Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 27 July 2026 · From issue 12
Warming is releasing trapped mercury, making Antarctic waters a growing mercury hotspot.
Chengzhen Zhou, Maodian Liu et al., Climate warming and atmospheric deposition jointly accelerate the Antarctic Peninsula atmosphere-glacier-land-ocean mercury loop, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Mercury is a toxic metal that harms wildlife and people. It is building up on the sea floor near the Antarctic Peninsula, the part of Antarctica warming fastest. Scientists studied 16 sediment cores and built a model tracking mercury for 200 years. They found mercury buildup has grown by 160% since industrial times, twice the world's average shelf rate. Warming is melting ice and eroding land, which releases old mercury that had been trapped for over a century.
The rise in mercury buildup on the Antarctic Peninsula shelf since industrialization began.
Based on 16 sediment cores and a model, not direct wildlife data.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 28 July 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Read the source
This screen checks process signals. It does not tell you the findings are true.