In recent times, industrial wastes and anthropogenic activities has resulted in the release of loads of heavy metals (HMs) into the soil, atmosphere and terrestrial and aquatic systems. There are many pathways of heavy metals to soils: wet and dry deposition from the air, run-off from land, and intentional and accidental release, all have contributed a substantial anthropogenic load to soil systems. Migration of HMs from soil to other media such as water and air and consequently biological systems depends on different forms in which they are present in the soil. In the soluble form, they leached down the soil profile reaching the groundwater or taken up and accumulated by plants, invertebrates, animals and man. The environmental and human adverse effects that the HMs produces are connected with their solubility and bioavailability in soil. Excessive amounts of available heavy metals in soil have been reported to produce negative effects on the ecosystem
The chemical and physical behaviour of HMs in soils depends on the nature of the soil constituents i.e. amount and type of clays, oxides/hydroxides, carbonates, organic matter and colloidal phases and on factors such as pH and redox conditions. More importantly, none of these factors solely govern metal behaviour in soils, instead a complex interplay of several factors ultimately determines whether the metal will migrate through the soil solution or be retained within a localized area.
Following my previous comment, I would add that climate change can also modify long-term GDP through the alteration in productivity Agro-food,
This because often on exploited species of edible vegetable (cereals, legumes, Solanaceae etc) genetically modified to be resistant to drying or excessive rain, decline in the viability of wild species, which would be the only ones to resist pests (bacteria, fungi, algae, parasites) agents proliferate and become more virulent with climate change
I know little about the subject, but I worry a lot about mercury.
A friend of mine had an analysis done when she was pregnant and found out her body was alight with mercury (sorry don't know where in the blood or where else, that is all she told me). This person is not sick in any way, only concerned. No medic gave her any suggestions of what to do or not to do as a result of this analysis.
Well, our air is completely filled with all the garbage thrown out from burning the dirtiest substance of all - fossil fuels and that includes mercury.
I recently mentioned to my class, that we are burning the remains of our ancestors so we can drive a few blocks away and they were socked to hear it. They never imagined it. They are all university students, all driving to get to the university, but not one of them suspected that fossil fuels are actually fossils or whose fossils they were.
Now they have to live with a changing weather in a heavily polluted world.