Monday, March 30, 2009

Tallying Emissions from Ports and at Sea



This article in Science News, "Tallying Emissions from Ports and at Sea", presents a global assessment of the amount of pollution spewed by ships, as well as pinpoint where those emissions occur. Some of the report conclusions include
  • In 2004, the world’s merchant fleet included almost 91,000 ships that each weigh at least 100,000 tons
  • Ships worldwide burned about 217 million metric tons of fuel in 2004, about 5 percent of which was consumed while in port
  • The research suggests that the largest sources of emissions are container ships
  • Ships account for about 11 percent of the acid rain due to NOx emissions and about 4.5 percent of the acid rain due to sulfur dioxide emissions
  • The findings are published online on March 24 in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

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