LANZHOU, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A study led by Chinese scientists to develop a mercury (Hg) dataset derived from air, aerosols, glaciers, soils and other environmental samples over the country's Qinghai-Xizang Plateau is expected to provide scientific support for environmental policymaking.
The dataset is essential for risk assessment and mitigation of mercury pollution at both global and regional scales, said the researchers on Wednesday.
The study was conducted by a joint team from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanxi University, and the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan and Lanzhou University, with the findings published in the journal Earth System Science Data.
The researchers believe the plateau -- known as the world's Third Pole -- plays a pivotal role in the cycling of trace elements at both regional and global scales. Mercury, a toxic heavy metal of global concern, has garnered increasing attention due to its detrimental effects on environmental and human health.
According to Kang Shichang, a researcher at NIEER and leader of the study, large-scale atmospheric circulation facilitates the long-range transport of atmospheric Hg pollutants, which can subsequently be deposited across the Third Pole.
"Over recent decades, our Atmospheric Pollution and Cryospheric Change (APCC) program has established and sustained an integrated monitoring network throughout this region to systematically examine the interactions between Hg biogeochemical cycling and cryospheric changes," the researcher noted.
Kang added that the dataset is made publicly available to support interdisciplinary research linking the cryosphere, atmosphere, soils, and hydrology, which improves predictions of Hg cycling in cryospheric environments and evaluates its impacts under rapid climate warming and cryospheric shrinking. ■
