Arctic pollution

The Arctic definition accepted within the AMAP programme. It covers the terrestrial and marine areas north of the Arctic Circle, north of 62°N in Asia and 60°N in North America, modified to include the marine areas north of the Aleutian chain, Hudson Bay, and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean including the Labrador Sea.

Arctic ecosystems are very sensitive to anthropogenic impact. The Arctic pollution to a considerable extent is connected with contaminants emitted from sources located far away from this region. Peculiar conditions such as geographical position, low temperature, and profound seasonal variations of solar radiation influence the contamination of various components of Arctic ecosystems.

Emission sources of the Northern Hemisphere make the most contribution to the contamination of the Arctic region. Due to the character of atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere emission sources located in Europe and Asia play a dominating role in the contamination of the Arctic.

More detailed information about Arctic pollution you can find in EMEP/MSC-E Technical Report for AMAP "Assessment of long-range transport of Hg, PCBs and g-HCH to the Russian North"

Mercury (Hg)
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB-153)
g-Hexachlorocyclohexane (g-HCH)

Mercury (Hg)

Spatial distribution of mean annual air concentration of total gaseous mercury (TGM), ng/m3
Spatial distribution of total annual deposition of mercury, mg/m2/y
Contribution of different types of sources of the Northern Hemisphere to the annual deposition of mercury to the Arctic. Unidentified sources describe mercury coming through the equator	Seasonal variation of total mercury deposition of to the Arctic. Intervals show difference between two emission scenarios
Contribution of different regions to the annual deposition of mercury to the Arctic from anthropogenic sources	Contribution of different regions to the annual deposition of mercury to the Arctic from natural sources and re-emission

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB-153)

Spatial distribution of mean annual air concentration of PCB-153, ng/m3
Spatial distribution of total annual deposition of PCB-153, mg/m2/y
Contribution of different emission sources to PCB-153 deposition to the Arctic region in 1996	Seasonal variation of relative contributions of different regions to PCB-153 deposition to the Arctic

g-Hexachlorocyclohexane (g-HCH)

g-HCH concentrations in surface atmospheric layer over the Arctic, ng/m³


Mean annual seawater concentration of g-HCH over the Arctic Ocean, ng/l


Contributions of different emission sources to g-HCH deposition to the Arctic region in 1996