United States President Donald Trump is on a pullback spree. He is ending departments, blocking foreign aid and moving forward with the overhaul of various actions and plans that have been in place for years. His administration is also rolling back pollution protections, and this could have a devastating effect on the country, an expert has warned.

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American ecologist Gene Likens warns that Trump's move against environmental policies can trigger the return of a major problem that has been unheard of for years. Likens discovered in the 1960s that North America was witnessing a phenomenon called acid rain. He has warned that the way the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been going after clean air and water regulations under Trump can spell disaster, bringing back acidic rain along with smog, he told Guardian.

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The US has had rules to curb toxic emissions from power plants, cars and trucks in place, and a sudden and can mean the return of acid rain in the US, Likens said. “I’m very worried that might happen, it’s certainly not impossible that it could happen,” the 90-year-old told Guardian.

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When was acid rain first found?

Notably, the Trump administration has cut funding to a program that samples rainwater for acidity. The program has been running since 1976, and Likens is a part of the monitoring group. “I hope we don’t go back to the old days, so these rollbacks are very alarming,” Likens said.

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Likens first chanced upon acid rain in 1963 when he found that the rainwater in Hubbard Brook Experimental forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire was 100 times more acidic than expected. More research followed this discovery and scientists concluded that pollutants in the air were mixing with water to form acid rain. 

This was primarily because of the pollutants released by coal-fired power plants in the American midwest that were reaching the eastern US and Canada. Researchers found that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides were reacting with water and oxygen to form sulfuric and nitric acids, which fell to the ground as acid rain.

Rainwater became 10 times more acidic by 1980 and started affecting marine life in lakes, the soil and damaged plants and trees. Some man-made structures were also bearing the brunt. Calls for action ensued, and politicians finally sat up and took notice.

Government acts against acid rain

An update to the Clean Air Act targetting power plant pollution was passed in 1990 by the Congress and signed by President George HW Bush. 

Likens said that acidity in rainwater in the White Mountains region has fallen by 85 per cent from the peak period in the 1970s. He fears that if controls on emissions are released, "we are going to destroy that success story."

Worryingly, the EPA has plans to eliminate or weaken 31 regulations. The agency's own analysis says that these rules have prevented extra deaths and several heart, lung and other illnesses i the country. So, if these end, public health might take a bad hit.

However, some experts think that acid rain cannot return to the US since coal has been replaced as a fuel source in industries in favour of cleaner-burning gas and renewables. But Trump has been talking in favour of bringing back coal, which could change things.