Climate Change Could Result in Contaminant Spread in the High Arctic, McGill Study Finds

Warming temperatures and increased precipitation in the Canadian High Arctic are mobilizing new pathways for subsurface contaminants to spread from more than 2,500 contaminated sites associated with industrial and military sites across the region.

The pathways are routes for groundwater to discharge to rivers and lakes, a process which the researchers predict will eventually take place year-round. During the Arctic winter, the ground is frozen, and groundwater does not flow. But, during the warmer summer, shallow groundwater is mobilized and may enhance the migration of contaminants. Groundwater discharge is the process by which water moves from underground aquifers to surface lakes or rivers.

The study, published in Hydrological Processes, focused on the BAF-3 radar station on Brevoort Island, Nunavut. The station is one of 21 Cold War-era radar installation sites in northern Canada that are still contaminated by industrial waste. BAF-3 is still in use as part of the North Warning System, a joint Canada-U.S. air defence network.

Read more at: McGill University

Source: ENN