A new research has revealed that the Alpine glaciers which are melting because of climate change are also releasing highly toxic pollutants. These pollutants have... More Below...
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A new research has revealed that the Alpine glaciers which are melting because of climate change are also releasing highly toxic pollutants. These pollutants have been absorbed by the glaciers for decades.
Swiss researchers warned in a study abstract published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that this might have a “dire environmental impact” on “pristine mountain areas” as global warming accelerates.
According to the researchers at three Swiss scientific institutes, atmospheric currents have caused much of the pollution to be dumped on Europe’s biggest mountain range.
The researchers studied layers of sediment from an Alpine lake formed by a hydroelectric dam that was built in central Switzerland in 1953. They found “sharp” build-ups of now banned chemical compounds that come from industry and farming such as dioxins and pesticides like DDT.
Christian Bogdal, of the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research, one of the authors said, “We can confirm with the help of these layers that, in the 1960s and 1970s, POPs (Persistant Organic Pollutants) were produced in great quantities and were also deposited in this Alpine lake.”
(via AFP)
A new research has revealing that the Alpine glaciers which are melting because of climate change are releasing highly toxic pollutants. These pollutants have been absorbed by the glaciers for decades.
Swiss researchers warned in a study abstract published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that this might have a “dire environmental impact” on “pristine mountain areas” as global warming accelerates.
According to the researchers at three Swiss scientific institutes, atmospheric currents have caused much of the pollution to be dumped on Europe’s biggest mountain range.
The researchers studied layers of sediment from an Alpine lake formed by a hydroelectric dam that was built in central Switzerland in 1953. They found “sharp” build-ups of now banned chemical compounds that come from industry and farming such as dioxins and pesticides like DDT.
Christian Bogdal, of the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research, one of the authors said, “We can confirm with the help of these layers that, in the 1960s and 1970s, POPs (Persistant Organic Pollutants) were produced in great quantities and were also deposited in this Alpine lake.”
(via AFP)
