El Niño–Southern Oscillation influence on tropospheric mercury concentrations

Šlemr, F.; Brenninkmeijer, Carl A. M.; Rauthe-Schöch, A.; Weigelt, Alexandra; Ebinghaus, Ralf; Brunke, E.-G.; Martin, Lynwill; Spain, T.G.; O’Doherty, Simon

doi:10.1002/2016gl067949

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Meehl and Arblaster (2001) also report that TBOs with roughly a 2-3-year period encompass most ENSO years with their well-known biennial tendency. Slemr et al (2016) analyzed mercury data from Cape Point in South Africa, Mace Head in Ireland, and CARIBIC measurements in the upper troposphere and found an ENSO signature in all these data sets. Thus the finding of biennial variation of GEM concentrations at Cape Point is consistent with the ENSO influence.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trend of atmospheric mercury concentrations at Cape Point for 1995–2004 and since 2007

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Long-term measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) concentrations at Cape Point, South Africa, reveal a downward trend between September 1995 and December 2005 and an upward one from March 2007 until June 2015, implying a change in trend sign between 2004 and 2007. The trend change is qualitatively consistent with the trend changes in GEM concentrations observed at Mace Head, Ireland, and in mercury wet deposition over North America, suggesting a change in worldwide mercury emissions. Seasonally resolved trends suggest a modulation of the overall trend by regional processes. The trends in absolute terms (downward in 1995–2004 and upward in 2007–2015) are highest in austral spring (SON), coinciding with the peak in emissions from biomass burning in South America and southern Africa. The influence of trends in biomass burning is further supported by a biennial variation in GEM concentration found here and an El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signature in GEM concentrations reported recently.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trend of atmospheric mercury concentrations at Cape Point for 1995–2004 and since 2007

et al. 2017

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“…Slemr et al [] suggested that the variation in Hg concentrations may be linked to increased biomass burning during years with a strongly negative Southern Oscillation Index (El Niño). Using CO data from MLO, three IMFs for CO have been identified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The opposite was found to be true for O 3 (see Figure 6); hence, lower Hg concentrations are associated with O 3 -rich FT air. Slemr et al [2016] suggested that the variation in Hg concentrations may be linked to increased biomass burning during years with a strongly negative Southern Oscillation Index (El Niño). Using CO data from MLO, three IMFs for CO have been identified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea surface temperature variation linked to elemental mercury concentrations measured on Mauna Loa

Carbone

Landis

Gencarelli

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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The Hg0 time series recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) in Hawaii between 2002 and 2009 has been analyzed using Empirical Mode Decomposition. This technique has been used in numerous contexts in order to identify periodical variations in time series data. The periodicities observed in the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST), through the data collected from five buoys, are also observed in Hg0 concentrations and the relative humidity measured at the MLO. The lag times in the observed periodicities are related to the position of the buoys with respect to the measurement site. This demonstrates a direct link between climatological phenomena, in this case SST, and measured Hg0 and reflects the influence of ocean SST on Hg0 evasion. This is the first long‐term experimental evidence of such a direct effect on Hg0 evasion from the oceanic surface driven by temperature.

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“…Tropospheric mercury concentrations were found to be influenced by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (Slemr et al, 2016b). Such influence could also be a reason for the observed inter-annual variation of GEM concentrations at Cape Point.…”

Section: Inter-annual Variations Of Gem Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric mercury in the southern hemisphere – Part 1: Trend and inter-annual variations of atmospheric mercury at Cape Point, South Africa, in 2007–2017, and on Amsterdam Island in 2012–2017

Šlemr¹,

Martin²,

Labuschagne³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. The Minamata Convention on mercury (Hg) entered into force in 2017, committing its 116 parties (as of January 2019) to curb anthropogenic emissions. Monitoring of atmospheric concentrations and trends is an important part of the effectiveness evaluation of the Convention. A few years ago (in 2017) we reported an increasing trend of atmospheric Hg concentrations at the Cape Point Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) station in South Africa (34°21' S, 18°29' E) for the 2007–2015 period. With 2 more years of measurements at Cape Point and the 2012–2017 data from Amsterdam Island (37°48' S, 77°34' E) in the remote southern Indian Ocean, a more complex picture emerges: at Cape Point the upward trend for the 2007–2017 period is still significant but none or slightly downward trend was detected for the period 2012–2017 both at Cape Point and Amsterdam Island. The upward trend at Cape Point is thus driven mainly by the 2007–2014 data. Using ancillary data on 222Rn, CO, O3, CO2, and CH4 from Cape Point and Amsterdam Island the possible reasons for the trend and its change are investigated. In a companion paper this analysis is extended for the Cape Point station by calculations of source and sink regions using backward trajectory analysis.

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El Niño–Southern Oscillation influence on tropospheric mercury concentrations

Cited by 23 publications

References 34 publications

Trend of atmospheric mercury concentrations at Cape Point for 1995–2004 and since 2007

Trend of atmospheric mercury concentrations at Cape Point for 1995–2004 and since 2007

Sea surface temperature variation linked to elemental mercury concentrations measured on Mauna Loa

Atmospheric mercury in the southern hemisphere – Part 1: Trend and inter-annual variations of atmospheric mercury at Cape Point, South Africa, in 2007–2017, and on Amsterdam Island in 2012–2017

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