Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s
Mercury (Hg) is an extremely toxic pollutant, and its biogeochemical cycle has been perturbed by anthropogenic emissions during recent centuries. In the atmosphere, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM; Hg°) is the predominant form of mercury (up to 95%). Here we report the evolution of atmospheric levels...
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ftbowdoincollege:oai:digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu:physics-faculty-publications-1012 2023-12-31T10:04:01+01:00 Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s Faïn, Xavier Ferrari, Christophe P. Dommergue, Aurélien Albert, Mary R. Battle, Mark Severinghaus, Jeff Arnaud, Laurent Barnola, Jean Marc Cairns, Warren Barbante, Carlo Boutron, Claude 2009-09-22T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/physics-faculty-publications/13 https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/context/physics-faculty-publications/article/1012/viewcontent/Fain_polar_2009.pdf unknown Bowdoin Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/physics-faculty-publications/13 https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/context/physics-faculty-publications/article/1012/viewcontent/Fain_polar_2009.pdf Physics Faculty Publications Atmosphere Greenland Past century Pollution text 2009 ftbowdoincollege 2023-12-03T17:22:28Z Mercury (Hg) is an extremely toxic pollutant, and its biogeochemical cycle has been perturbed by anthropogenic emissions during recent centuries. In the atmosphere, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM; Hg°) is the predominant form of mercury (up to 95%). Here we report the evolution of atmospheric levels of GEM in mid- to high-northern latitudes inferred from the interstitial air of firn (perennial snowpack) at Summit, Greenland. GEM concentrations increased rapidly after World War II from ≈1.5 ng m-3 reaching a maximum of ≈3 ng m-3 around 1970 and decreased until stabilizing at ≈1.7 ng m -3 around 1995. This reconstruction reproduces real-time measurements available from the Arctic since 1995 and exhibits the same general trend observed in Europe since 1990. Anthropogenic emissions caused a two-fold rise in boreal atmospheric GEM concentrations before the 1970s, which likely contributed to higher deposition of mercury in both industrialized and remotes areas. Once deposited, this toxin becomes available for methylation and, subsequently, the contamination of ecosystems. Implementation of air pollution regulations, however, enabled a large-scale decline in atmospheric mercury levels during the 1980s. The results shown here suggest that potential increases in emissions in the coming decades could have a similar large-scale impact on atmospheric Hg levels. Text Arctic Greenland Bowdoin College: Bowdoin Digital Commons |
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Open Polar |
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Bowdoin College: Bowdoin Digital Commons |
op_collection_id |
ftbowdoincollege |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Atmosphere Greenland Past century Pollution |
spellingShingle |
Atmosphere Greenland Past century Pollution Faïn, Xavier Ferrari, Christophe P. Dommergue, Aurélien Albert, Mary R. Battle, Mark Severinghaus, Jeff Arnaud, Laurent Barnola, Jean Marc Cairns, Warren Barbante, Carlo Boutron, Claude Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
topic_facet |
Atmosphere Greenland Past century Pollution |
description |
Mercury (Hg) is an extremely toxic pollutant, and its biogeochemical cycle has been perturbed by anthropogenic emissions during recent centuries. In the atmosphere, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM; Hg°) is the predominant form of mercury (up to 95%). Here we report the evolution of atmospheric levels of GEM in mid- to high-northern latitudes inferred from the interstitial air of firn (perennial snowpack) at Summit, Greenland. GEM concentrations increased rapidly after World War II from ≈1.5 ng m-3 reaching a maximum of ≈3 ng m-3 around 1970 and decreased until stabilizing at ≈1.7 ng m -3 around 1995. This reconstruction reproduces real-time measurements available from the Arctic since 1995 and exhibits the same general trend observed in Europe since 1990. Anthropogenic emissions caused a two-fold rise in boreal atmospheric GEM concentrations before the 1970s, which likely contributed to higher deposition of mercury in both industrialized and remotes areas. Once deposited, this toxin becomes available for methylation and, subsequently, the contamination of ecosystems. Implementation of air pollution regulations, however, enabled a large-scale decline in atmospheric mercury levels during the 1980s. The results shown here suggest that potential increases in emissions in the coming decades could have a similar large-scale impact on atmospheric Hg levels. |
format |
Text |
author |
Faïn, Xavier Ferrari, Christophe P. Dommergue, Aurélien Albert, Mary R. Battle, Mark Severinghaus, Jeff Arnaud, Laurent Barnola, Jean Marc Cairns, Warren Barbante, Carlo Boutron, Claude |
author_facet |
Faïn, Xavier Ferrari, Christophe P. Dommergue, Aurélien Albert, Mary R. Battle, Mark Severinghaus, Jeff Arnaud, Laurent Barnola, Jean Marc Cairns, Warren Barbante, Carlo Boutron, Claude |
author_sort |
Faïn, Xavier |
title |
Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
title_short |
Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
title_full |
Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
title_fullStr |
Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
title_full_unstemmed |
Polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
title_sort |
polar firn air reveals large-scale impact of anthropogenic mercury emissions during the 1970s |
publisher |
Bowdoin Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/physics-faculty-publications/13 https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/context/physics-faculty-publications/article/1012/viewcontent/Fain_polar_2009.pdf |
genre |
Arctic Greenland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
op_source |
Physics Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/physics-faculty-publications/13 https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/context/physics-faculty-publications/article/1012/viewcontent/Fain_polar_2009.pdf |
_version_ |
1786828607441600512 |