Noril'sk only a minor contributor to Arctic haze

Abstract

The Arctic atmosphere contains considerable pollution aerosol during winter1–4. Although the main source areas of this material, known commonly as ‘Arctic haze’, are not yet known with certainty, chemical and meteorological evidence points increasingly to Eurasia5,6. Aerosol of the North American Arctic seems to come mostly from the central Soviet Union, while aerosol of the Norwegian Arctic comes primarily from Europe and the western Soviet Union2,5–8. Interestingly, pollution sources within the Arctic seem to be generally unimportant regionally. One possible exception is the copper/nickel-smelting complex at Noril'sk, in the Soviet Union (69.4° N, 88.5° E), which is a strong, isolated source near one of the major atmospheric pathways to the Arctic8. The nearest strong sources upwind along this pathway lie at roughly 55° N and 70° E, or 1,500 km south and west. On the basis of its sulphur dioxide emissions, Noril'sk has been suggested to be a major source of Arctic sulphate aerosol9. Using trace elements, we have recently detected the Noril'sk plume at Barrow, Alaska, and now use the resulting data to show that Noril'sk is not a major contributor to Arctic sulphate.