The level of acidity of the water in wetlands is important to the plant and animal life there. Most animals are adapted to living in neutral conditions. Changes in pH endanger the lives of young animals in particular. People's actions can change the level of acidity in wetlands.
Acid rain is a result of air pollution from automobiles and coal-burning utilities and factories.
When these compounds combine with water in the atmosphere, they form sulfuric and nitric acids, then fall to the earth as acid rain, snow, hail, and fog. This precipitation mixes with water already on the earth, in creeks, rivers, ponds and wetlands. The acidity of the water in wetlands can also be changed by other pollutants carried by runoff from the land.