Arctic Snowpack's Role In Atmospheric Cleaning And Ozone Depletion
The climate just got a little more complex. Researchers have found that sunlit snow is a major source of atmospheric bromine in the Arctic and that the surface snowpack above Arctic sea ice plays a previously unknown role in the bromine cycle. Bromine is key to chemical reactions that purge pollutants and destroy ozone. This means, concludes researchers, that loss of sea ice, which been occurring more rapidly in recent years, has previously unknown and extremely disruptive effects in the balance of atmospheric chemistry in high latitudes. The team's findings suggest the rapidly changing Arctic climate, where surface temperatures are rising three times faster than the global average, could dramatically change its atmospheric chemistry. read more