Jonathan Patz is a climate change expert from the University of Wisconsin. His opinion on this topic highlights the importance of recognizing that climate change is about our health and changes impacts can impact our health in several ways. Some of those pathways are heat, vector-borne diseases, pollution, and more. The health risks due to climate ...
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Climate Change is making its presence known with the impact that is happening when it comes to human and animal health. The Arctic has noticeably warmed up over the last decade and is not showing any signs of stopping. A recent study concluded that the temperature had seen a three times faster rise when it comes ...
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In the Arctic and Europe owing to climate-induced changes in contaminant cycling ArcRisk is an international EU funded research activity that is looking at the linkages between environmental contaminants, climate change and human health – aimed at supporting European policy development in these areas. The Arctic setting provides unique opportunities for research in these fields. All ...
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The Baltic Sea is located in the transition zone between continental and maritime climates and is one of the largest brackish waters in the world. It is recognized to be a sensitive and unique ecosystem which, like the Arctic, is vulnerable to climate change-induced effects. Impact of climate change on POPs in the Arctic and the ...
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Several field campaigns have been carried out as a part of the ArcRisk project. Data from these campaigns have been used for validation of models and to investigate transport processes, especially the link between abiotic and biotic environment. Transfer of POPs from abiotic matrices into biota is an important process, but there are few studies available ...
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Highest POPs concentrations in Arctic environments have been found in marine organisms due to bioaccumulation along the Arctic marine food webs. However, the transfer from the abiotic into the biotic compartment of the Arctic ecosystems depend on physical-chemical properties of the compound, the composition of the abiotic medium, as well as exchange processes with the organisms ...
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Human exposure to environmental pollutants occurs via the air, water and not the least, via the food we eat. How much pollutant one is exposed to depend on factors such as where we live and our habits. Seafood and fish from high up in the food web is an important exposure route for many contaminants. If ...
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Effects of climate change on the food-web structure can have large consequences for the bioaccumulation of POPs. These can be bottom-up effects, in which changes in the abundance of primary producers influence the relative abundance of biota at higher trophic levels. They can also be top-down effects, where changes in the abundance of predators influence the ...
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Environmental contaminants are emitted un-/intentionally. Pesticides are a classic example of intentional release of a toxic chemical to the environment. Other chemicals are released unintentionally to the environment e.g. by-products from industries. Furthermore, contamination from historical use may still be a source of emissions, e.g. via contaminated sediments and land. The further fate of the contaminant ...
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A number of contaminants are present the Arctic environment even though they have never been used or emitted there. The main pathway of persistent substances from source areas in e.g. Europe is via atmospheric transport and deposition. Another transport pathway of contaminants to Arctic is via the ocean currents. Long-term monitoring of POPs in the air ...
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