Warming Earth ‘could mean more toxins in environment’

LONDON - There seems to be one more addition to the already known repercussions of global warming-more toxins in the environment, suggests a new research.

Scientists have warned that global warming may be making pesticide residues, heavy metals and household chemicals more dangerous to fish, wildlife and, ultimately, humans, reports Nature.

Environmental chemists have warned that complex interactions between chemistry and climate change might be making chemicals more toxic and the environment more susceptible to damage.

Erin Mann, of the University of Toronto in Scarborough, said that melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean exposes more seawater to the atmosphere, which may make it easier for toxic chemicals in arctic waters to escape into the air.

“So global warming could produce more air pollution in the arctic,” she said.

Theodore Valenti, of the US National Research Council noted that climate change would cause differences in the movement, quality and distribution of water that could affect stream acidity all over the world.

Will Clements, of the Colorado State University in Fort Collins, noted that warming in the Rocky Mountains is expected to reduce the mass of lying snow, thus decreasing summer run-off.

This, in turn, will lower the depth and turbidity of water in mountain streams, increasing the amount of damaging ultraviolet light that reaches the stream beds.

To investigate this effect, Clements and his team placed screens over small segments of a dozen mountain streams to block ultraviolet light, and left them there for 60 days.

At the end of that time, the team found higher populations of stoneflies, mayflies and caddis flies in the screened segments than in adjacent unscreened ones. (ANI)