Deforestation as an Anthropogenic Driver of Mercury Pollution
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DeforestHg_Manuscript_AF_EST_Dspace_merged.pdf
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2.3 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
65cec20b4877c234999b932118903340
Author(s)
Feinberg, Aryeh
Jiskra, Martin
Borrelli, Pasquale
Biswakarma, Jagannath
Selin, Noelle E.
Date Issued
February 8, 2024
Journal
Environmental Science & Technology
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Citation
Feinberg, Aryeh, Jiskra, Martin, Borrelli, Pasquale, Biswakarma, Jagannath and Selin, Noelle E. 2024. "Deforestation as an Anthropogenic Driver of Mercury Pollution." Environmental Science & Technology.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Deforestation reduces the capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to take up toxic pollutant mercury (Hg) and enhances the release of secondary Hg from soils. The consequences of deforestation for Hg cycling are not currently considered by anthropogenic emission inventories or specifically addressed under the global Minamata Convention on Mercury. Using global Hg modeling constrained by field observations, we estimate that net Hg fluxes to the atmosphere due to deforestation are 217 Mg year–1 (95% confidence interval (CI): 134–1650 Mg year–1) for 2015, approximately 10% of global primary anthropogenic emissions. If deforestation of the Amazon rainforest continues at business-as-usual rates, net Hg emissions from the region will increase by 153 Mg year–1 by 2050 (CI: 97–418 Mg year–1), enhancing the transport and subsequent deposition of Hg to aquatic ecosystems. Substantial Hg emissions reductions are found for two potential cases of land use policies: conservation of the Amazon rainforest (92 Mg year–1, 95% CI: 59–234 Mg year–1) and global reforestation (98 Mg year–1, 95% CI: 64–449 Mg year–1). We conclude that deforestation-related emissions should be incorporated as an anthropogenic source in Hg inventories and that land use policy could be leveraged to address global Hg pollution.
Subjects
Environmental Chemistry
General Chemistry
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c07851
