Acid in the Environment: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects

✍ Scribed by Gerald R. Visgilio, Jane Dawson, Peter A. Siver Ph.D. (Toronto), F.R.S.C. (auth.), Gerald R. Visgilio, Diana M. Whitelaw (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer US
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 330
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Acid deposition is a large scale, long term environmental problem with more significant ecological impacts than previously anticipated. Today we recognize that resolution involves a perplexing set of policy issues, since the sources of pollution are often hundreds of miles away, and can only be accomplished through international cooperation, often at a global scale. Acid in the Environment: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects is a collection of essays that blends the research findings and the policy analyses of individuals from different academic disciplines with the positions advanced by representatives of NGOs.

In Part I: Ecological Impacts of Acid Deposition, scientists emphasize the web of changes in complex ecosystems caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Analyses of domestic and international policies to control the emission of pollutants that cause acid rain are discussed in Part II: Acid Emissions Energy and Policy. The authors of Part III: Sulfur Dioxide and the Market provide the reader with an economic perspective on the control of sulfur dioxide emissions. The volume concludes with Part IV: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects, which reveals the acid deposition problem has served as a testing ground for applying scientific insights to public policy, forging international agreements and creating economically effective mechanisms to solve environmental problems. The rapid progress in reducing sulfur dioxide emissions in both North America and Europe is promising, and provides a good model for regions in eastern Asia where these emissions are growing fast.

Acid in the Environment: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects presents a broad approach to the study of acid deposition, exposing readers with a scientific background to significant policy issues and those with a policy orientation to important ecological impacts. The book raises important questions that will serve as a springboard for discussion between diverse groups of teachers and students, concerned citizens and legislators, and scientists and policy makers.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Acid in the Environment: An Overview....Pages 1-12
Lessons Learned From the Acid Deposition Research Experience: An Historical Perspective....Pages 13-23
Front Matter....Pages 25-25
Acidic Deposition: Sources and Ecological Effects....Pages 27-58
Long-Term Changes in Boreal Lake and Stream Chemistry: Recovery From Acid Deposition and the Role of Climate....Pages 59-76
Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition: Implications for Terrestrial Ecosystem Structure and Functioning....Pages 77-95
Atmospheric Deposition and Nitrogen Pollution in Coastal Marine Ecosystems....Pages 97-116
Front Matter....Pages 117-117
The Politics of Acid Rain in Europe....Pages 119-149
Acid Rain in a Wider Europe: The Post-Communist Transition and the Future European Acid Rain Policies....Pages 151-173
Acid Rain Politics in North America: Conflict to Cooperation to Collusion....Pages 175-201
Air Quality and Power Production in the United States: Emissions Trading and State-Level Initiatives in the Control of Acid-Producing Emissions, Mercury, and Carbon Dioxide....Pages 203-221
Front Matter....Pages 223-223
Market-Based Approaches to Environmental Policy: A “Refresher” Course....Pages 225-231
Economic Incentives Versus Command and Control: What’s the Best Approach for Solving Environmental Problems?....Pages 233-240
Benefits and Costs From Sulfur Dioxide Trading: A Distributional Analysis....Pages 241-259
From Sulfur Dioxide to Greenhouse Gases: Trends and Events Shaping Future Emissions Trading Programs in the United States....Pages 261-287
Front Matter....Pages 289-289
Atmospheric Deposition and Conservation: What is the Role for Conservation Organizations?....Pages 291-307
Achieving a Solution to Acid Deposition and Other International Environmental Problems....Pages 309-316
Back Matter....Pages 317-332

✦ Subjects

Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Environmental Management; Terrestrial Pollution; Environmental Economics