Noril'sk only a minor contributor to Arctic haze

Abstract

The Arctic atmosphere contains considerable pollution aerosol during winter^1–4. 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 Eurasia^5,6. 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 Union^2,5–8. 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.