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Science 19 June 1987:
Vol. 236. no. 4808, pp. 1559 - 1562
DOI: 10.1126/science.236.4808.1559
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Articles

Acid Rain: China, United States, and a Remote Area

JAMES N. GALLOWAY 1, ZHAO DIANWU 2, XIONG JILING 3, and GENE E. LIKENS 4

1 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903.
2 Institute of Environmental Chemistry, Academia Sinica, P.O. Box 934, Beijing, China.
3 Guizhou Institute of Environmental Sciences Xinghua Road, Guiyang, China.
4 Institute of Ecosystem Studies, New York Botanical Garden, Millbrook, NY 12545.

The composition of precipitation in China is highly influenced by fossil fuel combustion and agricultural and cultural practices. Compared to the eastern United States, precipitation in China generally has higher concentrations of sulfate, ammonium, and calcium. Wet deposition rates of sulfur in China are 7 to 130 times higher than those in a remote area in the Southern Hemisphere. In many areas of the world, significant ecological changes have occurred in ecosystems that have acid deposition rates substantially less than those currently existing in China.

Submitted on March 30, 1987
Accepted on April 13, 1987


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Effects of Acid Rain on Freshwater Ecosystems.
D. W. Schindler and D. W. SCHINDLER (1988)
Science 239, 149-157
   Abstract »    PDF »
Chemical Wastes in our Atmosphere--An Ecological Crisis.
G. E. Likens (1987)
Organization Environment 1, 13-33
   Abstract »


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