An expedition site in northern Canada for collecting ice cores. (Alison Criscitiello via SWNS)
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Evidence of widespread air pollution from early 20th century copper production has been revealed hidden in Arctic ice .
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A member of the research team with a freshly drilled ice core during a field expedition to Greenland. (Joe McConnell / DRI via SWNS)
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Study author Kira Holland analyzing ice cores in the DRI Ice Core Lab for this research. (Alison Criscitiello via SWNS)
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Left: A graph showing the rise and fall of arsenic, antimony, lead, and bismuth levels recorded in Arctic ice cores between 1850 and 2015. The red line shows copper production at the Anaconda Copper Mine. Although declines were delayed by nearly a decade due to lax government regulations, arsenic pollution was greatly reduced by the 1919-1923 phased installation of pollution controls. Right: An atmospheric circulation model demonstrating the spread of Anaconda MineÂs air pollution across North America and potential health implications. (DRI via SWNS)
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Researcher Derek Pickell admiring a backlit snowpit showing the layers of snow that compress into the Greenland ice sheet. These layers, which build up year after year and can be read back in time like tree rings, provide valuable information about past environmental processes such pollution, volcanism, and forest fires. (Nathan Chellman via SWNS)
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Study co-author Nathan Chellman and Jihong Cole-Dai (South Dakota State University) process a freshly drilled ice core during a Greenland expedition near Summit Station. (Derek Pickell via SWNS)
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