Glacier surfaces in certain parts of the world contain concerning amounts of toxic radioactive materials, a result of weapons testing and nuclear accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Fallout radionuclides accumulate within cryoconite – a granular sediment found in holes on glacier surfaces – and there is a risk of this material entering local ecosystems as glaciers melt due to climate change. Glaciologists and ecologists say this poses urgent questions. What regions are at highest risk? How diluted is the nuclear material entering proglacial zones? What impact might that have on organisms?
Find out more about this emerging concern by watching this short video, which includes interviews with glaciologist Caroline Clason and environmental scientist Philip Owens. For a more detailed background to the issue, take a look at the recent Physics World feature ‘Trapped in ice: the surprisingly high levels of artificial radioactive isotopes found in glaciers‘.