Antarctica Releases Mercury 550% Faster as Melting Ice Turns It Into a Pollution Source
Updated
Updated · ZME Science · Aug 18
Antarctica Releases Mercury 550% Faster as Melting Ice Turns It Into a Pollution Source
2 articles · Updated · ZME Science · Aug 18
Summary
A new PNAS study found Antarctic glacier melt is releasing mercury into surrounding seas 550% faster than since industrialization, shifting the continent from a long-term sink to an active pollution source.
Sixteen sediment cores from the Antarctic Peninsula shelf showed mercury accumulation rose 160% on average since the mid-18th century, with the sharpest acceleration beginning in the 1950s as emissions climbed.
About 56% of the mercury in seafloor cores came from atmospheric deposition, while the rest likely came from glacier melt, weathering and erosion that remobilized long-stored mercury.
That mercury can convert into methylmercury in sediments and move through plankton, krill, fish, seabirds and marine mammals, with possible spillover to human health through commercial fisheries.
Researchers said the findings fit a broader pattern in which climate warming mobilizes legacy mercury globally, meaning pollution burdens may stay elevated even if new emissions fall.