21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet
Over the last 4 decades, Asian countries have undergone substantial economic development, leading to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Consequently, fossil fuel consumption has risen dramatically, worsening the air quality in Asia. Fossil fuel combustion emits particulate matter containing t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8bb911e7482b4e2ea3fc3dd45ae2ba89 2023-05-15T16:38:11+02:00 21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet M. R. Sierra-Hernández E. Beaudon P. Gabrielli L. Thompson 2019-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15533-2019 https://doaj.org/article/8bb911e7482b4e2ea3fc3dd45ae2ba89 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/15533/2019/acp-19-15533-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-19-15533-2019 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/8bb911e7482b4e2ea3fc3dd45ae2ba89 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 19, Pp 15533-15544 (2019) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15533-2019 2022-12-31T00:43:18Z Over the last 4 decades, Asian countries have undergone substantial economic development, leading to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Consequently, fossil fuel consumption has risen dramatically, worsening the air quality in Asia. Fossil fuel combustion emits particulate matter containing toxic metals that can adversely affect living organisms, including humans. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the temporal and spatial extent of metal pollution in Asia. Recently, we reported a continuous and high-resolution 1650–1991 ice core record from the Guliya ice cap in northwestern Tibet, China, showing contamination of Cd, Pb, and Zn during the 20th century. Here, we present a new continuous and high-resolution ice core record of trace metals from the Guliya ice cap that comprises the years between 1971 and 2015, extending the 1650–1991 ice core record into the 21st century. Non-crustal Cd, Pb, Zn, and Ni enrichments increased have since the 1990s relative to the 1971–1990 period, reaching a maximum in 2008. The enrichments of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Ni increased by ∼75 %, 35 %, 30 %, and 10 %, respectively, during the 2000–2015 period relative to 1971–1990. The observed trace element (TE) enrichments likely originated primarily from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, with contributions from industrial processes and agricultural activities from South Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nepal), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), and the Xinjiang province in western China. This new record demonstrates that the current emissions in Asia impact remote high-altitude glaciers in the region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap ice core Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 19 24 15533 15544 |
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English |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 M. R. Sierra-Hernández E. Beaudon P. Gabrielli L. Thompson 21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Over the last 4 decades, Asian countries have undergone substantial economic development, leading to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Consequently, fossil fuel consumption has risen dramatically, worsening the air quality in Asia. Fossil fuel combustion emits particulate matter containing toxic metals that can adversely affect living organisms, including humans. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the temporal and spatial extent of metal pollution in Asia. Recently, we reported a continuous and high-resolution 1650–1991 ice core record from the Guliya ice cap in northwestern Tibet, China, showing contamination of Cd, Pb, and Zn during the 20th century. Here, we present a new continuous and high-resolution ice core record of trace metals from the Guliya ice cap that comprises the years between 1971 and 2015, extending the 1650–1991 ice core record into the 21st century. Non-crustal Cd, Pb, Zn, and Ni enrichments increased have since the 1990s relative to the 1971–1990 period, reaching a maximum in 2008. The enrichments of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Ni increased by ∼75 %, 35 %, 30 %, and 10 %, respectively, during the 2000–2015 period relative to 1971–1990. The observed trace element (TE) enrichments likely originated primarily from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, with contributions from industrial processes and agricultural activities from South Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nepal), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), and the Xinjiang province in western China. This new record demonstrates that the current emissions in Asia impact remote high-altitude glaciers in the region. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. R. Sierra-Hernández E. Beaudon P. Gabrielli L. Thompson |
author_facet |
M. R. Sierra-Hernández E. Beaudon P. Gabrielli L. Thompson |
author_sort |
M. R. Sierra-Hernández |
title |
21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet |
title_short |
21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet |
title_full |
21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet |
title_fullStr |
21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet |
title_full_unstemmed |
21st-century Asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern Tibet |
title_sort |
21st-century asian air pollution impacts glacier in northwestern tibet |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15533-2019 https://doaj.org/article/8bb911e7482b4e2ea3fc3dd45ae2ba89 |
genre |
Ice cap ice core |
genre_facet |
Ice cap ice core |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 19, Pp 15533-15544 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/15533/2019/acp-19-15533-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-19-15533-2019 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/8bb911e7482b4e2ea3fc3dd45ae2ba89 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15533-2019 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
24 |
container_start_page |
15533 |
op_container_end_page |
15544 |
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1766028470156001280 |