Tag: Alaska

Alaska’s Melting Permafrost: Unleashing Toxic Mercury into Our Ecosystem

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Photo of permafrost thawing
Photo of permafrost thawing with ominous darkening effect surrounding the photo.

New Research Unveils Risks of Mercury Mobilization in the Yukon River Basin Due to Permafrost Thaw

The Arctic is heating up faster than anywhere else on Earth, and this rapid warming is causing a lot of problems. One big concern is the melting of permafrost—ground that has been frozen for thousands of years. When this frozen ground thaws, it can release harmful substances into our environment. recent study published in Environmental Research Letters looked at how mercury, a toxic metal, is being released from permafrost in the Yukon River Basin in Alaska. This is bad news for the environment, and it could also affect our health.

Why Mercury in Permafrost is a Problem

Mercury is a dangerous metal that can poison living things, including humans. It’s especially harmful because it can build up in the food chain. For example, small fish absorb mercury from their environment, and when bigger fish eat those smaller fish, the mercury accumulates. If humans eat those bigger fish, they can get sick. Mercury has been locked away in permafrost for a long time, but as the Arctic warms and the permafrost melts, this mercury is being released.

What the Study Found

Researchers studied two areas in the Yukon River Basin: Huslia and Beaver. Here’s what they discovered:

  • Mercury in the Soil: The study found that the soil in these areas contains mercury—about 49 nanograms per gram in Huslia and 39 nanograms per gram in Beaver. This may not sound like much, but it’s enough to be concerning, especially as it spreads into the environment.

  • River Erosion Releases Mercury: As rivers in the Yukon River Basin move and change course, they erode the riverbanks, which releases mercury into the water. Some of this mercury gets washed away, while some gets redeposited in new locations. The study found that more mercury is released in some areas, like Beaver, while in others, like Huslia, more is deposited back into the ground.

  • Impact on Communities and Wildlife: The release of mercury is especially dangerous for people who live in the Arctic and rely on fishing for food. When mercury enters the water, it can turn into a form that is even more toxic, called methylmercury. This can then build up in fish, which is a major part of the diet for many Indigenous communities in Alaska. Eating fish contaminated with mercury can lead to serious health problems.

Why This Matters

This study shows how climate change is not just about warmer temperatures—it’s also causing toxic substances to be released into our environment. The Yukon River Basin is a major waterway, and what happens here can affect larger ecosystems and even the Arctic Ocean. If we don’t address this issue, the mercury released from permafrost could have far-reaching effects on both wildlife and people.

What We Can Do

Understanding how climate change is impacting our world is the first step in taking action. This study highlights the importance of monitoring these changes and finding ways to reduce the risks. We need to pay attention to what’s happening in the Arctic and support efforts to protect our environment.

Summing Up

The melting of permafrost in the Yukon River Basin is releasing mercury into our environment, which poses serious risks to both nature and human health. As climate change continues to accelerate, it’s crucial that we understand these impacts and work together to find solutions. By staying informed and taking action, we can help protect our planet for future generations.

Call to Action

If you care about the environment and want to learn more about how climate change is affecting our world, read our weekly articles and follow us on X.com. Together, we can make a difference.

Study referenced: Smith, M. I., Ke, Y., Geyman, E. C., Reahl, J. N., Douglas, M. M., Seelen, E. A., Magyar, J. S., Dunne, K. B. J., Mutter, E. A., Fischer, W. W., Lamb, M. P., & West, A. J. (2024). Mercury stocks in discontinuous permafrost and their mobilization by river migration in the Yukon River Basin. Environmental Research Letters, 19(8), 084041. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad536e

Annual Planetary Temperature Continues to Rise

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More than 500 scientists from 61 countries have again measured the annual planetary temperature. The diagnosis is not good.

Wildfire strikes Bandipur national park, one of India’s prime tiger reserves. Image: By NaveenNkadalaveni, via Wikimedia Commons

August 17, 2020 by Tim Radford, Climate News Network (CC BY-ND 4.0)

LONDON, 17 August, 2020 – Despite global promises to act on climate change, the Earth continues to warm. The annual planetary temperature confirms that the last 10 years were on average 0.2°C warmer than the first 10 years of this century. And each decade since 1980 has been warmer than the decade that preceded it.

The year 2019 was also one of the three warmest years since formal temperature records began in the 19th century. The only warmer years – in some datasets but not all – were 2016 and 2015. And all the years since 2013 have been warmer than all other years in the last 170.

The link with fossil fuel combustion remains unequivocal: carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere increased by 2.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2019 alone. These now stand at 409 ppm. The global average for most of human history has hovered around 285 ppm.

Two more greenhouse gases – nitrous oxide and methane, both of them more short-lived – also increased measurably.

This millennium has been warmer than any comparable period since the Industrial Revolution.”

—Robert Dunn, of the UK Met Office

The study, in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is a sobering chronicle of the impact of climate change in the decade 2010-2019 and the year 2019 itself. It is the 30th such report, it is signed by 528 experts from 61 countries, and it is a catalogue of unwelcome records achieved and uncomfortable extremes surpassed.

July 2019 was the hottest month on record. Record high temperatures were measured in more than a dozen nations across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. In North America, Alaska scored its hottest year on record.

The Arctic as a whole was warmer than in any year except 2016. Australia achieved a new nationally average daily temperature high of 41.9°C on 18 December, breaking the previous 2013 record by 1.6°C. But even Belgium and the Netherlands saw temperatures higher than 40°C.

For the 32nd consecutive year, the world’s alpine glaciers continued to get smaller and retreat further uphill. For the first time on record in inland Alaska, when measured at 26 sites, the active layer of permafrost failed to freeze completely. In September, sea ice around the Arctic reached a minimum that tied for the second lowest in the 41 years of satellite records.

Catalogue of Extremes

Global sea levels set a new high for the eighth consecutive year and are now 87.6mm higher than the 1993 average, when satellite records began. At a depth of 700 metres, ocean temperatures reached new records, and the sea surface temperatures on average were the highest since 2016.

Drought conditions led to catastrophic wildfires in Australia, in Indonesia, Siberia and in the southern Amazon forests of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. And around the equator, meteorologists catalogued 96 named tropical storms: the average for 1981 to 2010 was 82. In the North Atlantic, just one storm, Hurricane Dorian, killed 70 people and caused $3.4bn (£2.6bn) in damage in the Bahamas.

“This millennium has been warmer than any comparable period since the Industrial Revolution. A number of extreme events, such as wildfires, heatwaves and droughts, have at least part of their root linked to the rise in global temperature,” said Robert Dunn, of the UK Met Office, one of the contributors.

“And of course the rise in global temperature is linked to another climate indicator, the ongoing rise in emissions in greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.” – Climate News Network

The Last Cast –Sportsmen Fight to Save Bristol Bay

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This beautiful video will sweep you into the incredible landscape of Bristol Bay, Alaska and give you a taste of why anglers “are spoiled forever” after fishing in Bristol Bay’s productive waters. “It’s the place people dream to fish.” And, it explains why sportsmen are fighting so hard to protect this last vestige of wild in the United States from an open-pit mine of “unimaginable size” called Pebble. As they say, it’s go time. Take action now: www.savebristolbay.org.

Produced by Alaskaflyout.com.