US may experience acid rain again because of Trump’s decisions, warns top scientist

The United States may once again experience episodes of acid rain as a result of Donald Trump’s recent decisions to weaken environmental protections.

With the president revoking several regulations on air quality and water pollution, major American cities could soon be shrouded in smog, and acid rain could return, according to Gene Likens, the scientist who first discovered acid rain in the 1960s.

The expert warned that if air and environmental protection policies continue to be rolled back, such meteorological phenomena could resurface.

"I’m very worried that might happen. It’s certainly not impossible that it could happen," Likens told The Guardian.

"I hope we don’t go back to the old days, so these rollbacks are very alarming. I care about the health of my children and grandchildren—I want them to have clean air to breathe. I care about clean water and clean and healthy soil—I want them to have that too," he added.

Likens first discovered acid rain in 1963 after collecting rain samples in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, finding that the droplets contained 100 times more acid than normal levels.

(QG - Source: The Guardian - Picture : © Unsplash)