"Acid rain" is a popular term referring to the deposition of wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew) and dry (acidifying particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. “Clean” or unpolluted rain has an acidic pH, but usually no lower than 5.7, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form carbonic acid, a weak acid. However, unpolluted rain can also contain other chemicals which affect its pH. A common example is nitric acid produced byelectric discharge in the atmosphere such as lightning.[1] Carbonic acid is formed by the reaction

H2O (l) + CO2 (g)  H2CO3 (aq)

Carbonic acid then can ionize in water forming low concentrations of hydronium and carbonate ions:

H2O (l) + H2CO3 (aq)  HCO3− (aq) + H3O+ (aq)

Acid deposition as an environmental issue would include additional acids to H2CO3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain

In Australia, anti-wind advocates such as Sarah Laurie* are referring to a report by The Acoustic Group Pty Ltd as evidence that infrasound is dangerous to humans near wind turbines. Is this true?

This is the conclusion of Steven Cooper, Principal of the firm and an acoustical consulting engineer for 34 years. However, the data he collects does not support this. He does not measure infrasound, but infers it from dB(A) measurements by adding 31-37 dB using a rule-of-thumb. He then bases a conclusion of danger on Alec Salt’s work, which as has been shown sounds impressive until people who know what they are talking about look at it. The dB(A) measurements in the Cooper report, by the way, showed a peak noise in the bedroom with the window open of 33 dB(A) which is quieter than a library, much quieter than bird calls; it’s slightly noisier than a quiet rural area according to industry standards. As this house was likely the closest to the most wind turbines, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which very simple noise mitigations such as occasionally closing the window wouldn’t have eliminated any noise annoyance.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/the-truth-about-health-impacts-of-wind-farms-and-infrasound

''Wind turbine sickness'' is far more prevalent in communities where anti-wind farm lobbyists have been active and appears to be a psychological phenomenon caused by the suggestion that turbines make people sick, a study has found.
The study found that 63 per cent of Australia's 49 wind farms had never been the subject of any health complaint from nearby residents.
It found 68 per cent of the 120 complaints that have been made came from residents living near wind farms heavily targeted by the anti-wind farm lobby, and that ''the advent of anti-wind farm groups beginning to foment concerns about health (from around 2009) was also strongly correlated with actual complaints being made''.
Study author, Simon Chapman, professor of public health at Sydney University, said the results suggested that ''wind turbine sickness'' was a ''communicated disease'' – a sickness spread by the claim that something was likely to make a person sick. This was caused by the ''nocebo effect'' – the opposite of the placebo effect – where the belief something would cause an illness created the perception of illness.

He found a much greater correlation between negative attitudes to wind turbines and reports of sickness than any ''objective measures of actual exposure''.
And he cited studies suggesting that the spread of communicated diseases was much faster when the ''illness'' had a name – such as Wind Turbine Syndrome, Vibro Acoustic Disease and Visceral Vibratory Vestibular Disturbance.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/wind-turbine-sickness-all-in-the-mind-study-20130315-2g4zd.html#ixzz2NZwaPIgT

Below the sign pointing right to Snowtown is another – the brown and white kind that signals a tourist attraction – reading "the Big Blade". Snowtown and a "Big Blade" monument? Surely it wouldn't be so crass? But it's not what you expect; the "blade" is a rotor blade from one of the enormous wind turbines, mounted on poles in the centre of town in tribute to the project that people hope will reassign their infamy.

The windfarm is a boon for the town and Snowtown is also unique in its overwhelmingly positive reaction to the energy project.

"We've got no complaints," resident Alan Large told Guardian Australia when we visited.

"The Snowtown people are quite happy about the fact that the wind farms are here."

Large said the windfarm in nearby Clare is "getting flack about the noise and chickens laying eggs with no yolks and things like that". But he and his wife Ros don't understand that. The sentiment echoes among the area's population.

All the turbines are on private land, and Trust Power constructed several fire trails which came in handy for local firefighters when recent lightning strikes sparked a couple of bushfires.

The energy retailer also contributes $15,000 a year to the community through the Lend a Hand Foundation which Large runs as president of the Snowtown Lions Club. The foundation funds small projects in Snowtown and the wider community with the money and has "no trouble spending it every year". Recent purchases include a lawn mower for the bowling club, a skate park for local kids and emergency response pendants for some of the elderly population.

The contribution – which also received a $10,000 bump from turbine manufacturer Siemens this year – will increase to $45,000 from next year.

The Larges have lived in Snowtown for around 50 years, which they said makes them "nearly locals. You have your ups and downs with it, but all together it's really a good town," said Mrs Large.

read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/13/snowtown-windfarm-renewable-energy

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