Micro-organisms in salt lakes produce chlorinated air pollutants

Salt lakes have a greater impact on climate change than was previously understood. This has been established by scientists from the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research (Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle) together with colleagues from Austria, Russia and South Africa. They found evidence that bacteria in salt lakes produce substances which act as greenhouse gases and destroy the ozone layer. These substances are known as volatile halogenated hydrocarbons (VHHs). These spread world-wide through the atmosphere and also damage vegetation.