Scope

Acid rain is defined as pollution in the form of precipitation containing dissolved sulfuric and nitric acids. It can affect our health, water resources, forests, and building structures made from limestone, marble, and sandstone. This Research Guide is an introduction to sources of information concerning acid rain, including reports of scientific investigations and divergent opinions about the nature and extent of proposed control programs.

Overview

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 1992 (updated daily)
Britannica Online is a searchable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest encyclopedia articles. Basic instructions for Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment Current (updates vary)
The Encyclopedia is a source of information on a range of atmospheric issues, including air quality, acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion. There is an extensive bibliography and links to more than 3000 other webpages. A news section offers access to recent news items concerning the atmosphere. Information is provided for two levels of users--advanced or less advanced. Information in the Encyclopedia may be reproduced for individual, school, and college use, and by other non-profit organizations.

ENVIROnetBASE Dates vary (updates vary)
ENVIROnetBASE is a collection of more than 100 handbooks that cover properties and processes associated with the air, water, soils and biosphere. Many of the print versions of these handbooks are in UW-Madison libraries. The print and the electronic versions can be located by using MadCat. The handbooks can be searched or browsed individually or selectively. Boolean and proximity searching are possible. Output can be sorted by relevancy, frequency of hits, size of documents, or date. Basic instructions for ENVIROnetBase

Environmental Encyclopedia
College Library Reference Collection: GE 10 E38 2003
Refer to "Acid deposition," or "Acid rain" in index, volume 2., page 1591

Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues
College Library Reference Collection: GE 10 E52 2000
Refer to “Acid deposition and acid rain,” volume 1, page 3-6

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
College Library Reference Collection: Q 121 M3 1997
Refer to "Acid Rain" in volume 1

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center 1990 - to date (updated daily)
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (OVRC) includes the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference USA sources and provides viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

Pollution A to Z
College Library Reference Collection: TD 173 P65 2004
Refer to "acid rain" in index page 353

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

acid rain
acid rain and air pollut*
clean air act
sulfur dioxide and emissions
acid rain and legislation
acid rain and environment*
air quality and standard*
acid rain and France
acid rain and water pollution
acid deposition

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

Agricola 1970 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes 2,500 scholarly and trade journals along with government publications and conference proceedings in animal sciences, agricultural engineering, botany, entomology, plant science, soil science, veterinary management and water management. Basic instructions for Agricola

Biological and Agricultural Index 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Contains citations to articles, book reviews, symposia, conference papers, and selected letters to the editor in more than 266 English-language periodicals on biology and agriculture. Basic instructions for Biological and Agricultural Index

CQ Researcher November 1991 - to date (updated weekly)
Contains weekly reports from Congressional Quarterly that cover the most current and controversial issues. Basic instructions for CQ Researcher

General Science Full Text 1984 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 150 popular and scholarly periodicals, as well as the Science section of the New York Times. Subjects include biology, chemistry, earth sciences, environment, nutrition, genetics, medicine and health. Basic instructions for General Science Full Text

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world. The full-text of the articles is not available in the database. Basic instructions for PAIS

MadCat
Books on acid rain can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"acid rain" and environment?
"acid rain" and "air pollution"
"acid rain" and legislation
"acid rain" and "United States"
http and "acid rain" (to find electronic resources)

Internet Sites

Acid Rain Program
http://epa.gov/acidrain/
Information from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Market Program. This section of the Web site provides information about acid rain's causes and effects, how we measure acid rain, and what is being done to solve the problem.

Acid Rain
http://www.ec.gc.ca/acidrain
Information from Environment Canada. "Environment Canada's mandate is to preserve and enhance the quality of the natural environment, including water, air and soil quality and conserve Canada's renewable resources."

The Environmental Literacy Council
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/
Information from the Environmental Literacy Council. The site provides an overview of the issues and many links to recommended resources, including data, maps, laws, and treaties.

National Atmospheric Deposition Program
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu
A National network of precipitation monitoring sites, including such groups as state agricultural experiment stations, federal and state agencies, and non-governmental research organizations. The Web site provides a wide range of national and state data collected from these individual sites, including the varying amounts of acid deposition (the amount of acid pollutants in water).

Water Resources of the United States
http://water.usgs.gov
Information from the United States Geological Survey. The site provides publications, data, and maps relating to the Nation's water resources. The site has a search engine and you can limit your information by state.

Statistics

Statistical Universe 1973 - to date (updated monthly)
Contains the full text of more than 800 U.S. government statistical publications. Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe is available to UW-Madison registered users.

Organizations

Clean Air Trust
http://www.cleanairtrust.org
This organization was incorporated in 1995 as a nonprofit organization by former Senators Edmund Muskie of Maine and Robert Stafford of Vermont. "The Trust was created to educate the public and policymakers about the value of the Clean Air Act, to promote effective enforcement of the Act through grassroots education, and to defend the Act against attack by special interest polluters."

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov
"EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment — air, water, and land — upon which life depends. For 30 years, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people."

Sierra Club
http://www.sierraclub.org
Founded in 1892, this organization is America's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.
Select "clean water" or "more issues" to find information related to acid rain and it's effect on the environment.