Twentieth century trends in Arctic air pollution revealed by conductivity and acidity observations in snow and ice in the Canadian High Arctic
1985; Elsevier BV; Volume: 19; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0004-6981(85)90114-3
ISSN1878-2442
AutoresLeonard A. Barrie, David Fisher, Roy M. Koerner,
Tópico(s)Cryospheric studies and observations
ResumoTwo 10-m firn cores, and one 20-m core from Agassiz ice cap and a 10-m core from the Mt Oxford area of the United States Range, all in N Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, at about 1.6 km altitude, yield an historical record dating back to 1912 of lower tropospheric air pollution originating mainly from Eurasia. Ice meltwater acidity and conductivity are well correlated. They are also correlated with aerosol acid concentrations in the atmosphere at nearby Alert. They undergo a strong seasonal variation paralleling that of Arctic haze. The late winter-early spring peak of conductivity is the best indicator of Arctic air pollution. It shows that in the first-half of this century the level of winter-time air pollution remained roughly constant, consistent with a pattern of little change in European SO2 emissions. However, between 1956 and 1977 there has been a 75% increase of Arctic air pollution which is associated with a marked increase in SO2 and NOx emissions in Europe. This means that in the second half of this century, the progressive increase in Arctic air pollution has caused the winter acidity of the N Ellesmere snowpack to rise from about 8 μeqℓ−1 in 1956 to about 14 μeqℓ−1 in 1977.
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