The melting of permafrost in the Arctic could result in toxic mercury leaching into the waters of Alaskan rivers, putting millions of people at risk.
This “giant mercury bomb” lurks within the soils of permafrost in Alaska, which is slowly melting and being washed away by rivers such as the Yukon River, according to a new paper in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
This leaking of toxic metals into rivers may endanger many of the 5 million people who live within the Arctic Circle worldwide, especially the 3 million who live in areas where permafrost is predicted to totally vanish by the year 2050.
“There could be this giant mercury bomb in the Arctic waiting to explode,” study co-author Josh West, a professor …