THE DIRTY OLD MAN OF EUROPE

Acid rain is one of the most serious problems for the environment. Itis caused mainly by power plants that bum coal to produce electricity.The smoke from these power stations contain high levels of sulphurdioxide and nitrogen oxide, which mix with the moisture in the air and fall to the soil in the form of rain or snow.Acid rain causes damage to buildings, farms and fisheries, forestsand lakes and to human health. The British government has done littleto reduce the damage caused by acid rain in the last few years. Thisdamage costs the European Community more than $12 billion everyyear. Environmentalists have discovered that Britain is responsible forthe greatest amount of European air pollution, but the government hasonly recently decided to take any action.When acid rain falls onto soil, it absorbs the aluminium from the soiland carries il into rivers and lakes. In June 1988, a report in TheObserver suggested a connection between senile dementia, weakness ofmind, and aluminium in drinking water in many parts of England and Wales.When it falls onto plants (including trees), acid rain causes chemicalEarth discovered that more than two thirds of the trees examined hadsuffered from the effects of acid rain.Britain, and especially the Central Electricity Generating Board(CEGB), is the largest single polluter of European air. The powerstations around Selby give off more sulphur than Portugal, Norway,Ireland and Switzerland together. According to the Friends of the Earth,more than 70 percent of British sulphur emissions fall outside Britainbecause of the air movements from the British Isles to continentalEurope. This is one of the reasons for the acid rain in Europe.Other European nations have seen the damage and have started toact. They have formed a club which is trying to reduce the sulphuremissions by 30 per cent by the year 1997. Britain, however, hasconstantly refused to join this club although the ost of the reductionwould only be about £2 billion over ten years. If ne government doesnot take action very soon, there will be a crisis in the European ecologyin the near future.