Property News · November 6, 2016

Gardens: the surprising benefits of acid rain


Sulphur is a key plant nutrient and we often don’t get enoughWho isn’t nostalgic about the 1980s – the era of mullets, electro pop, family sitcoms and, of course, acid rain? I used to sit up late to watch the Nine O’Clock News, showing the ecological devastation that sulphuric acid raining down from the sky had on forests and waterways across the world. Yet the decline over the past 30 years in the emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide in air pollution that once caused this phenomenon has had an enduring impact on British soils, with far-reaching effects on agriculture and even our gardens — and not always a positive one.Sulphur is a key plant nutrient vital to healthy growth, but UK soils are naturally deficient in this essential mineral. Back in the 1980s this was of little concern to growers as these levels were continually topped up by “atmospheric deposition”, ie acid rain. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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