Kaitieke School

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I would like to tell you about acid rain. This subject affects all of us and future generations. All we have to do is look after our planet and keep it clean.

Green peace is already doing this, why can't we? Acid rain is very poisonous. It happens when all the insecticides, sprays, pollution and smoke goes up into the atmosphere and mixes with the rain to make a deadly cocktail. Acid rain looks and feels and tastes like clear clean rain, but the results are damaging.

When the lakes fill up with this rain, it is impossible for things to live in this water. Soils become poisoned so nothing grows. It's already happening in Sweden and Canada.

Acid rain can also affect people by damaging their lungs. Acid rain is really clever. It takes a while to show its effects. Imagine swimming in a bath of acid, because that is what will happen when you go for a swim in a lake. Even buildings show the signs of this rain. It can weaken structures. At least this problem has been acknowledged. Scientists are working on ways to eliminate this problem, otherwise the next generation will find, lack of plant and marine life. It's a scary thought!

Here is an experiment you can do to show what happens to buildings when they are damaged by acid rain. You will need some chalk to represent a calcite building material such as limestone and some vinegar for the acid rain.

Place chalk in the vinegar. You will see some bubbles of carbon dioxide appearing and after about ten minutes the chalk will have dissolved completely. So you see what it's capable of doing to buildings.

I'm glad you've all taken the time to listen to the facts. If we all respect this earth it will look after us.