imported>Chunbum Park |
imported>John Stephenson |
| (33 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| == '''[[Acid rain]]''' ==
| | {{:{{FeaturedArticleTitle}}}} |
| ----
| | <small> |
| '''Acid rain''' is a popular term for the atmospheric deposition of acidified [[rain]], [[snow]], sleet, hail and [[particulates]], as well as acidified [[fog]] and [[cloud]] [[water]]. The increased [[pH|acidity]] of these depositions, primarily from [[Sulfuric acid|sulfuric]] and [[nitric acid]]s, is generated as a by-product of the [[combustion]] of fuels,<ref>'''Note:''' Sulfuric acid is formed from the sulfur dioxide resulting from combustion of sulfur-containing fuels. Nitric acid is formed from the [[nitrogen oxides]] resulting from the high temperature partial conversion of the [[nitrogen]] contained in the combustion air.</ref> especially in [[fossil fuel]] [[power plant]]s. The heating of homes, electricity production, and driving vehicles all rely primarily on fossil fuel [[Energy (science)|energy]]. When fossil fuels are burned, [[acid]]-forming [[nitrogen oxides]] and [[sulfur oxides]] are released to the [[atmosphere]]. These [[chemical compound]]s are transformed in the atmosphere, often traveling thousands of [[kilometer]]s from their original source, and then fall out on land and water surfaces as acid rain. As a result, air [[pollutant]]s from power plants in the states of [[New Jersey]] or [[Michigan]] can impact pristine forests or lakes in undeveloped parts of the states of [[New Hampshire]] or [[Maine]].<ref name=eoearth>The primary source for this article was [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Acid_rain?topic=49506 Acid Rain] August 7, 2010 (last revised October 19, 2010), Gene Likens (Lead author), Wayne Davis, Lori Zaikowski and Stephen C. Nodvin. (Published on the website of the [[Encyclopedia of Earth]])</ref>
| | ==Footnotes== |
| | |
| Acid rain in [[North America]] was discovered in 1963 in rain at the [[Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest]] (HBEF)<ref>'''Note:''' Site of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study in the [[White Mountains]] of [[New Hampshire]]</ref> that was some 100 times more acidic than unpolluted rain. Innovations for reducing fossil fuel combustion [[Air pollution emissions|emissions]], such as scrubbers upstream of the tall [[flue gas stack]]s on power plants and other industrial facilities, [[catalytic converter]]s on automobiles, and use of low-[[sulfur]] [[coal]], have been employed to reduce emissions of [[sulfur dioxide]] (SO<sub>2</sub>) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
| |
| | |
| ''Note:'' While the examples in this article describe the North American situation, the nature and effects of acid rain are similar all over the world.
| |
| | |
| | |
| ''[[Acid rain|.... (read more)]]''
| |
| | |
| {| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width: 90%; float: center; margin: 0.5em 1em 0.8em 0px;"
| |
| |-
| |
| ! style="text-align: center;" | [[Acid rain#References|notes]]
| |
| |-
| |
| |
| |
| {{reflist|2}} | | {{reflist|2}} |
| |}
| | </small> |
Latest revision as of 09:19, 11 September 2020
The Mathare Valley slum near Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009.
Poverty is deprivation based on lack of material resources. The concept is value-based and political. Hence its definition, causes and remedies (and the possibility of remedies) are highly contentious.[1] The word poverty may also be used figuratively to indicate a lack, instead of material goods or money, of any kind of quality, as in a poverty of imagination.
Definitions
Primary and secondary poverty
The use of the terms primary and secondary poverty dates back to Seebohm Rowntree, who conducted the second British survey to calculate the extent of poverty. This was carried out in York and was published in 1899. He defined primary poverty as having insufficient income to “obtain the minimum necessaries for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency”. In secondary poverty, the income “would be sufficient for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency were it not that some portion of it is absorbed by some other expenditure.” Even with these rigorous criteria he found that 9.9% of the population was in primary poverty and a further 17.9% in secondary.[2]
Absolute and comparative poverty
More recent definitions tend to use the terms absolute and comparative poverty. Absolute is in line with Rowntree's primary poverty, but comparative poverty is usually expressed in terms of ability to play a part in the society in which a person lives. Comparative poverty will thus vary from one country to another.[3] The difficulty of definition is illustrated by the fact that a recession can actually reduce "poverty".
Causes of poverty
The causes of poverty most often considered are:
- Character defects
- An established “culture of poverty”, with low expectations handed down from one generation to another
- Unemployment
- Irregular employment, and/or low pay
- Position in the life cycle (see below) and household size
- Disability
- Structural inequality, both within countries and between countries. (R H Tawney: “What thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty, thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches”)[4]
As noted above, most of these, or the extent to which they can be, or should be changed, are matters of heated controversy.
- ↑ Alcock, P. Understanding poverty. Macmillan. 1997. ch 1.
- ↑ Harris, B. The origins of the British welfare state. Palgrave Macmillan. 2004. Also, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- ↑ Alcock, Pt II
- ↑ Alcock, Preface to 1st edition and pt III.
