Much has been made of the carbon dioxide stored in arctic ice and permafrost. The hypothesis at this time suggests that global warming will become self-reinforcing due to the increasing rate of carbon dioxide release as the permafrost melts.
Nobody had yet considered the potential scourge of mercury release.
A team of researchers from around the globe recently published their findings that the arctic permafrost contains more than twice as much mercury as the rest of the prominent global sources combined. Mercury, of course, is a known neurotoxin that is also suspected to have contributed to the high crime rates of the second half of the twentieth century.
If this reservoir of mercury gets released to the environment and subsequently taken up by humans, should we expect to see a rise in crime? An Alaskan town filed suit against Exxon Mobil in 2008 claiming Exxon’s contribution to climate change resulted in significant costs under several legal theories. Exxon won that suit, but could increased crime rates and neurotoxicity in babies change the outcome in future attempts to hold greenhouse gas-producing companies liable for the consequences of global warming and climate change?
While the state of the law today does not support this as being likely, legal change has been an important factor in large liability litigations, including asbestos. We don’t know the legal innovations that may be coming, but accounting for their possibilities and running scenarios that might evaluate their effects should be a part of a sound risk management strategy.
There are 32 million gallons worth of mercury, or the equivalent of 50 Olympic swimming pools, trapped in the permafrost, the scientists wrote in a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. For context, that’s “twice as much mercury as the rest of all soils, the atmosphere, and ocean combined,” they wrote.