Credit: F. LANTING/CORBIS

Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10, 2457–2465 (2010)

During the summer, ship emissions are the primary anthropogenic source of ground-level sulphur pollution in parts of Antarctica. This is due, in large part, to growing tourism (pictured).

Hans Graf of the University of Cambridge, UK, and his group used an existing air-pollution inventory to model sulphur and black-carbon deposition across Antarctica from April 2004 to March 2005. The model includes sulphur emitted by ships, generators and vehicles at scientific base stations, as well as gases from the volcano Mount Erebus.

The model suggests that summer sulphur emissions from human activities — nearly equal in amount to pollution from Mount Erebus in December 2004 — remain airborne for two weeks before falling out along coastal areas, particularly around bases and shipping lanes. Sulphur is not at dangerous levels in Antarctica, but current deposition patterns may be representative of other, more toxic, man-made pollutants, the researchers say.