A landmark report reveals that atmospheric mercury in the Arctic Circle has swelled tenfold since the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s, posing increasing health risks for wildlife and Indigenous communities in the region.
The report, published Tuesday, was produced by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) arm of the Arctic Council, an alliance of eight countries with territories at the top of the world, including Canada and the United States. It reviewed 20 years of data from scores of smaller studies to produce the most comprehensive understanding yet of how mercury appears in the water, atmosphere and soil of the Arctic. (A 2011 AMAP mercury report was much smaller in scale.)
Signs of mercury absorption in tree rings showed the chemical first became significantly present in the Arctic during the Industrial Revolution and then continued to amass. Today, 90 per cent of mercury pollution comes from industrial emissions and other human sources. About 98 per cent of these emissions are produced far from the Arctic Circle but carried north by the atmosphere, rivers and oceans, creating higher concentrations of the element than in southern regions.
Mercury levels in the Arctic put wildlife, Indigenous communities at risk, landmark report says
The report, published Tuesday, was produced by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) arm of the Arctic Council, an alliance of eight countries with territories at the top of the world, including Canada and the United States. It reviewed 20 years of data from scores of smaller studies to produce the most comprehensive understanding yet of how mercury appears in the water, atmosphere and soil of the Arctic. (A 2011 AMAP mercury report was much smaller in scale.)
Signs of mercury absorption in tree rings showed the chemical first became significantly present in the Arctic during the Industrial Revolution and then continued to amass. Today, 90 per cent of mercury pollution comes from industrial emissions and other human sources. About 98 per cent of these emissions are produced far from the Arctic Circle but carried north by the atmosphere, rivers and oceans, creating higher concentrations of the element than in southern regions.
Mercury levels in the Arctic put wildlife, Indigenous communities at risk, landmark report says