October 12, 2000 For Immediate Release

The once-pristine air above the North Pacific Ocean is polluted. With that sentence, UNBC International Studies instructor Ken Wilkening and co-authors Leonard Barrie and Marilyn Engle begin an article in Science magazine that illustrates how prevailing wind patterns are bringing pollutants from Asia to North America.

Dr Wilkening organized a conference in Seattle this past summer that - for the first time - focused on cross-oceanic pollution in the Pacific region and attracted 100 atmospheric scientists and policy makers from Canada, the US, and Asia. The conference gathered current information and identified future research needs. Research conducted to date has shown cause for concern:

· A study on the Fraser River watershed concluded that toxic airborne pollutants from Asia may be a source of contamination in lake fish and sediments.
· Studies have documented high levels of persistent organic pollutants and mercury in the Arctic and in the mountains of western Canada.
· Very high PCB concentrations have been found in some Pacific orca whale populations.
· Scientists at Tagish, Yukon, have detected elevated levels of pesticides during winter and spring and attributed them to pollution transported from continental Asia.

"The pollutants of prime concern include coal combustion aerosols, ozone, mercury and other heavy metals, and the persistent organic pollutants from pesticides and industrial chemicals," says Dr Wilkening. "These pollutants travel on westerly winds, and can arrive on North America's west coast within only five to ten days."

Technology has made it easier to detect rapid transport of pollutants. In 1998, for example, satellite images showed aerosols being whisked across the Pacific from a massive dust storm in western China.

"It's certainly a topic of concern," says Dr Wilkening. "With industrialization increasing around the world, everybody is downwind of everybody else. Pacific-wide cooperation is necessary to address trans-Pacific air pollution."
Dr Wilkening teaches courses on international relations, contemporary Asia, international environmental policy at UNBC.

A complete copy of Dr Wilkening's Science article is available upon request.