Effective policies will require a robust and accurate scientific understanding of
the anticipated ecosystem response to reduced mercury loading; specifically, whether reduced mercury emissions will in turn reduce mercury concentrations in fish consumed by people and wildlife.
Not well represented in the literature, however, is an emotional
response we term «ecological grief,» which we have defined in a recent Nature Climate Change article: «The grief felt in relation to experienced or
anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species,
ecosystems, and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change.»