Big Ag and Factory Farms Create Acid Rain

Most folks think acid rain went out at the same time as acid-washed jeans. And they're partially correct: A 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act forced coal-fired power plants to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, a leading cause of acid rain. But according to Scientific American, there's a new kind of havoc-wreaking rain pouring down, and it's leading causes are Big Ag and factory farms.

The infamous acid rain of the 1970s and 80s was mostly caused by sulfur dioxide emissions, which mixed with water in the atmosphere, forming sulfuric acid. Modern-day acid rain forms via nitrogen oxide emissions, which rise into the atmosphere, mix with water, and form nitric acid. As if Big Ag and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) didn't cause enough environmental devastation, scientists say we can pin America's acid rain epidemic on them, too.

Industrial farms load crops with chemical fertilizers that wash into waterways, creating dead zones and killing aquatic life. Turns out, these same fertilizers also emit nitrous oxide, which rises into the atmosphere, mixes with water, and forms nitric acid, otherwise known as acid rain. Acid rain causes environmental problems on a number of fronts. For one, it degrades stones like cement and limestone. When the rain hits the soil, it causes dirt to leach nutrients like potassium, calcium, and magnesium, vitamins that are critical for supporting plant growth. The substance also promotes some plant growth while killing other species, reducing biodiversity. And finally, acid rain causes toxic minerals like aluminum to leach from the soil and wash into nearby waterways. So if dead zones weren't enough to kill aquatic life, aluminum is sure to deal fish their final, knock-out punch.

CAFOs also contribute a heaping cloud of nitrous oxide emissions. The U.N. estimates that 65 percent of nitrous oxide emissions come from meat, egg, and dairy industries. And while nitrous oxide can cause acid rain to form, the gas itself is actually 300 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Hello, global warming.

Big Ag and factory farms are hardly the only nitrous oxide emitters—power plants and cars also produce the stuff. But agriculture and meat operations are definitely the biggest emitters, and they're largely unregulated. There are no laws or monitoring systems in place to keep farms' and livestock operations' nitrogen emissions in check.

Hopefully that situation will change as a growing body of research continues to highlight nitrogen's harmful effects. But in the meantime, consumers can take matters into their own hands by boycotting products from industrial farms and meat producers. Big Ag and CAFOs have huge chemical dependency problems—acid rain is really just a drop in the pollution bucket for these kinds of operations. By sourcing seasonal food from small, local farms and purchasing meat from ecologically minded purveyors, American consumers can help halt the country's growing acid rain epidemic.

Photo Credit: Nipik via Wikimedia Commons