Department of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate, Institute of Physical Chemistry Rocasolano, CSIC, Serrano 119, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries vej 30, Copenhagen Ø, 2100, Denmark.
Nat Commun. 2018 Apr 13;9(1):1452. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03756-1.
Atmospheric iodine causes tropospheric ozone depletion and aerosol formation, both of which have significant climate impacts, and is an essential dietary element for humans. However, the evolution of atmospheric iodine levels at decadal and centennial scales is unknown. Here, we report iodine concentrations in the RECAP ice-core (coastal East Greenland) to investigate how atmospheric iodine levels in the North Atlantic have evolved over the past 260 years (1750-2011), this being the longest record of atmospheric iodine in the Northern Hemisphere. The levels of iodine tripled from 1950 to 2010. Our results suggest that this increase is driven by anthropogenic ozone pollution and enhanced sub-ice phytoplankton production associated with the recent thinning of Arctic sea ice. Increasing atmospheric iodine has accelerated ozone loss and has considerably enhanced iodine transport and deposition to the Northern Hemisphere continents. Future climate and anthropogenic forcing may continue to amplify oceanic iodine emissions with potentially significant health and environmental impacts at global scale.
大气碘会导致对流层臭氧消耗和气溶胶形成，这两者都对气候有重大影响，并且是人类必需的膳食元素。然而，大气碘水平在几十年和几百年的时间尺度上的演化情况尚不清楚。在这里，我们报告了 RECAP 冰芯（格陵兰东海岸）中的碘浓度，以研究过去 260 年（1750-2011 年）北大西洋大气碘水平的演变情况，这是北半球最长的大气碘记录。碘的浓度在 1950 年到 2010 年期间增加了两倍。我们的研究结果表明，这种增加是由人为臭氧污染以及与北极海冰变薄相关的增强的冰下浮游植物生产所驱动的。大气中碘的增加加速了臭氧的消耗，并大大增强了碘向北半球大陆的输送和沉积。未来的气候和人为强迫可能会继续放大海洋碘的排放，从而在全球范围内对健康和环境产生潜在的重大影响。
