Explain Acid Rain with Mind Maps - Causes & Effects

Acid rain. This is something we all are aware of, aren’t we? In fact, the same takes us to the brief chapters studied at school under the subject ‘Environmental Education’ or ‘Science’. The same explained using colorful diagrams has helped us a lot in learning and remembering the causes and effects of it visually. So, you can naturally understand the power of diagrams. Mind maps belonging to one of such categories is a wonderful visual aid for teachers to present the concept of acid rain lucidly. By drawing relationships between different ideas, it clearly communicates the causes and impacts of acid deposition.

The article here aims to unfold the steps of depicting the same using EdrawMind - a brilliant mind mapping tool for all. Read on to come across stunning examples on your way to learning how to create one for yourself.

What is Acid Rain and How is it Formed?

As we all decipher, it is a form of precipitation, either in a dry or wet way, where traces of nitric and sulfuric acid are found in rain, fog, hail, or snow.

Speaking of its formation, it’s a consequence of both natural and man-made phenomenon, occurring when harmful emissions of sulfur trioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide come in contact with atmospheric water to form sulfuric and nitric acid. However, emissions from automobiles and factories are often the culprits of such an unfortunate scenario, sometimes volcanic eruptions, to contribute to the formation of acid deposition.

Acid Rain Explained with Mind Maps

Mind maps, as stated in the introductory lines, best explains a concept with a visual aid. Since the topic of this article is acid deposition, let’s check out all about it, starting from composition, causes, impacts and ways to prevent it, using mind maps.

Acid Rain Contains

Why do you think is such a deposition detrimental to flora, fauna, and human health? What do you think constitutes it? If you recapitulate the formation part, you would realize that it consists of sulfurous acid, nitric acid, and sulfurous acid. As stated earlier, such acids are formed when the hazardous sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur trioxide in polluted air mixes with the moisture content in the atmosphere. The same has been summarized below in the shape of a mind map for your understanding. Just take a look!

Causes of Acid Rain

Though natural sources like rotting of vegetation and volcanic eruptions are said to cause acidification, we believe it’s mostly human activities, which catalyze the release of sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and nitric oxides in the air. By the same, we pinpoint at the combustion of fossil fuels at factories and power plants to be the starting point of such a phenomenon. The rampant use of cars to cover both short and long distances have also proved harmful to the health of our planet. The outcome? Discharge of gases into the atmosphere, which reacts with other gases, moisture in the air, and oxygen to produce acids. The same spread all over and comes down as rain or any other form of precipitation. Confusing, is it? Grab an idea from the mind map below.

Acid Rain Effects

The effects of acid rain on humans are equally harmful as the effects of acid rain on plants. So, what if the latter cannot express its grief like us? It would be imprudent to overlook them, for they are the living essence of life on our planet. When acid deposition occurs in water bodies, it eliminates certain fish species, and when the same happens in the soil, it kills the microbes by denaturing their enzymes. The latter indirectly affects forests and vegetation.

In terms of oceans, acidification causes the pH level of it to fall drastically. Consequently, it is difficult for coastal species to grow exoskeletons on which other ocean species feed.

Humans, on the contrary, suffer from the composition of particulate matter in the air. Other adverse effects are felt by people when buildings, monuments, and statues erode over the years. The same has been summarized in a diagrammatic format for you to understand. Find it below.

How to Prevent Acid Rain

It should be a collective effort instead of an individualistic one to fight the formation of acidic precipitation. If you believe only your actions are going to count, then you are mistaken. We can bring about a change, for example, switching to renewable sources of energy instead of fossil fuels. Try to use bicycles instead of automobiles if the distance is not long. Make sure to urge the government to put a check on emissions from power plants and manufacturing units to conserve energy and consume less of electricity.

What Can We Do to Protect Our Environment?

Here are a few tips on how to safeguard Earth and its environment from the harmful impacts of acid deposition.

What Can We Benefit from Mind Maps?

When it encourages one to think more critically and hones one’s abilities in problem-solving, it's time to use mind maps. Its applications are the greatest in decision making, marketing plans, note-taking, organizing ideas during a presentation, and memorizing study materials. Taking everything into consideration, the following are the advantages of mind maps:

A Versatile Mind Map Maker - EdrawMind

If anything can make mind mapping an effortless job, then it’s none other than EdrawMind. Wondering why? Here’s a list of features enriching it:

The corresponding advantages are given below:

Whether you are chalking out a cause-effect concept of acid deposition or creating a different flowchart altogether, EdrawMind shall require you to follow the five steps below.

1. Get started by downloading the software on your desktop or trying it for free in the web browser.
2. Enable the application, choose a type of mind map and start diagramming.
3. After landing onto a blank canvas, check out various in-built templates available to users. The interface shall look exactly like the one illustrated below.

1. Add elements like marks, topics, images, comments, hyperlinks, etc. to make it visually alluring.
2. Customize them according to your personal preference by trying out new shapes, colors, line colors, effects, font style, and size.
3. Present it the way you wish to in the form of graphics, PDF, EMMX file, etc.

Get Started with Mind Mapping Today!

It’s time to master your art of creating new visuals or mind maps to sort out all your thoughts and ideas and make them a constructive solution to your current problems. Since acid rain is one of the biggest threats to mankind and spreading awareness about its causes and effects can alleviate the issue to some extent, go ahead and create a mind map depicting the same. Share it via EdrawMind to your social networking platform and let it be your voice to environmental concerns.