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Sulfuric acid rain in the atmosphere of Venus evaporates before reaching the ground due to the high heat near the surface. [2] Similarly, virgae happen on gas giant planets such as Jupiter. [citation needed] In September 2008, NASA's Phoenix lander discovered a snow variety of virga falling from Martian clouds. [3]
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH).Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average.
Precipitation is measured using a rain gauge, and more recently remote sensing techniques such as a weather radar. When classified according to the rate of precipitation, rain can be divided into categories. Light rain describes rainfall which falls at a rate of between a trace and 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) per hour. Moderate rain describes ...
A sunshower, or sun shower, is a meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the Sun is seen shining. [1] A sunshower is usually a result of winds associated with a rain storm sometimes miles away, blowing the airborne raindrops into an area where there are no clouds.
Likens is best known for leading the team of scientists that discovered acid rain in North America, and connected fossil fuels with increasing acidity of precipitation. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In addition to its scientific impact, this work has influenced public debate and governmental policy, particularly the United States Congress 's Clean Air Act ...
Venus's sulfuric acid rain never reaches the ground, but is evaporated by the heat before reaching the surface in a phenomenon known as virga. [59] It is theorized that early volcanic activity released sulfur into the atmosphere and the high temperatures prevented it from being trapped into solid compounds on the surface as it was on the Earth ...
Acid rain is also a frequent risk produced by lightning. Distilled water has a neutral pH of 7. "Clean" or unpolluted rain has a slightly acidic pH of about 5.2, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form carbonic acid , a weak acid (pH 5.6 in distilled water), but unpolluted rain also contains other chemicals. [ 58 ]
The higher sulfuric acid content of rain also may not release as much Al 3+ from soils as does nitric acid, in part due to the retention (adsorption) of SO 4 2-by soils. This process releases OH − into soil solution and buffers the pH decrease caused by the added H + from both acids.