[Long-distance transportation of atmospheric pollutants and its effects on ecosystems]

It was known, as far back as the nineteenth century, that rain water from industrial areas was more acid than that from rural areas. The potential risks for life in general were discussed, but no further attention was paid to the issue. At the end of the twentieth century, the ecosystems of Europe, Canada and the United States have been severely damaged by pollutants borne by atmospheric winds to places distant from their origin. The main effects of these atmospheric pollutants are due to sulfur and nitrogen oxide dilution and to photochemical reactions. International organizations have been formed and agreements pronounced and ratified by many countries for a universal study on the pollution process, on the transport of pollutants--mostly sulfur, nitrogen and ozone--and on how to collaborate in order to reduce emissions in the respective countries of origin for the worldwide profit.