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     Acid Rain 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ACTION 
     
     SEMINAR ON 
     
    
   
   
    
     ACID RAIN 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Action Seminar on Acid Precipation (ASAP) held in Toronto November 1 to 3, 1979 
     
     focussed citizen attention to the problem of our increasingly acidic rainfall. The 
     
     conference recognized that acid precipitation has already caused marked and dramatic 
     
     damage to ecosystems and regional economies. Hundreds of lakes have been rendered 
     
     lifeless and sport fisheries have been decimated. Agriculture, tourism and forest 
     
     industries as well as the public health and welfare of citizens throughout the con— 
     
     tinent are now threatened. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     At present the sulphur and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere contribute directly 
     
     to rain and snow fall (plus dry fallout) which is at least fifty times more acidic 
     
     than normal. It is expected that acid precipitation will continue to increase as 
     
     Canadian and American industries shift to a greater reliance on coal. Unfortunately 
     
     existing air quality standards and legal requirements are inadequate to control the 
     
     problem. While Candian and American governments have recognized the need for an 
     
     international approach to the problem, as yet no specific terms have been agreed to. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Among' resolutions passed by conference participants was a call for the reduct- 
     
     ion of atmospheric loads of sulphur and nitrogen oxides to less than 50 % of present 
     
     levels within ten years. It was recommended that energy conservation and renewable 
     
     energy resource development be given highest priority in national energy policies 
     
     and that use of coal be permitted only in carefully controlled situations. The 
     
     conference urged Canada and the United States to reduce air pollution through adopt- 
     
     ion and enforcement of stringent emission control strategies. Futhermore, it asked 
     
     that a committee of citizens from both countries be established to monitor and 
     
     publicly report on each country's record of compliance. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Of particular interest to Islanders is a resolution that techniques such as 
     
     increased stack height, designed to disperse emission in space or time, should be 
     
     prohibited. In recent years increasing stack height has become a common way to 
     
     reduce air pollution levels near the source. While air becomes cleaner in towns and 
     
     cities nearby, pollutants from the high stacks are released into upper cloud layers 
     
     where they may be transported long distances before falling as acid rain. Thus, much 
     
     of the acid precipitation falling over the Maritimes originates in the highly in- 
     
     dustrialized central parts of the United States and Canada and is transported to us 
     
     by northeastwardly moving weather systems.