Search Dictionary



Version history

  • Current: Dec 03, 2020

Acid rain

Acid rain, in the wide sense, refers to the rain that is considered to be abnormally acidic. As a scientific term acid rain is rain with a pH of less than 5.7.

The threshold pH is set to 5.7 because normal rain is saturated with carbon dioxide and has a pH of 5.6–5.8.

Acid rain

Definitions in the literature

  • Acid rain is the term commonly used by scientists to describe rain that is abnormally acidic [1].
  • Acid rain is rain with a pH of less than 5.7, which results from high levels of atmospheric nitric and sulfuric acids that get washed down to earth [2].

Also see:

Images

Click to see full-size images. All images are Public Domain.

  • A forest in the Black Triangle in Europe severely damaged by acid rain.