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Climate change influence on the levels and trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of emerging Arctic concern (CEACs) in the Arctic physical environment – a review
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This review examined how climate change is reshaping the movement and distribution of persistent organic pollutants and emerging contaminants across Arctic environments, including air, ice, permafrost, and water. Researchers found that melting permafrost, retreating sea ice, and changing precipitation patterns are releasing stored contaminants and altering how chemicals circulate through the Arctic. The study identifies microplastics as an emerging Arctic contamination concern that needs more research attention.
Climate change brings about significant changes in the physical environment in the Arctic. Increasing temperatures, sea ice retreat, slumping permafrost, changing sea ice regimes, glacial loss and changes in precipitation patterns can all affect how contaminants distribute within the Arctic environment and subsequently impact the Arctic ecosystems. In this review, we summarized observed evidence of the influence of climate change on contaminant circulation and transport among various Arctic environment media, including air, ice, snow, permafrost, fresh water and the marine environment. We have also drawn on parallel examples observed in Antarctica and the Tibetan Plateau, to broaden the discussion on how climate change may influence contaminant fate in similar cold-climate ecosystems. Significant knowledge gaps on indirect effects of climate change on contaminants in the Arctic environment, including those of extreme weather events, increase in forests fires, and enhanced human activities leading to new local contaminant emissions, have been identified. Enhanced mobilization of contaminants to marine and freshwater ecosystems has been observed as a result of climate change, but better linkages need to be made between these observed effects with subsequent exposure and accumulation of contaminants in biota. Emerging issues include those of Arctic contamination by microplastics and higher molecular weight halogenated natural products (hHNPs) and the implications of such contamination in a changing Arctic environment is explored.
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Climate change influence on the levels and trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of emerging Arctic concern (CEACs) in the Arctic physical environment – a review
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines how climate change affects the distribution of persistent organic pollutants and emerging contaminants in Arctic environments, finding that warming temperatures, permafrost thaw, and ice loss are mobilizing contaminants including microplastics into marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Climate change influence on the levels and trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of emerging Arctic concern (CEACs) in the Arctic physical environment – a review
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines how climate change in the Arctic is altering the distribution and environmental fate of persistent organic pollutants and other emerging chemicals of concern, finding that warming, sea ice loss, and permafrost thaw are remobilizing historically deposited contaminants and changing their transport pathways.
Adsorption of Organic Pollutants in Microplastic in the Arctic Ocean
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This Arctic study investigated adsorption of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) onto different plastic types (polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene) across summer and winter seasons, finding that plastics in cold polar waters can accumulate significant concentrations of harmful organic chemicals, potentially transferring these toxins through the food chain.
The problem of Microplastic Accumulation in the Arctic Ocean
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This review highlights the emerging threat of microplastic accumulation in the rapidly warming Arctic Ocean, documenting MP presence in seawater, sediments, sea ice, and marine organisms and identifying the Arctic as a convergence zone for plastic pollution transported by ocean currents.
Cryosphere as a temporal sink and source of microplastics in the Arctic region
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This review examined the Arctic cryosphere as both a sink and source of microplastics, showing that sea ice, snow, and permafrost store significant quantities of microplastics that are increasingly released into the environment as climate warming accelerates.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.