This Research Topic is Volume II of a series. The previous volume can be found here:
The Impacts of Atmospheric and Environmental Changes of Urban Cities and Suburbs on The Tibetan Plateau and other northern Hemispheric Cryosphere.
Air pollution, a global phenomenon, exerts a significant influence on the climate, environment, and human health. The sparsely populated mountain cryosphere areas of the world, like the Arctic, the Alps, and the Tibetan Plateau, have heightened sensitivity to the effects of air pollution. Despite the incipient human activity in these areas, the relatively pristine cryospheric environments are highly susceptible to anthropogenic emissions from the biogeochemical, physical, and climatic perspectives. Therefore, global-scale climatic transformations triggered by industrial and economic growth may have considerable environmental impacts on cryospheric environments more than other areas on Earth. While substantial research has explored the production and transport of pollutants in South Asia, there is a relative scarcity of studies focused on the environmental impacts of atmospheric pollutants on the global cryosphere.
This Research Topic aims to elucidate these impacts, thereby deepening our understanding of the environmental response of glacial and peri-glacial environments to atmospheric pollution and contamination. This Research Topic focuses not only on traditionally studied areas (the Arctic, Alps, and Tibetan Plateau) but also on unexplored geographical settings with similar environmental characteristics. We highly welcome contributions investigating the transport routes and sources of atmospheric pollution toward glaciated areas, as well as studies that characterize cryosphere-related samples (ice, snow, cryoconite, permafrost) for environmental monitoring purposes. Works dealing with the accumulation of pollutants in glacial-related settings, and more in general with environmental fate, will also be appreciated. The Research Topic shall contribute to shed further light on the role of anthropogenic emissions for biogeochemical and climatic processes, and to inspire future research on the feedback between human activity and the Earth’s cryosphere.
This Research Topic is proposed to provide a platform for researchers to address the following topics:
Changes in the atmospheric environment affected by anthropogenic activities in the global range:
• The relationship of pollution (BC, OC, heavy metals, sulfate) transport and remote glaciated areas
• The release and transport processes of atmospheric dust in the cryosphere
• Atmosphere and cryosphere’s albedo changes related to impurities deposition and their surface accumulation on snow and ice
Ecological and environmental impacts and effect of atmospheric changes:
• Environmental consequences of atmospheric pollutant transport toward glaciated areas, including chemical transformations, accumulation, and environmental fate
Innovation in research methods:
• Application and development of new technologies, improvement of sampling equipment, and advancements in analysis methods