scrapes: Toxic Mercury Pollution May Rise with Arctic Meltdown
Author: Christa Marshall
Scientific American
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Full Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toxic-mercury-pollution-may-rise-with-arctic-meltdown/
Scientific American
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Full Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toxic-mercury-pollution-may-rise-with-arctic-meltdown/
Topic: Toxicity in Water
This article is about a concern over toxic mercury in the Arctic rising. This discovery in the increase of mercury was accidental. A research team was studying other atmospheric chemistry dynamics off the coast of Barrow, Alaska until they found the increase of mercury. The reason behind this happening is because channeling water is stirring up the air. This causes the mercury in the atmosphere to be pumped closer to the surface. When the ice and snow melt, the toxic mercury will flow into the water. This has been projected to disrupt the food chain in the Arctic. "When converted to a toxic form, mercury can enter the food chain, threatening the food supplies of native Arctic peoples dependent on marine animals and wildlife." An increase also happens because of the warmer temperatures in the Arctic. These warmer temperatures melt the ice, which then creates more of these channels. How did this mercury get into the atmosphere? Mercury comes from natural sources like volcanoes and also from human activities like coal burning. Luckily, 94 countries signed the Minimata Convention, which reduces the emission of mercury into the atmosphere.
I chose this article because it was an article that had to do with two subjects that I have been studying in class. It talks about the disruption of food chains, which I have learned a few months ago and also talks about toxicity which I am currently learning about now. What was most interesting to me was that the discovery of the increase in mercury was an accident, meaning that without the research team being there we wouldn't know that this was a problem in the Arctic. This relates to me, because I am a person that eats fish almost every month. Knowing that some of the fish I eat may contain mercury would raise my concerns as well.
What we should do now, is educate the people about the risks of emitting mercury into the atmosphere. With this knowledge, businesses would know to decrease their emissions of many pollutants, like CO2 and mercury. Reduction of emissions would save the food chain in the Arctics. With the food chain not being disrupted, there would be food supplies for the Arctic peoples. Education in this case would be 2 for 1, decreasing pollution and decreasing toxicity in the Arctics thanks to knowledge. The most significant part of this article was that it presents the problem, how the problem was first discovered and then presents the questions that these researchers are also working on right now.
This article is about a concern over toxic mercury in the Arctic rising. This discovery in the increase of mercury was accidental. A research team was studying other atmospheric chemistry dynamics off the coast of Barrow, Alaska until they found the increase of mercury. The reason behind this happening is because channeling water is stirring up the air. This causes the mercury in the atmosphere to be pumped closer to the surface. When the ice and snow melt, the toxic mercury will flow into the water. This has been projected to disrupt the food chain in the Arctic. "When converted to a toxic form, mercury can enter the food chain, threatening the food supplies of native Arctic peoples dependent on marine animals and wildlife." An increase also happens because of the warmer temperatures in the Arctic. These warmer temperatures melt the ice, which then creates more of these channels. How did this mercury get into the atmosphere? Mercury comes from natural sources like volcanoes and also from human activities like coal burning. Luckily, 94 countries signed the Minimata Convention, which reduces the emission of mercury into the atmosphere.
I chose this article because it was an article that had to do with two subjects that I have been studying in class. It talks about the disruption of food chains, which I have learned a few months ago and also talks about toxicity which I am currently learning about now. What was most interesting to me was that the discovery of the increase in mercury was an accident, meaning that without the research team being there we wouldn't know that this was a problem in the Arctic. This relates to me, because I am a person that eats fish almost every month. Knowing that some of the fish I eat may contain mercury would raise my concerns as well.
What we should do now, is educate the people about the risks of emitting mercury into the atmosphere. With this knowledge, businesses would know to decrease their emissions of many pollutants, like CO2 and mercury. Reduction of emissions would save the food chain in the Arctics. With the food chain not being disrupted, there would be food supplies for the Arctic peoples. Education in this case would be 2 for 1, decreasing pollution and decreasing toxicity in the Arctics thanks to knowledge. The most significant part of this article was that it presents the problem, how the problem was first discovered and then presents the questions that these researchers are also working on right now.
