Acidification
Acidification occurs when the capacity of the soil or water bodies to resist or neutralise acidifying atmospheric deposition begins to decline. Acidifying compounds may fall to the ground with rain or snow as wet deposition, or in the form of particles or gases as dry deposition. Ecosystems may eventually lose their neutralising or buffering capacity completely, if acid deposition rates persistently exceed their levels of tolerance.
Rainfall is naturally slightly acidic, but certain types of air pollutants can increase its acidity considerably. Combustion gases formed during the use of fossil fuels like oil, coal and peat particularly contain oxides of nitrogen and sulphur that can subsequently react in the atmosphere to produce acids that are dissolved in precipitation. Nutrient-poor lakes most sensitive to acidification
Acidification represents a serious threat to many plants and animals, particularly in sensitive aquatic ecosystems. One of the most harmful impacts of acidification is that in acidic conditions toxic aluminium and heavy metal ions are more easily rinsed out of the soil and absorbed by living organisms. The ecosystems most sensitive to acidification are the nutrient-poor lakes and forests of northern Finland, whose natural buffering capacity is already weak. In more fertile regions, soils and the bedrock typically contain higher concentrations of calcium, which helps to prevent acidification. Problems since the 1960s
Acidification problems first became evident in the 1960s, when industrial emissions increased rapidly, and efficient methods for cleaning waste gases had not yet been developed. It took some time for action to be taken, although the threat of “acid rain” was clearly serious, with fish disappearing from some lakes, forests dying, and metal structures being rapidly corroded. Ultimately international agreements were signed to force industries to curb harmful emissions, and these measures have been particularly successful where sulphur emissions are concerned. Lakes showing signs of recovery
The concentrations of sulphur compounds declined and buffering capacity increased in all types of lakes in Finland during the 1990s, thanks to dramatic reductions in the atmospheric deposition. Some 5,000 smaller lakes in Finland are now considered to be recovering well from serious acidification problems.
Since the early 1990s stocks of perch (Perca fluviatilis) have been increasing in many lakes in forested areas of southern Finland where fish stocks had suffered badly from acidification in the 1970s and 1980s.
Groundwater still acidified
Declining atmospheric deposition has also reduced acidification problems in Finland’s vital groundwater reserves, although it may take decades for groundwater to recover completely, since sulphur compounds and other acidifying impurities are still widely present in the soil, and are only gradually leached out into water courses.
|