Trend Analysis from 1970 to 2008 and Model Evaluation of Edgarv4 Global Gridded Anthropogenic Mercury Emissions* Reprint 2014-15 Trend Analysis from 1970 to 2008 and Model Evaluation of Edgarv4 Global Gridded Anthropogenic Mercury Emissions

The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change combines cutting-edge scientific research with independent policy analysis to provide a solid foundation for the public and private decisions needed to mitigate and adapt to unavoidable global environmental changes. Being data-driven, the Program uses extensive Earth system and economic data and models to produce quantitative analysis and predictions of the risks of climate change and the challenges of limiting human influence on the environment—essential knowledge for the international dialogue toward a global response to climate change. To this end, the Program brings together an interdisciplinary group from two established MIT research centers: the Center for Global Change Science (CGCS) and the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR). These two centers—along with collaborators from the Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL) at Woods Hole and short-and long-term visitors—provide the united vision needed to solve global challenges. At the heart of much of the Program's work lies MIT's Integrated Global System Model. Through this integrated model, the Program seeks to: discover new interactions among natural and human climate system components; objectively assess uncertainty in economic and climate projections; critically and quantitatively analyze environmental management and policy proposals; understand complex connections among the many forces that will shape our future; and improve methods to model, monitor and verify greenhouse gas emissions and climatic impacts. This reprint is one of a series intended to communicate research results and improve public understanding of global environment and energy challenges, thereby contributing to informed debate about climate change and the economic and social implications of policy alternatives. • A global mercury emission inventory over the past four decades was established. • The inventory was at the lower range of the UNEP Minamata estimates. • The inventory was evaluated using a global 3-D mercury model GEOS-Chem. • The model reproduced spatial variations and long-term trends. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Mercury emissions Global gridmaps End-of-pipe impacts Inventory evaluation Atmospheric modelling Artisanal and small-scale gold production The Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) provides a time-series of man-made emissions of greenhouse gases and short-lived atmospheric pollutants from 1970 to 2008. Mercury is included in EDGARv4.tox1, thereby enriching the spectrum of multi-pollutant sources in the database. With an average annual growth rate of 1.3% since 1970, EDGARv4 estimates that the global mercury …