Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems
For more than a decade, anthropogenic sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition has been identified as a key pollutant in the Arctic. In this study new critical loads of acidity (S and N) were estimated for terrestrial ecosystems north of 60A degrees latitude by applying the Simple Mass Balance (SMB) m...
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/407370 2024-02-11T10:00:37+01:00 Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems Forsius, M. Posch, M. Aherne, J. Reinds, G.J. Christensen, J. Hole, L. 2010 application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/assessing-the-impacts-of-long-range-sulfur-and-nitrogen-depositio https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0022-7 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/174937 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/assessing-the-impacts-of-long-range-sulfur-and-nitrogen-depositio doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0022-7 Wageningen University & Research Ambio 39 (2010) 2 ISSN: 0044-7447 acidification air-pollution critical loads forest ecosystems model pechenga simulation soil terrestrial ecosystems uncertainty Article/Letter to editor 2010 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0022-7 2024-01-24T23:19:19Z For more than a decade, anthropogenic sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition has been identified as a key pollutant in the Arctic. In this study new critical loads of acidity (S and N) were estimated for terrestrial ecosystems north of 60A degrees latitude by applying the Simple Mass Balance (SMB) model using two critical chemical criteria (Al/Bc = 1 and ANC(le) = 0). Critical loads were exceeded in large areas of northern Europe and the Norilsk region in western Siberia during the 1990s, with the more stringent criterion (ANC(le) = 0) showing the larger area of exceedance. However, modeled deposition estimates indicate that mean concentrations of sulfur oxides and total S deposition within the Arctic almost halved between 1990 and 2000. The modeled exceeded area is much reduced when currently agreed emission reductions are applied, and almost disappears under the implementation of maximum technically feasible reductions by 2020. In northern North America there was no exceedance under any of the deposition scenarios applied. Modeled N deposition was less than 5 kg ha(-1) y(-1) almost across the entire study area for all scenarios; and therefore empirical critical loads for the eutrophying impact of nitrogen are unlikely to be exceeded. The reduction in critical load exceedances is supported by observed improvements in surface water quality, whereas the observed extensive damage of terrestrial vegetation around the mining and smelter complexes in the area is mainly caused by direct impacts of air pollution and metals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic norilsk Siberia Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Arctic Norilsk ENVELOPE(88.203,88.203,69.354,69.354) Pechenga ENVELOPE(30.989,30.989,69.401,69.401) AMBIO 39 2 136 147 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwagenin |
language |
English |
topic |
acidification air-pollution critical loads forest ecosystems model pechenga simulation soil terrestrial ecosystems uncertainty |
spellingShingle |
acidification air-pollution critical loads forest ecosystems model pechenga simulation soil terrestrial ecosystems uncertainty Forsius, M. Posch, M. Aherne, J. Reinds, G.J. Christensen, J. Hole, L. Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems |
topic_facet |
acidification air-pollution critical loads forest ecosystems model pechenga simulation soil terrestrial ecosystems uncertainty |
description |
For more than a decade, anthropogenic sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition has been identified as a key pollutant in the Arctic. In this study new critical loads of acidity (S and N) were estimated for terrestrial ecosystems north of 60A degrees latitude by applying the Simple Mass Balance (SMB) model using two critical chemical criteria (Al/Bc = 1 and ANC(le) = 0). Critical loads were exceeded in large areas of northern Europe and the Norilsk region in western Siberia during the 1990s, with the more stringent criterion (ANC(le) = 0) showing the larger area of exceedance. However, modeled deposition estimates indicate that mean concentrations of sulfur oxides and total S deposition within the Arctic almost halved between 1990 and 2000. The modeled exceeded area is much reduced when currently agreed emission reductions are applied, and almost disappears under the implementation of maximum technically feasible reductions by 2020. In northern North America there was no exceedance under any of the deposition scenarios applied. Modeled N deposition was less than 5 kg ha(-1) y(-1) almost across the entire study area for all scenarios; and therefore empirical critical loads for the eutrophying impact of nitrogen are unlikely to be exceeded. The reduction in critical load exceedances is supported by observed improvements in surface water quality, whereas the observed extensive damage of terrestrial vegetation around the mining and smelter complexes in the area is mainly caused by direct impacts of air pollution and metals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Forsius, M. Posch, M. Aherne, J. Reinds, G.J. Christensen, J. Hole, L. |
author_facet |
Forsius, M. Posch, M. Aherne, J. Reinds, G.J. Christensen, J. Hole, L. |
author_sort |
Forsius, M. |
title |
Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems |
title_short |
Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems |
title_full |
Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the Impacts of Long-Range Sulfur and Nitrogen Deposition on Arctic and Sub-Arctic Ecosystems |
title_sort |
assessing the impacts of long-range sulfur and nitrogen deposition on arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/assessing-the-impacts-of-long-range-sulfur-and-nitrogen-depositio https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0022-7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(88.203,88.203,69.354,69.354) ENVELOPE(30.989,30.989,69.401,69.401) |
geographic |
Arctic Norilsk Pechenga |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Norilsk Pechenga |
genre |
Arctic norilsk Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic norilsk Siberia |
op_source |
Ambio 39 (2010) 2 ISSN: 0044-7447 |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/174937 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/assessing-the-impacts-of-long-range-sulfur-and-nitrogen-depositio doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0022-7 |
op_rights |
Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0022-7 |
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AMBIO |
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39 |
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