BURNING VESSELS MAY LEAD TO ACID RAIN

Subject : Current Events / Geography

Context : Burning Ship MV X – PRESS PEARL with chemicals onboard may cause acid rain in Srilanka : Report

Concept :

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships ‘Vaibhav’ and ‘Vajra’ continue to battle the fire onboard container ship MV X-Press Pearl off Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The distressed vessel MV X-Press Pearl was carrying 1,486 containers with nitric acid and other hazardous IMDG code chemicals.
The extreme fire, damage to containers and prevailing inclement weather has caused the vessel to tilt to one side resulting in falling of containers overboard.

Acid Rain

Acid rain is also termed as acid deposition (Primary being Sulphuric Acid and Nitric Acid) to differentiate it from other forms of acidic precipitation such as snow.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and ozone (O3) are the primary causes of acid rain.
These chemicals interact with other chemicals and reactants present in the atmosphere and result into acid deposition.
There are two types of deposition, Wet Deposition and the other Dry deposition.
Wet Deposition: Wet deposition refers to depositions in form of rain, fog, snow or mist. When the acidic chemicals in the air are blown into areas where the weather is wet, the chemicals fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow, fog, or mist.
As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects various plants and animals.
Dry Deposition: Dry deposition refers to depositions in form of dust or smoke. When the acidic chemicals in the air stick to buildings, homes, cars, trees or fall on ground.
Dry deposited chemicals and gases can be washed from these surfaces by storms, leading to increased runoff.