The List of Key Arctic Pollutants by General Sources
The key Arctic pollutants have very short atmospheric lifetimes. Major pollutant sources are identified and tracked, including specific Arctic biogenic sources, along with the regions responsible for the pollution. The Arctic Global Warming Potentials are a measure of the relative potency of a ton of a specific pollutant compared to a ton of carbon dioxide emissions over one year.
Annual Global Warming Potentials
| Arctic Region Key Pollutant List | Arctic Global Warming Potentials |
| Alaskan Anthropogenic Methane Plumes | 105 |
| Russia Anthropogenic Methane Plumes | 105 |
| Alaskan Permafrost Biogenic Methane | 105 |
| Arctic Ocean / Tundra Biogenic Methane Hydrates | 105 |
| European Tropospheric Ozone Plumes | 19,560 |
| Russian Tropospheric Ozone Regional Pollution | 19,560 |
| Alaskan Tropospheric Ozone Regional Pollution | 19,560 |
| Iceland Tropospheric Ozone Plume | 19,560 |
| Russian Black Carbon Plumes | 82,000 |
Tropospheric Ozone by Plume or Regional Sources
The Arctic Russian coastline runs over 6,000 km, with industrial development proceeding rapidly within highly polluting industries such as mining and oil/gas extraction. Little is being done to curb or control pollution levels, which constitute over 50% of the total Arctic tropospheric ozone.
Black Carbon Caused by Major Fires
Any major forest fire in the northern latitudes has the potential to send plumes of carbon black into the Arctic region.
