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