Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Science

Ice core records uncover widespread air pollution from early 20th-century copper production

About a century ago, the Anaconda Copper Mine complex near Butte, Montana, was emitting vast amounts of air pollution into the atmosphere. As small particles of arsenic and other heavy metals were carried by winds over the Arctic, storms eventually helped pull them to the ground, where they joined l...

Ice core records uncover widespread air pollution from early 20th-century copper production
Image: Phys.org
About a century ago, the Anaconda Copper Mine complex near Butte, Montana, was emitting vast amounts of air pollution into the atmosphere. As small particles of arsenic and other heavy metals were carried by winds over the Arctic, storms eventually helped pull them to the ground, where they joined layers of history embedded in the ice.

Originally published at Phys.org

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