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Potential impacts of mercury released from thawing permafrost

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin Schaefer

    (University of Colorado Boulder)

  • Yasin Elshorbany

    (University of South Florida)

  • Elchin Jafarov

    (Computational Earth Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • Paul F. Schuster

    (U.S. Geological Survey, Water Mission Area, Earth Systems Processes Division)

  • Robert G. Striegl

    (U.S. Geological Survey, Water Mission Area, Earth Systems Processes Division)

  • Kimberly P. Wickland

    (U.S. Geological Survey, Water Mission Area, Earth Systems Processes Division)

  • Elsie M. Sunderland

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) is a naturally occurring element that bonds with organic matter and, when converted to methylmercury, is a potent neurotoxicant. Here we estimate potential future releases of Hg from thawing permafrost for low and high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios using a mechanistic model. By 2200, the high emissions scenario shows annual permafrost Hg emissions to the atmosphere comparable to current global anthropogenic emissions. By 2100, simulated Hg concentrations in the Yukon River increase by 14% for the low emissions scenario, but double for the high emissions scenario. Fish Hg concentrations do not exceed United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for the low emissions scenario by 2300, but for the high emissions scenario, fish in the Yukon River exceed EPA guidelines by 2050. Our results indicate minimal impacts to Hg concentrations in water and fish for the low emissions scenario and high impacts for the high emissions scenario.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Schaefer & Yasin Elshorbany & Elchin Jafarov & Paul F. Schuster & Robert G. Striegl & Kimberly P. Wickland & Elsie M. Sunderland, 2020. "Potential impacts of mercury released from thawing permafrost," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-18398-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18398-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Moritz Langer & Thomas Schneider Deimling & Sebastian Westermann & Rebecca Rolph & Ralph Rutte & Sofia Antonova & Volker Rachold & Michael Schultz & Alexander Oehme & Guido Grosse, 2023. "Thawing permafrost poses environmental threat to thousands of sites with legacy industrial contamination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Troy J. Bouffard & Ekaterina Uryupova & Klaus Dodds & Vladimir E. Romanovsky & Alec P. Bennett & Dmitry Streletskiy, 2021. "Scientific Cooperation: Supporting Circumpolar Permafrost Monitoring and Data Sharing," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    3. Shijin Wang, 2024. "Opportunities and threats of cryosphere change to the achievement of UN 2030 SDGs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Beatriz Ferreira Araujo & Stefan Osterwalder & Natalie Szponar & Domenica Lee & Mariia V. Petrova & Jakob Boyd Pernov & Shaddy Ahmed & Lars-Eric Heimbürger-Boavida & Laure Laffont & Roman Teisserenc &, 2022. "Mercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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