Environment

Thawing permafrost could release massive amounts of toxic mercury

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A new study has found that thawing permafrost could release toxic mercury into the atmosphere and food webs
John A. Kelley, USDA Natural Resources Conservation, CC BY 2.0
A new study has found that thawing permafrost could release toxic mercury into the atmosphere and food webs
John A. Kelley, USDA Natural Resources Conservation, CC BY 2.0
Concentrations of mercury in the Northern Hemisphere, in four soil layers.
Schuster et al./GRL/AGU.
Two authors of the study, Kim Wickland and Paul Schuster drilling a permafrost core at the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest (BCEF) in Alaska
Bob Eganhouse
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Mercury has its uses, but it's toxic to humans and animals and can pose a threat to the world's ecosystems. A new study has calculated there is more than 15 million gallons of the stuff sitting trapped in the permafrost north of the equator. That's around 10 times the mercury emissions produced by humans over the past 30 years and researchers from the American Geophysical Union are understandably concerned about the effects it could have.

Mercury becomes embedded in permafrost when the atmosphere binds with organic material in the soil, getting buried by sediment and freezing in permafrost where it can remain trapped for thousands of years. Only changes such as permafrost thaw, like that possible due to climate change, will release the mercury.

Over eight years, beginning in 2004, researchers drilled 13 permafrost soil cores from several Alaskan sites, and measured the mercury and carbon levels. Each site had varied soil types and were selected in an attempt to represent every part of the Northern Hemisphere as closely as possible.

"This discovery is a game-changer," says Paul Schuster, the lead author of the study. "We've quantified a pool of mercury that had not been done previously, and the results have profound implications for better understanding the global mercury cycle."

Permafrost makes up a large proportion of land above the equator and in this study the researchers found that it also holds the largest amount of mercury concentrations in the world. Calculations estimated approximately 793 gigagrams in frozen soil, and 1,656 gigagrams when combining both frozen and unfrozen soil. That's almost twice the amount found in the atmosphere, oceans and soils outside the northern permafrost region combined.

Concentrations of mercury in the Northern Hemisphere, in four soil layers.
Schuster et al./GRL/AGU.

"Twenty-four percent of all the soil above the equator is permafrost, and it has this huge pool of locked-up mercury," says Schuster. "What happens if the permafrost thaws? How far will the mercury travel up the food chain? These are big-picture questions that we need to answer."

Scientists are still unsure how much of an effect thawed permafrost and the released mercury could have on food webs, the atmosphere or us. If it moves into waterways and gets taken up by microorganisms, it could be transformed into methylmercury, a toxic form of mercury that damages animals' motor functions and causes birth defects. This means local ecosystems and indigenous communities in the Northern Hemisphere face the prospect of methylmercury getting into their food supply.

"Rural communities in Alaska and other northern areas have a subsistence lifestyle, making them vulnerable to methylmercury contaminating their food supply," says Edda Mutter, science director for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council. "Food sources are important to the spiritual and cultural health of the natives, so this study has major health and economic implications for this region of the world."

But the risks aren't just restricted to local communities and ecosystems as Mercury can travel thousands of miles when released into the atmosphere.

"There would be no environmental problem if everything remained frozen, but we know the Earth is getting warmer," says Schuster.

Schuster says he is working on another study that models the effects of climate change on the release of mercury from permafrost and providing greater insights into the global mercury cycle.

This study was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Source: American Geophysical Union

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5 comments
notarichman
drill lots of holes deep into the ground. mercury is heavier than most materials and should flow into the holes if shaped correctly.
Bruce Golden
from the study data, over 50% of the mercury is already in unfrozen permafrost (unfrozen permafrost?). so what is the big deal ... we are not getting huge emissions of mercury from the existing unfrozen permafrost so why would we be concerned about emissions from unfreezing more permafrost?
EZ
If this is such a bad thing, why are we giving our infants shots with mercury in them?
Bone Machine
Why are we giving infants shots with mercury? Because it's cheaper than arsenic or fluoride. And, as the article states, there is an abundance of mercury so why not dispose of it through the human population, like fluoride and DDT. /s
ljaques
Forget all those other times Progressives have said "AGWK" and "WEREALLGONNADIE!" _This_ time, it's real, got it? OK. Now, how to not die _this_ time. _That_ is the question. Ya with me? OK. So, there's this really pretty silvery metal stuff in the water way up yonder, and it has this bad JUJU, knowwhatImean? So, um, what do we know about any mercury in any fossils, permapeat, or whatever from the _last_ time it got hotter than this? =crickets= How about any of the other times it's been hotter than this? (there are those crickets again) Perhaps I'll wait until it's time to start worrying. That OK with you? Great, thanks. Ta!