mention a term that I hadn't heard since I was a kid .. "Acid Rain" ... I recall as a kid and a fisherman this was a terrifying thing that was going to wipe out most of the lakes in my home province (NS). That didn't happen. But this publication despite its recent update is still sounding the warning bells. In a nutshell acid rain is the result of chemicals that wash out of the air and come back to earth with rain or snow ... some of these chemicals react with the rain and form acid on the way down. Lake nutrients normally neutralize the acid but many algonquin lakes are already low in nutrients so the water becomes very acidic. They even go as far as to say that a trout would die of acid shock if placed in a bucket of rainwater.

I guess what I'm wondering is why haven't I heard this term for such a long time? I mean we're still burning coal, etc ... likely even more now.
Isn't this still an issue? It certainly was when this book was revised in 2002.

I can remember being told that the Black Forrest in Germany was doomed because of acid rain. I even remember commercial... crying Indian... something like that... the 70s were a blast.

Craig

[Daner]

I can remember being told that the Black Forrest in Germany was doomed because of acid rain. I even remember commercial... crying Indian... something like that... the 70s were a blast.

Craig

And look what happened to our music, Uriah Heep, Todd Rundgran,
Pink Floyd...............................ohps, wrong subject!!!

[cprince]

And look what happened to our music, Uriah Heep, Todd Rundgran,
Pink Floyd...............................ohps, wrong subject!!!

You forgot Mike Oldfield and The Strawbs...!

Craig

[Daner]

Oldfied, home of the Alcove Clan!!!

[plittle2]

Acid rain concerns in Algonquin Park were related to the Sudbury smelters and their sulphur dioxide emmissions. Scrubbers were first instituted to reduce the so2 emmissions in the 1970s (govt reg.) and since that time acid rain lelels have decreased dramatically--witness the green lawns and trees now in Sudbury that was once a brown barren wasteland (above ground). The fishing in the area has has also improved ramayically.

[horsehunter]

look at all the things that were going to doom the earth

Y2K
acid rain
zebra mussles(ducks love them)
purple loostrife
round goby (makes smallmouth fat as pigs)
global warming ( 35 years ago they were predicting another ice age the ice caps on Mars are melting and there arn't that many SUV's up there)
What have I forgot

Quit listening to people with an agenda and go fishing

[Robert Goulet]

Acid rain concerns in Algonquin Park were related to the Sudbury smelters and their sulphur dioxide emmissions. Scrubbers were first instituted to reduce the so2 emmissions in the 1970s (govt reg.) and since that time acid rain lelels have decreased dramatically--witness the green lawns and trees now in Sudbury that was once a brown barren wasteland (above ground). The fishing in the area has has also improved ramayically.

Having grown up in Sudbury (and having been the beneficiary of several free paint jobs to our family vehicles courtesy of INCO) I can say that acid rain certainly had a huge impact to our area lakes and fishery. Many of them were utterly destroyed and rendered dead.

However, since the buiding of the "Superstack" in the mid 70's the problem of acid rain in our area has vitully disappeared. This has lead to a near complete revitalization of our area's fishery, which goes to prove that natural resource rehabilition is possible.

The only thing that I don't understand is now that the stack carries the pollutants high into the jetstream and far far away into "no man's land" what happens to the lakes and streams wherever this waste does happen to come to rest?? Maybe that is what they were talking about when mentioing Nova Scotia as being a target for the acid rain.

[horsehunter]

The American coal fired power plants ( as well as our own) are a large contributor to acid rain in eastern Ontario fortunatly (this site needs a spell checker) the limestone acts as a natural buffer.

[slop]

look at all the things that were going to doom the earth

Y2K
acid rain
zebra mussles(ducks love them)
purple loostrife
round goby (makes smallmouth fat as pigs)
global warming ( 35 years ago they were predicting another ice age the ice caps on Mars are melting and there arn't that many SUV's up there)
What have I forgot

Quit listening to people with an agenda and go fishing

Feel free to expand your knowledge on these forums and ask questions.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/08/24/10/pg1

see ya in a few years,

[scuro]

look at all the things that were going to doom the earth

Y2K
acid rain
zebra mussles(ducks love them)
purple loostrife
round goby (makes smallmouth fat as pigs)
global warming ( 35 years ago they were predicting another ice age the ice caps on Mars are melting and there arn't that many SUV's up there)
What have I forgot

Quit listening to people with an agenda and go fishing

Speaking of people with an agenda...hey you forgot to mention the ozone layer...

OOHHH...concerted government action across the globe has dramatically improved the situation.

With regards to Mars...do you realize that Mars has been in a, like, way...way long cooling period?

[dead_weight]

Hi Robert ...

Now that you mention that installation of the big stack I do recall as a kid that mentioned as one of the reasons we in NS were getting (or going to get) so much more acid rain ... but as I said this never really happened .. as far as i know my buddies back home are getting as many fish as they always have ... if they didn't I'd hear them complaining.

Perhaps this is a case where government action (e.g. requiring scrubbers and the like) has meant a drastic reduction in emissions here in Canada and perhaps the US. It almost has to be because if this was still going on this would be more reason for the "green movement" and it would be in the press as much as the other arguments for global warming.

In any case it's glad to see that some other folks here that are in their 40's and beyond recall the term acid rain ... sure was a hot topic back in the 70's and 80's. Hey if all the hoopla meant that we cleaned up some of the emissions and stopped hurting lakes then it was all worth it ...

My take ...

[bm_attar]

What I take away is this:

The next trout I catch, will for sure be thrown into an aerated bucket filled with rainwater. I will wait an hour, then report back.

But I wonder, will the fish be still edible after that experiment?

Note: If my post doesn't have many smilies, this doesn't mean I am not joking!

BM

[mblaney]

But I wonder, will the fish be still edible after that experiment?

BM

Just tastes like pickles; add some dill when you do it

[mblaney]

I read through this thread and decided to make a response other than pickling trout .

Please don’t anyone take offence to my comments, it is not my intent to make a personal attack just to state an opinion.

The issues mentioned previously (except Y2K) are still a problem. I think the general population is/was saturated with "doom and gloom" forecasts so the media moves onto "more important", current issues.

There was a major and very visible problem with acid rain and everyone could relate to it (no paint on your car) but it now “appears” that the problem has been solved so the general population feels that we have done our part and we don't want to keep hearing about it (probably because it's imported pollution, not the mine down the road) because we can't do anything about it. Most people don’t notice a species in trouble because they can’t relate to them (i.e. they don’t fish).

I am not an environmentalist / doom-sayer but what is going on globally is a major concern. While we in the First World may be making changes to reduce our impact on the environment there is a whole Third World that is aspiring to live like us. We punched a little hole in the ozone, now someone else is firing missiles at it. Look at the pollution problems in Alaska and NWT - it certainly is not coming from industry there. The problem is coming back again but this time it will be much bigger and more difficult to solve.

I had never heard that ducks eat zebra mussels (apparently divers do but not enough to make a difference) but to suggest that their impact was over hyped is probably not a sensible attitude. Zebras do have an impact beyond us having to wear swimming shoes.

As outdoorsmen we should be aware of what is going on around us (including environmental issues) and, more importantly, recognise that our opinions as “field experts” have a significant influence on how critically others view these issues.

I am not an “environmentalist” (my boat burns gas) but it is not fair to the environmentalist, the environment, or to your own credibility (on this issue) to dismiss these issues as B.S.

Here’s a suggestion for some light reading; “Collapse” by Jared Diamond. We have been here before.