The term "acid rain" was first coined by Robert Smith (1817-1884) a Scottish chemist, in a book entitled "Air and Rain: The Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology" published in 1872. Although the effect of polluting gases from the industrial revolution had been noticed even earlier than that, it was not until the 1960s that it was perceived as a serious problem. In everyday parlance "acid rain" covers fog, snow and dew...