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Climate Change Influence on Migration of Contaminants in the Arctic Marine Environment

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Impact of Climate Changes on Marine Environments

Part of the book series: GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences ((GEPS))

Abstract

The Arctic is particularly vulnerable to environmental changes connected to climate change. Most of assessments of the climate change impact to the Arctic environment concentrate on direct effects to the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. There is little understanding of numerous indirect effects of global change and their impact on cycle of different compounds e.g. man-made substances. The global change effects will not always be predictable but may be abrupt. Environmental changes connected to climate change will influence contaminant transport and migration within the Arctic marine ecosystem. Main effects of global change will be visible through changes of large scale contaminant transport pathways e.g. air mass transport, ice transport, marine currents transport and the changes of in situ environmental conditions e.g. changes of pH, temperature, oxygen content. In this review article we describe major environmental factors that may influence global transport of contaminants and migration of contaminants within the arctic ecosystem elements. We also discuss possible further changes in contaminant sources and distribution within the Arctic related to global changes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Powstancow Warszawy 55, 81-712, Sopot, Poland

    Anna Pouch & Agata Zaborska

  2. Centre for Polar Studies, National Leading Research Centre, Bedzinska 60, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Anna Pouch

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  1. Anna Pouch
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  2. Agata Zaborska
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Correspondence to Agata Zaborska .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Air-Sea Interactions, Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland

    Tymon Zielinski

  2. Marine ecology, Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland

    Marcin Weslawski

  3. Marine Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland

    Karol Kuliński

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Pouch, A., Zaborska, A. (2015). Climate Change Influence on Migration of Contaminants in the Arctic Marine Environment. In: Zielinski, T., Weslawski, M., Kuliński, K. (eds) Impact of Climate Changes on Marine Environments. GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14283-8_7

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