Industrial revolution and atmospheric contamination in Himalayas

A study examines toxic metals in the Himalayas following the European Industrial Revolution. Few ice core records from the Himalayas exist and, therefore, the onset of human impact on the mountain range is unclear. To determine how anthropogenic activity since the European Industrial Revolution, which began around 1780, may have affected the Himalayas, Paolo Gabrielli and colleagues analyzed trace element concentrations in an ice core from the Dasuopu glacier. The authors found records of 23 trace metals that accumulated in the ice between 1499 and 1992. Peak element concentrations occurred during winter and spring. Antimony, cadmium, chromium, molybdenum, nickel, and zinc began accumulating around the beginning of the European Industrial Revolution. Between 1810 and 1880, fine fly ash from western European coal combustion transported by intense winter westerlies may have also contributed to the accumulation of atmospheric toxic metals deposited with snow. The authors posit that an increase in biomass-burning emissions from Northern Hemisphere deforestation may have also contributed to the accumulation of contaminants in trace amounts. Lower-than-expected levels of toxic metal were recorded after 1880, suggesting that changes in atmospheric circulation throughout the decades may help explain the influence of anthropogenic emissions on the troposphere in the Himalayas, according to the authors.

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Article #19-10485: “Early atmospheric contamination on the top of the Himalayas since the onset of the European Industrial Revolution,” by Paolo Gabrielli et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Paolo Gabrielli, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; tel: 614-292-6664; email: <

[email protected]

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