No less than 92% of the world population lives in regions where air quality is poor, especially in large urban areas. Geotop aims at discriminating between natural and anthropogenic sources of atmospheric and aquatic pollutants, and at understanding transport and degradation processes through isotopic approaches. These studies in urban geochemistry are crucial in the face of expanding urban fabric, which is weakened by extreme meteorological events that can alter the cycles of pollutants. The impacts of pollution is not limited to (peri-)urban areas; its long distance transport also affects Nordic environments. These are also impacted by local pollution sources from mining activities. Geotop also studies the evolution of anthropogenic impacts in these regions with the use of bio/geological records (e.g., lacustrine varves, peatlands, trees).
Research Centre in Earth System Dynamics
