Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty
The Minamata Convention aims to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury. In the present study, the provisions of the Minamata Convention are examined to assess their influence on global biogeochemical cycling of Hg. Although the convention's...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Wiley Blackwell
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/93238 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-5622 |
| _version_ | 1811073350108184576 |
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| author | Selin, Noelle Eckley |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Selin, Noelle Eckley |
| author_sort | Selin, Noelle Eckley |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The Minamata Convention aims to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury. In the present study, the provisions of the Minamata Convention are examined to assess their influence on global biogeochemical cycling of Hg. Although the convention's scope covers all major categories of atmospheric emissions, the degree to which it will affect future emissions trajectories remains unclear. A box model analysis shows that future global biogeochemical cycling under projected technological provisions would result mainly in avoided increases and that estimated differences in atmospheric concentrations resulting from policies would be on the order of 1% to 2% per year. Present experience suggests that scientific knowledge is not currently sufficient to attribute causes to changes of this magnitude. Enhancements to capacity to measure the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention are suggested, including both measurement and modeling. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:31:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/93238 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:31:41Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Wiley Blackwell |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/932382022-09-30T15:01:08Z Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty Selin, Noelle Eckley Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Selin, Noelle Eckley The Minamata Convention aims to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury. In the present study, the provisions of the Minamata Convention are examined to assess their influence on global biogeochemical cycling of Hg. Although the convention's scope covers all major categories of atmospheric emissions, the degree to which it will affect future emissions trajectories remains unclear. A box model analysis shows that future global biogeochemical cycling under projected technological provisions would result mainly in avoided increases and that estimated differences in atmospheric concentrations resulting from policies would be on the order of 1% to 2% per year. Present experience suggests that scientific knowledge is not currently sufficient to attribute causes to changes of this magnitude. Enhancements to capacity to measure the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention are suggested, including both measurement and modeling. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Atmospheric Chemistry Program Award 1053648) 2015-01-30T19:03:44Z 2015-01-30T19:03:44Z 2014-04 2013-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 07307268 1552-8618 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/93238 Selin, Noelle E. “Global Change and Mercury Cycling: Challenges for Implementing a Global Mercury Treaty.” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33, no. 6 (June 2014): 1202–1210. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-5622 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/etc.2374 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Wiley Blackwell MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Selin, Noelle Eckley Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| title | Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| title_full | Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| title_fullStr | Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| title_short | Global change and mercury cycling: Challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| title_sort | global change and mercury cycling challenges for implementing a global mercury treaty |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/93238 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6396-5622 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT selinnoelleeckley globalchangeandmercurycyclingchallengesforimplementingaglobalmercurytreaty |