Oceanic Mercury Pollution Causing Atmospheric Contamination

Excess amounts of mercury entering the atmosphere as part of a global flow are coming from the world's oceans, according to a study by environmental scientists. The researchers used a coupled atmosphere-land-ocean model system to estimate levels of mercury around the globe and in the atmosphere, and found that their model showed 40% more mercury entering the atmosphere each year than previous reference models. The team suggests that the higher levels of mercury in the atmosphere could be putting people at risk and more work is required to isolate pockets of high levels of mercury and then to clean it up.