Melting Glaciers Release 6.5 Tons of Mercury... Is the Disaster Just Beginning?

As global warming melts glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula, a research team in China has analyzed that large amounts of mercury, long trapped within the ice, are being released.

A research team from the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University recently announced in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that continuous warming is transforming the cryosphere of the Antarctic Peninsula from a long-term mercury "sink" into a "source" of mercury emissions.

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

The research team stated that human-induced mercury emissions and climate warming have jointly accelerated the mercury cycle in the Antarctic Peninsula since the industrial revolution.

Stretching northward from the Antarctic continent, the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the regions experiencing the fastest warming and glacier retreat in Antarctica, with a warming rate roughly six times the global average, the team explained.

In particular, the amount of mercury released from land due to glacier melting has surged by 550% compared to pre-industrial levels, the research team claimed.

Furthermore, approximately 6.5 tons of mercury are flowing into the ocean every year through meltwater and sediments, a level comparable to the amount of mercury deposited from the atmosphere over the same surface area, they added.

The researchers pointed out that similar phenomena are likely to occur in alpine cryospheres, including the Himalayas.

Interest in the impact of climate change on alpine cryospheres has been growing following recent large-scale glacier-related disasters in the border region between China and Nepal.

The research team suggested that these disasters demonstrate how sensitive the alpine cryosphere is to temperature changes, highlighting the need for an integrated risk management framework that addresses disasters, pollution, and ecology and health moving forward.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Kim Min-ji | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.