Acid Rain: Rhetoric and Reality. Chris C. Park. MethuedChapman & Hall, 29 West 35th St., New York, NY 1OOO1. 1987. xiv 272 pages. $42.50, cloth.
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Reviewed by Glen E. Gordon, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. “With the belief that ‘charity begins at home,’ 21 governments have now resolved to cut their nations’ own emissions of sulfur dioxide by at least 30% (over 1980 levels) by 1993, and hope to persuade the main producers of the culprit oxides to join them in a truly international attack on the problem. The real villains of the piece, however, are the United States and Great Britain, who stubbornly refuse to join this ‘30% club’ and remain resolute in their belief that the problem is not yet sufficiently well understood to warrant expensive investments which might at best yield only minor improvements in environmental quality.” This statement in the preface announces the theme of the book and Park’s own bias. Despite this bias, he attempts to present the facts fairly and succeeds in most instances. The strength of Acid Rain: Rhetoric and Reality is its coverage of the complex political maneuvers of the countries that are major exporters and importers of acid rain and its precursors, starting with the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and continuing to late 1987. This book is not a gossipy treatment in the style of Archie Kahan’s Acid Rain: Reign of Controversy, which is more fun for those who know the actors; rather, it focuses on the public statements of government officials with references to the New York Times, the Times of London, and similar sources. Americans who have followed the continuing arguments between Canada and the Reagan administration and between New England and the Midwest will find few surprises. Park, however, treats the European situation in more detail than we get from newpapers here. The changing priorities of West Germany, for example, are quite surprising: their love affair with fast cars and the “economic miracle” has changed to deep distress as their beloved forests have suffered some of the worst damage in the world in recent 1402 Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 22, No. 12, 1988
times. Because of concern for their trees and pressure from the Green Party, the Germans have committed themselves to a 60% reduction of SO2 emissions by 1993. Park explains the positions of the United States and the United Kingdom fairly. The British government started cleaning up emissions in the wake of the disastrous 1952 London fog. More recently, Britain reduced SO2 emissions by 30% between 1970 and 1982 to amounts comparable with those of the late 1940s. Also, U.S. officials feel that the United States should receive credit for having made considerable reductions in SO2 emissions. Furthermore, the United States and Japan are almost the only countries to mandate controls of nitrogen oxide (NO,) emissions from motor vehicles. That is why the United States and the United Kingdom feel that they’ve already met the 30%-club goals and that the club members are environmental Johnny-come-latelies. The scientific and technological aspects of the acid rain problem and strategies for alleviating it take up twothirds of the book. The treatment is quite ambitious, covering not only the main scientific themes of the problem (emissions, atmospheric chemistry, meteorology, and effects), but the complexities and uncertainties as well. Physical scientists will learn a great deal from the biological sections, as biologists will from the physical science sections. Because it is impossible for one person to be an expert in all areas of such a broad, complex topic, it is not surprising to find some errors and lapses of coverage. For example, Park shows the famous pH contours of Likens and coworkers that purport to demonstrate the decrease in pH of rain between the mid1950s and the mid-1970s and an increase in the area affected by rain of pH < 4.5. Although these contours provided impetus for heightened concern about acid rain in the United States, Park does not explain the serious criticisms that have been raised about the mid-1950s contours and about Likens’ interpretations. Park also does not show results from the longest running measurements at one site in the United States, that is, Likens’ own data from Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Although these data, from 1963 to the present, contain considerable year-to-year “noise, ” they
also show an overall drop in sulfate concentration, constant or slightly decreasing acid, and rising nitrate levels. Whether these omissions represent bias or poor knowledge of the U.S.literature is not clear. Throughout the book, however, there is an implicit assumption that acidity is getting worse. This assumption is pointed up by the question why “the acidity of rain falling over parts of Britain, mainland Europe, and North America is increasing, at the same time as total man-made emissions of SO2 appear to be on the decline.” Park’s attribution of damage to buildings and acidification of water bodies to acid rain seems to be correct. He explains the wide range of effects that may be responsible for forest decline, ending with the reasonable statement that “even if air pollution is not the only factor involved, tree damage and death are unlikely on such a large scale without air pollution.” It also is probably accurate to say that the atmospheric chemistry community has come around to the view that the control of NO, and of the hydrocarbon precursors of photochemical oxidants is vital, either because of their role in the oxidation of SO2 to sulfuric and nitric acids or because of their direct effects upon vegetation. Driven by the Los Angeles smog problem, the United States is well ahead of Europe in both the understanding and control of oxidant problems. Clearly, Park still is thinking more in terms of SO2 than in terms of oxidants. He also is rather confused about the sources of NO,. In different sections of the book Park implies different sources of most NO,, including motor vehicles and power plant fuel. In one section of the book he attributes NO, from power plants to the fuel and in another, to combustion in the presence of N2 and 0 2 . (In fact, these effects are of comparable magnitude.) In summary, despite some flaws, Acid Rain: Rhetoric and Reality is a valuable book that contains information I have not seen assembled in any one place before. It is not clear, however, for what audience the book is intended. The science is so sophisticated that laymen would have considerable difficulty understanding it, but he uses such colloquial terms as “acid rain cocktail” or “brew” in a misplaced attempt to be folksy.
0013-936)(/88/0922-1402$01.50/0
0 1988 American Chemical Society
