Paper 2 · June 2023 · Environmental pollution and biodiversity
Sulphur and nitrogen oxides released by burning fossil fuels combine with atmospheric moisture to form a weak acid that then falls as precipitation. Which effect of air pollution does this describe?
AAcid rain, which damages vegetation, buildings and water bodies wherever it falls.
BDepletion of stratospheric ozone above the polar regions.
CAn enhanced greenhouse effect that traps outgoing longwave radiation.
DPhotochemical smog, which reduces visibility and cuts the sunlight reaching crops.
Explanation
The reaction described, sulphur and nitrogen oxides dissolving in atmospheric moisture, is precisely how acid rain forms, and it is that acidified precipitation which damages vegetation, buildings and water bodies. Smog is a visibility problem from suspended particulates and ozone, ozone depletion is a stratospheric chemical reaction unrelated to acidity, and the greenhouse effect concerns radiation absorption, not acid formation.
Derived from ZIMSEC Advanced Level Geography 6037/2 Paper 2, June 2023 session, Q1