"Melting Antarctic Glaciers Trigger Surge in Release of Trapped Mercury"

Chinese researchers have analyzed that as glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula melt due to global warming, large amounts of mercury long trapped within the ice are being released, according to reports.

According to the Global Times, an English-language newspaper affiliated with the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, a research team from the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University recently published the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The research team analyzed that human-induced mercury emissions and global warming have jointly accelerated the mercury cycle in the Antarctic Peninsula since the industrial era, with continuous warming transforming the region's cryosphere from a long-term mercury "storage reservoir" into an "emission source" that releases mercury back out.

The cryosphere refers collectively to areas on Earth where water is in solid form, including glaciers, snow, sea ice, and permafrost.

The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the regions experiencing the fastest warming and glacier retreat in Antarctica, with a warming rate about six times the global average, the research team explained.

In particular, by combining sediment records, mercury isotope tracing, and multi-media modeling, the research team claimed that terrestrial mercury emissions resulting from glacier melting have surged by 550% compared to pre-industrial levels.

They also added that approximately 6.5 tons of mercury flow into the ocean every year through meltwater and sediments, a level comparable to the amount of mercury deposited from the atmosphere over an equivalent area.

The researchers pointed out that similar phenomena are likely to occur in high-altitude cryosphere regions, including the Himalayas.

Some pollutants, such as mercury transported via atmospheric circulation, can accumulate over long periods in snow, glaciers, permafrost, and high-altitude soil. Subsequently, as glaciers retreat, permafrost thaws, and erosion intensifies, these stored pollutants can be re-released and transported downstream.

However, researcher Liu noted, "Pollutant concentrations in remote alpine and cryosphere environments are generally low, and released pollutants are also subject to dilution, sedimentation, and transformation," adding, "Whether this leads to actual ecological risks must be confirmed through field observations."

"The public does not need to be overly concerned," Liu added.

Meanwhile, recent large-scale glacier-related disasters in the border region between China and Nepal have also heightened interest in the impacts of climate change on high-altitude cryospheres.

Researcher Liu stated that this disaster demonstrates how sensitive high-altitude cryospheres are to temperature changes, suggesting that future risk management requires an integrated system addressing disasters, pollution, and ecology and health.

Liu also argued that baseline monitoring of various factors should be conducted in high-risk river basins, and geological, hydrological, and water quality observations should be closely linked with mountain disaster early warning systems.

Furthermore, Liu added that it is necessary to expand cross-border observation data sharing, strengthen international cooperation under UN-related bodies and the Minamata Convention on Mercury framework, and incorporate the risk of re-released pollutants stored in the cryosphere into early warning systems.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.