Widespread pollution of the South American atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y

An exceptionally detailed ice core from the high-altitude location of Quelccaya (Peru) contains compelling evidence that the well-known metallurgic activities performed during the Inca Empire (A.D. 1438−1532) had a negligible impact on the South American atmosphere. In contrast, atmospheric emission...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: Uglietti, Chiara, Gabrielli, Paolo, Cooke, Colin A., Vallelonga, Paul, Thompson, Lonnie G.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2015
Subjects:
Physical Sciences
Inca
ice core
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345557/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25675506
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421119112
Description
Summary:An exceptionally detailed ice core from the high-altitude location of Quelccaya (Peru) contains compelling evidence that the well-known metallurgic activities performed during the Inca Empire (A.D. 1438−1532) had a negligible impact on the South American atmosphere. In contrast, atmospheric emissions of a variety of toxic trace elements in South America started to have a widespread environmental impact around A.D. 1540, ∼240 y before the industrial revolution when colonial metallurgy began to pollute the Andean atmosphere. 20th century atmospheric pollution levels were the highest on record and remain unprecedented over the entirety of human history.

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