October 12, 2015

The inexhaustible stream of ominous news related to climate change continues. A study published in the journal Science found that ancient methylating bacteria, dormant for thousands of years in the Arctic permafrost, may become active and begin transforming inert mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants long accumulated in parts of Asia, Europe and North America into methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin.

The danger cannot be overstated. The contaminated abundant groundwater will eventually make its way into the many rivers in the area and the ocean. Land and marine wildlife will drink the poisonous water and methylmercury will get into the food chain. The extent to which that will affect humans is not yet known, but the potential is obvious. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) previously studied this phenomenon back in the late 1990s and early 2000’s in connection with acid rain.