Dean M. Chriss
Photography
Jake's Creek, Spring, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Jake's Creek, Spring, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

(Click image to enlarge)

With annual precipitation of about fifty inches at the lower elevations and eighty inches at higher elevations, the inviting sights and sounds of tumbling water are common in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Rivers and streams seem to be everywhere, especially in early spring. Unfortunately, the same rain and snow that creates these beautiful streams is irreparably damaging the park's plants and aquatic life. Air pollution produced in distant cities now forms clouds as acidic as vinegar over the park's mountains, which produce highly acidic rain and snow within the park. To learn more about the causes and effects of acid precipitation, please visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park web site.