Acid rain is one of the worst environmental concerns in Austria. Currently 37 percent of Austria’s forests suffer from the damages caused by acid rain. This damage also is a major cause of habitat destruction and biodiversity loss in the rain forests. Acid rain is caused by nitric acid and sulfuric acid that are formed in the atmosphere when combined with water. Nitric oxide is emitted mainly by car exhaust, power stations, and factories. With the number of cars on the road increasing, it also causes nitric oxide levels in the atmosphere to increase. The acid rain has harmful effects on plants, animals, and can cause corrosion on infrastructure. As a result of the acid rain, the damage to forests had huge consequences including the decimation of forests that protected the land from avalanches, erosion, mudslides, or flooding. The rain also cause devastation to the economy because crops are unable to sustain life, farmers are having a tough time trying to make a living with their crops. It makes it even harder for Austria since it is a landlocked country because it has no easy access to the ocean to help the situation. To fight these issues the government is actively trying to find ways to reduce nitric oxide being emitted into the atmosphere by imposing strict regulations on gas emissions.
As a result from pollution to the forest from acid rain, this has caused species living in the forest to become endangered. A significant amount of the country’s land area is devoted to the forest industry, and the growing gaming industry makes use of the nation’s forest space. Austria has around 45,000 animal species and of these animals, about 581 are only found in Austria. Many of these species are at risk due to environmental issues, which include consequences from acid rain and dumping of hazardous materials. Endangered species include the Freya damselfly, the dusky large blue butterfly, slender-billed curlew bird, bald ibis bird, the Danube salmon, and the European mink. Because of already limited resources, fish have been severely affected by overfishing.
Lastly, through extensive use of the Alpine terrain from skiing, hiking and agricultural purposes, it has left serious damage to the already fragile ecosystem of this area. Skiing causes damage to young trees and wide-spread hiking and mountain biking damages the soil and vegetation A large amount of the Alpine floor vegetation has been leveled for ski lift facilities. As a result of the reduced resistance of trees, the protective capabilities of the forest have also been reduced. Protection against storm, erosion, and overly rapid water drainage, flooding, mudslides, and avalanches has been diminished. Because skiing and hiking is so popular, it has caused the growth of villages for tourism during the summer and winter. This results in additional pollution as more people are visiting the area for tourism. Because the alpine regions have been used for agricultural reasons, this has as negative effect on farmers and causes spare crops.
I feel like the top issue is the acid rain, because that causes a plethora of other issues for the environment. It is the root cause of a lot of the other existing problems in the community. It directly affects the land, by harming the forest, and therefore harming the animals that rely on the forest to survive. At this point not much can be done to reverse the damage, there can only be laws that are set in place to help reduce gas emissions so that there will be less acid rain. Since the forest area makes up most of Austria, this is very important that people protect it. It makes their economy run, gives people jobs, and is their home. The extinction of animals is also very important because they are almost gone. We want to do our best to preserve them and to share the plane with them. I felt as though the issue with the Alpines was not as important as the top two, because it does not affect as many things as the other two.
Something related to technology that affects the environment includes all the ski lift structures that they have to put up for the season use of the alpine mountains. The alpine ecosystem is already fragile and adding all these ski lifts for seasonal use causes a lot of waste and damages the land a lot more. The consequences of building more ski lifts is a increase in tourism, and while that may be good for the economy, it cause more pollution and destruction of the land. With all the resorts with high-grade ski slopes, they are destroying Alpine vegetation, which can take more than 30 years to recover. The only option now to get themselves out of trouble is to build facilities as high up the mountains as possible to escape the heat, and to include access to nearby glaciers. The problem of the melting Alpine permafrost due to climate change is huge, and people are ignoring it. To combat this, ski resorts are using lots of water to make artificial snow and for building usage. Artificial snow has been on the increase because resorts are receiving less snowfall. They are getting less and less snowfall due to the climate changes affected by gas emissions and pollution.
The sources of all the environmental issues are humans and the way we consume. If we drove less then there would be less gas emission into the atmosphere. This would allow the forest to be more healthy and for animals to live there. But because we are always consuming and building things like ski resorts and ski lifts, we are damaging the environment around us. The solution would be for the government to put in stricter rules of where and how people can build these types of infrastructures so it would have minimal impact on the environment. Other attempts as reducing the effect of acid rain include burning non-fossil fuels and low-sulphur coal. Also to produce energy-efficient car engines, and to implement low temperature burners in power facilities. This should be done so that the impact of acid rain on the environment would be less. Currently the Aspen Ski Company has been setting an example on implementing environmental policies on its slopes. They source giver percent of it energy from wind power and runs on bio-diesel. Skiers and snowboarders are the first people to see the impact of climate change. Unless we make an effort to do something now, the mountains will not be the same for people to enjoy in the future.
Here is a list of my references:
References:
1. Source 1
2. Source 2
3. Source 3
4. Source 4
5.Source 5