Melting Glaciers: A Major Source of Persistent Organochlorines to Subalpine Bow Lake in Banff National Park, Canada

Blais, Jules M.; Schindler, D. W.; Muir, Derek C. G.; Sharp, Martin; Donald, David C.; Lafrenière, Melissa J.; Braekevelt, Eric; Strachan, William M. J.

doi:10.1639/0044-7447(2001)030[0410:mgamso]2.0.co;2

Cited by 15 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Others present evidence that accelerated polar melting of snow, ice, and permafrost, as well as altered organic carbon cycling and metabolism, could remobilize and increase levels of archived pollutants and enhance their air to sea exchange (Blais et al, 2001;Macdonald et al, 2003;Magnuson et al, 1997;Meyer and Wania, 2008;Schindler et al, 1997). Climate change is also expected to result in the greater use of pesticides in regions experiencing increases in arable lands and expansion of pest pressures (Chen and McCarl, 2001;Reilly et al, 2001Reilly et al, , 2003.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Glaciers have also acted as long-term sinks for POPs and melting of this ice is expected to remobilize these archived pollutants (Fig. 1, Legend Item F) (Blais et al, 2001). However, pollutant remobilization from glaciers may not be a major influence on the overall POP budget in Arctic ecosystems.…”

Section: Altered Fate and Behavior Of Popsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, pollutant remobilization from glaciers may not be a major influence on the overall POP budget in Arctic ecosystems. One exception is DDT, for which Arctic glacial melt is projected to be a significant climate-modulated source (Blais et al, 2001).…”

Section: Altered Fate and Behavior Of Popsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The toxicology of climate change: Environmental contaminants in a warming world

Noyes

McElwee

Miller

et al. 2009

Environment International

969

569

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change induced by anthropogenic warming of the earth's atmosphere is a daunting problem. This review examines one of the consequences of climate change that has only recently attracted attention: namely, the effects of climate change on the environmental distribution and toxicity of chemical pollutants. A review was undertaken of the scientific literature (original research articles, reviews, government and intergovernmental reports) focusing on the interactions of toxicants with the environmental parameters, temperature, precipitation, and salinity, as altered by climate change. Three broad classes of chemical toxicants of global significance were the focus: air pollutants, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including some organochlorine pesticides, and other classes of pesticides. Generally, increases in temperature will enhance the toxicity of contaminants and increase concentrations of tropospheric ozone regionally, but will also likely increase rates of chemical degradation. While further research is needed, climate change coupled with air pollutant exposures may have potentially serious adverse consequences for human health in urban and polluted regions. Climate change producing alterations in: food webs, lipid dynamics, ice and snow melt, and organic carbon cycling could result in increased POP levels in water, soil, and biota. There is also compelling evidence that increasing temperatures could be deleterious to pollutant-exposed wildlife. For example, elevated water temperatures may alter the biotransformation of contaminants to more bioactive metabolites and impair homeostasis. The complex interactions between climate change and pollutants may be particularly problematic for species living at the edge of their physiological tolerance range where acclimation capacity may be limited. In addition to temperature increases, regional precipitation patterns are projected to be altered with climate change. Regions subject to decreases in precipitation may experience enhanced volatilization of POPs and pesticides to the atmosphere. Reduced precipitation will also increase air pollution in urbanized regions resulting in negative health effects, which may be exacerbated by temperature increases. Regions subject to increased precipitation will have lower levels of air pollution, but will likely experience enhanced surface deposition of airborne POPs and increased run-off of pesticides. Moreover, increases in the intensity and frequency of storm events linked to climate change could lead to more severe episodes of chemical contamination of water bodies and surrounding watersheds. Changes in salinity may affect aquatic organisms as an independent stressor as well as by altering the bioavailability and in some instances increasing the toxicity of chemicals. A paramount issue will be to identify species and populations especially vulnerable to climate-pollutant interactions, in the context of the many other physical, chemical, and biological stressors that will be altered with climate change. Moreover, it w...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Altered Fate and Behavior Of Popsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The toxicology of climate change: Environmental contaminants in a warming world

Noyes

McElwee

Miller

et al. 2009

Environment International

969

569

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is not unexpected that alpine glacial meltwater contains NO 3 -, as glaciers accumulate a range of atmospherically delivered chemicals (12,33). NO 3 -is also among the first ions to elute from melting glacier ice (34).…”

Section: Low Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Less is known, however, about how changes in the influx of glacial meltwater affect the chemistry (11) and biota of lake ecosystems. In the Canadian Rockies, melting alpine glaciers release concentrated organic pesticides into lake ecosystems and contribute 50-97% of the organochlorine inputs to these systems, resulting in higher concentrations relative to nonglacial lakes (12). In the southern Rocky Mountains of North America, an area with relatively high atmospheric reactive N (Nr) deposition (4-8 kg N ha -1 yr -1 ), meltwaters from ice and rock glaciers have elevated nitrate concentrations (13).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melting Alpine Glaciers Enrich High-Elevation Lakes with Reactive Nitrogen

Saros

Rose

Clow

et al. 2010

Environ. Sci. Technol.

113

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

See next page for additional authorsFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geosciencefacpub Part of the Earth Sciences CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska -Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Papers in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska -Lincoln. Alpine glaciers have receded substantially over the last century in many regions of the world. Resulting changes in glacial runoff not only affect the hydrological cycle, but can also alter the physical (i.e., turbidity from glacial flour) and biogeochemical properties of downstream ecosystems. Here we compare nutrient concentrations, transparency gradients, algal biomass, and fossil diatom species richness in two sets of high-elevation lakes: those fed by snowpack melt alone (SF lakes) and those fed by both glacial and snowpack meltwaters (GSF lakes). We found that nitrate (NO 3 -) concentrations in the GSF lakes were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than in SF lakes. Although nitrogen (N) limitation is common in alpine lakes, algal biomass was lower in highly N-enriched GSF lakes than in the N-poor SF lakes. Contrary to expectations, GSF lakes were more transparent than SF lakes to ultraviolet and equally transparent to photosynthetically active radiation. Sediment diatom assemblages had lower taxonomic richness in the GSF lakes, a feature that has persisted over the last century. Our results demonstrate that the presence of glaciers on alpine watersheds more strongly influences NO 3 -concentrations in high-elevation lake ecosystems than any other geomorphic or biogeographic characteristic. Melting Alpine Glaciers Enrich High-Elevation Lakes with Reactive Nitrogen

show abstract

Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Sediments of Lochnagar

Muir

Rose

Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Melting Glaciers: A Major Source of Persistent Organochlorines to Subalpine Bow Lake in Banff National Park, Canada

Cited by 15 publications

References 12 publications

The toxicology of climate change: Environmental contaminants in a warming world

The toxicology of climate change: Environmental contaminants in a warming world

Melting Alpine Glaciers Enrich High-Elevation Lakes with Reactive Nitrogen

Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Sediments of Lochnagar

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About