Melting Permafrost Is Poisoning Rivers: Metal Levels Could Increase by as Much as 70 Times

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For the past decade, the crystal-blue network of rivers and lakes that crisscross Alaska’s breathtaking Brooks Range has seemed to be… rusting. University of California chemist Taylor Evinger and his colleagues say the rusting could be attributed to melting Arctic permafrost. Water seeping through previously frozen soil is leaching out minerals from the rocks that may have been there for thousands of years. As these minerals oxidize, they releas…