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Acid rain has destroyed plant and animal life in lakes, damaged forests and crops, endangered marine life in coastal waters, eroded structures, and contaminated drinking water. Research has shown that although some of the damage attributed to acid rain is a result of natural causes, sulfur dioxide from oil and coal combustion and nitrogen oxides produced from automobile engines have greatly intensified the acid rain problem. Winds can carry the pollutants thousands Of kilometers away from their source.
The British government has recognized that sulfur emissions from power plants in the United Kingdom are contributing to acid deposition in Scandinavia. Canadian emissions contribute substantially to acid rain in the northeastern United States, for example, and much of the sulfur falling in eastern Canada is believed to originate in the united States. In 1986 the U. S. National Academy of Sciences acknowledged that acid rain from U. S. Sources had become a serious problem in the eastern United States and Canada.
Although the Canadian government has agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, the United States has not placed limitations on its sulfur emissions that may drift into Canada. Scientists agree that acid ann. is harmful, but reports concerning its severity conflict. A U. S. Government report issued in September 1987 minimized the environmental damage caused by acid rain and concluded that the acid-rain problem is not increasing. A 1 988 survey conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, however, indicated that streams in the eastern United States were more acidic than was previously believed.