How does acid rain affect humans and the environment?

The damage that acid rain does to crops, forests, and other resources threatens to wipe out many people's means of subsistence. Since so many people are impacted by acid rain, it is true that both the environment and people are impacted, although indirectly. Pollution is the primary source of acid rain and many of its associated problems.

We all appreciate rain, but acid rain is unusual because it alters pH when it comes into contact with environmental contaminants. We are aware that on the pH scale, basic solutions have values more than seven and acidic solutions have values less than seven depending on the system or solution for which we are measuring the acid strength. Therefore, when air pollution grows, more sulphur, nitrogen, and carbon are present in the atmosphere as oxides, which causes normal precipitation to become more acidic.

The first thing that springs to mind when we hear the word acidic is the powerful acids that we often utilise in laboratories; nevertheless, acid rain is not the same as those strong acids. Acid precipitation is distinct from that in that it has no negative effects on human health and does not even cause skin burns. Its pH is really low. However, we cannot rule out some indirect consequences of acid rain because many illnesses, such as asthma or bronchitis, are typically brought on by breathing in air with poor air quality.

When acid rain strikes trees and crops, it hurts them and has more severe consequences on the ecosystem. It removes minerals from the soil, such as aluminium, and lowers the pH, making the soil acidic. When considering crops, soil acidity is detrimental to crop growth.

Thus, option D is the correct answer.