"awareness" of the world's citizens and encourage governments to devote more attention and resources to address this issue. The series editors thank the international panel of contributors for bringing this timely series into completion. We also wish to acknowledge the very insightful input of the following colleagues: Prof. A.L. Page of the University of California, Prof. T.C. Hutchinson of the University of Toronto, and Dr. Steve Lindberg of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We also wish to thank the superb effort and cooperation of the volume editors in handling their respective volumes. The constructive criticisms of chapter review­ ers also deserve much appreciation. Finally, we wish to convey our appreciation to my secretary, Ms. Brenda Rosier, and my technician, Ms. Claire Carlson, for their very able assistance in various aspects of this series. Aiken, South Carolina Domy C. Adriano Coordinating Editor Preface to Acidic Precipitation, Volume 1 (Advances in Environmental Science) As a result of pioneering research in the 1960s and because of the perceived and acidic real environmental effects described during the ensuing years, the terms rain, acidic deposition, or acidic precipitation have become commonplace in the scientific and popular literature. In the last decade, governments throughout the world have responded to public pressure and to the concerns of the scientific community by establishing research programs on national and international scales.