Mercury, Coming to an Ocean near You

With climate change still on the rise, the Arctic permafrost continues to thaw. And as the permafrost thaws, they release their carbon reserves which then contributes back to climate change, creating a vicious cycle that worsens with every repeat of the cycle. What a study published in Geophysical Research Letters found was that alongside the carbon the thawing of the permafrost releases, mercury is being released as well. According to Paul Schuster, a research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and one of the study authors, “[The] Arctic permafrost holds about 793 gigagrams of mercury—more than 15 million gallons, or the equivalent of about 23 Olympic swimming pools.” He then goes on to say that combined with the layer of soil above it, “[they] together contain nearly twice as much [mercury] as all the other soils, the ocean and the atmosphere combined.” The study predicts that by the year 2100, between 30 and 99 percent of the Arctic's permafrost will have thawed, potentially releasing a large portion of the mercury and carbon stored inside.

       The biggest concern is that if even a small percent of that mercury gets released, it could take a form harmful to both humans and marine wildlife. In this form, the level of mercury in fish would rise, limiting off more fish species to pregnant children and young children, and possibly forbidding some species to everyone. Fish aren't the only ones affected by the potential increase in ocean mercury levels. Fish-eating birds that, in a separate study, had higher mercury levels were found to lay fewer smaller eggs, to be more lethargic than normal ducks, and to be lousy parents. Who knows what else could happen?

 Article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-arctic-permafrost-holds-a-crazy-amount-of-mercury-mdash-and-thats-bad-news/

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