A study suggests that vegetation that establishes in areas exposed by glacier retreat effectively takes up elemental mercury from the atmosphere, resulting in sequestration of more mercury in such vegetation over the long term than that released by retreating glaciers, a phenomenon not accounted for in current global mercury models that likely substantially influences global mercury cycling, according to the authors.
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Article #19-06930: "Global warming accelerates uptake of atmospheric mercury in regions experiencing glacier retreat," by Xun Wang et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Xin-Bin Feng, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, CHINA; tel: +86-13984097217; e-mail: < fengxinbin@vip.skleg.cn >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences