Research Spotlight
Mercury in the Atmosphere
Research in the Selin group addresses the challenge of atmospheric mercury, which is emitted from anthropogenic sources and travels globally to affect ecosystems as toxic methylmercury far from its release. Mercury is the subject of a global treaty, the Minamata Convention, which was finalized in 2013. We use a variety of tools, such as global chemical transport modeling, integrated assessment modeling, and policy analysis, to inform decision-making strategies. A key finding is that mercury deposition results from a combination of local and global sources, meaning that regulation on multiple political scales is necessary to fully address the problem. We engage with decision-makers at local, regional, and global scale to translate our research results.