Sep. 21, 2011 Trends in the concentrations of nearly sixty
atmospheric pollutants have been studied using the data
collected in Finland at the Pallas-Sodankylä Observatory from
1996 to 2009. Concentrations of pollutants in Lapland are very
low, typically about one tenth of the background concentrations
in Southern Finland. Many of the concentrations studied remained
unchanged over the long term and nearly half showed a decreasing
trend. Lower concentrations were measured for many pollutants
hazardous to ecosystems and humans, such as sulphur dioxide,
heavy metals and some polyaromatic hydrocarbons transported from
the Kola Peninsula. Long-range transports of sulphates and
stable organic compounds have also been decreasing in Pallas.
With respect to pollutants from transport (nitrogen compounds,
volatile hydrocarbons and ozone), however, the situation
remained more or less unchanged. Climate change affects the
dispersion of pollutants Using results from nine climate models,
the project assessed how the transpo