Since 2001, countries around the world have discussed the rising tide of global mercury pollution and in 2003 the United Nations agreed that enough was known to “…warrant immediate action to reduce global mercury pollution.” Since then, new scientific evidence has emerged for the first time correlating rising mercury levels in the oceans with the growth in pollution and also projecting a 50% increase in mercury levels by 2050 in the Pacific Ocean if current pollution trends continue unabated.
Mercury levels have already risen three-fold over the last few centuries due to increases in primary mercury mining, coal burning for fuel and mercury uses in products, processes and in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
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