acid rain

English

Etymology

Coined in 1872 by Scottish chemist Robert Angus Smith.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

acid rain (countable and uncountable, plural acid rains)

  1. (inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry) Rain which is unusually acidic (pH of less than the natural range of 5 to 6); caused mainly by atmospheric pollution with sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen compounds.
    • 1987 January 20, “Airborne Pollutants”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      Acid rain forms when water in the atmosphere condenses on particles containing acid-forming pollutants, such as sulfate produced by the burning of fossil fuels and nitrogen oxides from automobile exhausts.

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.