Decrease in Acid Rain Over 23 year Study at Paradise, Mt.Rainier Nation Park
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom C/D
Start Date
16-5-2013
End Date
16-5-2013
Abstract
Weekly wet precipitation samples from Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington, spanning the period 1988 to the present, have been analyzed for major anions and cations, conductivity and pH. Volume weighted 3-month averages were tested for significant trends throughout the 23-year monitoring period and compared with analogous data collected at established National Atmospheric Deposition Program sites throughout the state. Over the last 23 years of the study, proton concentrations decreased by 59 percent resulting in a pH increase of wet precipitation that has increased from 5.1 to 5.5 (P=0.001). These results indicate that air pollution standards contribute significantly to the decrease in acid rain deposition to this pristine and vulnerable high elevation location, and that no apparent trans-Pacific transport of pollution is detected from Asia.
Recommended Citation
Agren, James, "Decrease in Acid Rain Over 23 year Study at Paradise, Mt.Rainier Nation Park" (2013). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 29.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2013/posters/29
Poster Number
18
Additional Mentoring Department
Chemistry
Decrease in Acid Rain Over 23 year Study at Paradise, Mt.Rainier Nation Park
SURC Ballroom C/D
Weekly wet precipitation samples from Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington, spanning the period 1988 to the present, have been analyzed for major anions and cations, conductivity and pH. Volume weighted 3-month averages were tested for significant trends throughout the 23-year monitoring period and compared with analogous data collected at established National Atmospheric Deposition Program sites throughout the state. Over the last 23 years of the study, proton concentrations decreased by 59 percent resulting in a pH increase of wet precipitation that has increased from 5.1 to 5.5 (P=0.001). These results indicate that air pollution standards contribute significantly to the decrease in acid rain deposition to this pristine and vulnerable high elevation location, and that no apparent trans-Pacific transport of pollution is detected from Asia.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Anne Johansen