Arctic sea-ice controls the release of mercury
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 10:32
in Earth & Climate
Scientists have recently highlighted a new role that sea-ice plays in the mercury cycle in the Arctic. By blocking sunlight, sea-ice could influence the breakdown and transfer into the atmosphere of toxic forms of mercury present in the surface waters of the Arctic Ocean. These results suggest that climate plays a key role in the mercury cycle and that the release of mercury into the atmosphere could be accentuated by the melting of Arctic sea-ice.