Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict

Joseph R. McConnell; Nathan J. Chellman; Andrew I. Wilson; Andreas Stohl; Monica M. Arienzo; Sabine Eckhardt; Diedrich Fritzsche; Sepp Kipfstuhl; Thomas Opel; Philip F. Place; Jørgen Peder Steffensen

doi:10.1073/pnas.1904515116

Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict

Joseph R. McConnell^*, Nathan J. Chellman, Andrew I. Wilson, Andreas Stohl, Monica M. Arienzo, Sabine Eckhardt, Diedrich Fritzsche, Sepp Kipfstuhl, Thomas Opel, Philip F. Place, Jørgen Peder Steffensen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics of Ice, Climate and Earth

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Lead pollution in Arctic ice reflects large-scale historical changes in midlatitude industrial activities such as ancient lead/silver production and recent fossil fuel burning. Here we used measurements in a broad array of 13 accurately dated ice cores from Greenland and Severnaya Zemlya to document spatial and temporal changes in Arctic lead pollution from 200 BCE to 2010 CE, with interpretation focused on 500 to 2010 CE. Atmospheric transport modeling indicates that Arctic lead pollution was primarily from European emissions before the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. Temporal variability was surprisingly similar across the large swath of the Arctic represented by the array, with 250- to 300-fold increases in lead pollution observed from the Early Middle Ages to the 1970s industrial peak. Superimposed on these exponential changes were pronounced, multiannual to multidecadal variations, marked by increases coincident with exploitation of new mining regions, improved technologies, and periods of economic prosperity; and decreases coincident with climate disruptions, famines, major wars, and plagues. Results suggest substantial overall growth in lead/silver mining and smelting emissions—and so silver production—from the Early through High Middle Ages, particularly in northern Europe, with lower growth during the Late Middle Ages into the Early Modern Period. Near the end of the second plague pandemic (1348 to ∼1700 CE), lead pollution increased sharply through the Industrial Revolution. North American and European pollution abatement policies have reduced Arctic lead pollution by >80% since the 1970s, but recent levels remain ∼60-fold higher than at the start of the Middle Ages.

Original language	English
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS)
Volume	116
Issue number	30
Pages (from-to)	14910-14915
Number of pages	6
ISSN	0027-8424
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904515116
Publication status	Published - 15 Mar 2019

Keywords

Arctic
Ice core
Lead pollution
Middle Ages
Plague

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1073/pnas.1904515116

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McConnell, J. R., Chellman, N. J., Wilson, A. I., Stohl, A., Arienzo, M. M., Eckhardt, S., Fritzsche, D., Kipfstuhl, S., Opel, T., Place, P. F., & Steffensen, J. P. (2019). Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), 116(30), 14910-14915. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904515116

Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict. / McConnell, Joseph R.; Chellman, Nathan J.; Wilson, Andrew I. et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), Vol. 116, No. 30, 15.03.2019, p. 14910-14915.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

McConnell, JR, Chellman, NJ, Wilson, AI, Stohl, A, Arienzo, MM, Eckhardt, S, Fritzsche, D, Kipfstuhl, S, Opel, T, Place, PF & Steffensen, JP 2019, 'Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), vol. 116, no. 30, pp. 14910-14915. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904515116

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Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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