Air Pollution: Improved Atmospheric Model Should Help Focus Acid Rain Debate.
Abstract
Acid rain continues to be one of the most hotly debated environmental issues facing the nation. Much of the disagreement concerns the level of controls to be imposed on emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the precursors of acid rain. To provide a better base of informa- tion for decision making, in 1980 the Congress authorized an inter-agency research effort, the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP), to study and report by 1990 on the causes and effects of acid rain. One important aspect of this research effort is the Regional Acid Deposition Model (PADM). Designed to simulate the complex processes by which air emissions are transported, converted, and deposited as acid rain, PADM is supposed to estimate changes in deposition that occur in response to emission controls. Understanding this relationship should also facilitate examination of the relationship between control costs and actual reductions in acid rain. The chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, asked GAO to review NAPAP'S progress in developing, applying, and evaluating RADM. JMD
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA292127
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office