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Study Finds Widespread and Serious Air Pollution Impacts on Ecosystems in New Hampshire and Eastern U.S.

Report Highlights Necessary Changes in Air Quality Standards and Regulations

CONCORD, N.H. — July 21, 2008 —No ecosystem in New Hampshire or anywhere else in the eastern United States is free of the effects of air pollution, according to a report released today. From streams and rivers to forests and wetlands, air pollution harms ecoystems , thereby reducing the benefits they provide to society, and damages human health and economies. Sulfur, nitrogen, mercury and ground-level ozone not only contaminate the air we breathe, they also enter the soil and water, causing a complex set of problems, according to scientists at The Nature Conservancy and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
 
“We have yet to fully understand all the impacts of these pollutants, but what we’ve found so far is alarming,” said Dr. Tim Tear, a Nature Conservancy scientist and co-author of the report.  “The problem is extremely widespread; the more we looked, the worse it seemed to get.”
 
The report, Threats From Above: Air Pollution Impacts on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States, assessed the impacts of four major pollutants on six ecosystem types in areas that receive some of the nation’s highest levels of atmospheric deposition (air pollution deposited to the landscape).  These areas are often located downwind from large power plant, industrial and urban pollution sources. 

“New Hampshire’s ecosystems are particularly sensitive to air pollution,” said Daryl Burtnett, state director of The Nature Conservancy.  “The phenomenon of acid rain in North America was in fact discovered through the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study right here in New Hampshire’s White Mountains."

The Granite State’s acidic soils have very little ability to buffer and neutralize the effects of acid rain. Our mountains and their fragile ecosystems are especially susceptible because air pollution affects them through rain, snow and fog, while some of our rivers and streams are becoming too acidic for Eastern brook trout and other aquatic species. And high mercury concentrations in our lakes have affected reproduction in common loons and have been shown to impact bald eagles, mallards, and other birds that reside here.

Among the studies findings in New Hampshire:

• Five biological mercury hotspots were identified in the Northeastern US and Southeastern Canada: Merrimack River in New Hampshire and Massachusetts; Upper Connecticut River in New Hampshire and Vermont; Adirondack Mountains; Upper Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers of Maine and New Hampshire; and central Nova Scotia.
• Acid rain leaches valuable nutrients from the soil.  At Hubbard Brook in New Hampshire, over 60% of the available calcium in the soil – that is necessary for healthy cell growth in plants and animals – has been lost over the past 60 years due to acid rain.
• From 25-50% of the large canopy red spruce trees in the White Mountains, Adirondacks, and Green Mountains died in the 1980s, and this dieback is primarily attributed to impacts of acid rain and the loss of calcium from these trees.

“New Hampshire has historically taken a lead in legislation relating to curbing our air pollution, but state action is not enough,” Burtnett said. “This study reinforces the need for stronger action at the federal level."
 
Air quality standards in the United States are determined by direct impacts to human health, with regulations targeting emission levels – what leaves tail pipes and smoke stacks. They do not take into account where airborne pollution is actually deposited in the landscape or how this pollution compromises our soil and water resources, natural habitats and the species that live in them.
 
The report includes a call to action for the United States to establish critical air pollution loads that are based on preserving the healthy ecosystems upon which our society depends. Critical loads identify the maximum level of pollutant deposition that ecosystems can handle before harmful effects occur. Some agencies have already established critical loads for particular landscapes, such as the nitrogen target load established at Rocky Mountain National Park.
 
It also calls for a more integrated and comprehensive national program for monitoring air pollution and its effects, including measurements of air, water, soil, habitats and wildlife.
 
For more information, view the report at www.ecostudies.org/Threats_from_Above.pdf.

For a quick look at the report, an interview with the authors, slide show, maps and more, visit: http://www.nature.org/tncscience/misc/art25396.html.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.  To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
 
The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is a private, not-for-profit environmental research and education organization in Millbrook, NY. For over twenty five years, Cary Institute scientists have been investigating the complex interactions that govern the natural world. Their objective findings lead to more effective policy decisions and increased environmental literacy. Focal areas include air and water pollution, climate change, invasive species, and the ecological dimensions of infectious disease. Learn more at www.ecostudies.org.