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A new collaborative research project will attempt to characterize the complex dynamics of mercury in some of the Earth's northernmost and most fragile ecosystems. Mercury is a neurotoxic element found naturally in the environment, but human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, mining, smelting and waste combustion have increased global atmospheric mercury pollution by a factor of three to five over the last 150 years. That increased pollution can then be transported thousands of miles through the atmosphere to fragile ecosystems in the Arctic. [Source: Desert Research Institute]
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