Shipping Air Pollution Causes 24,000 Deaths a Year in East Asia

Ship traffic is often overlooked compared to smog-producing cars and factories, but it has more than doubled off east Asia since 2005.

A boom in shipping is aggravating air pollution in China and other nations in east Asia, causing thousands of deaths a year in a region with eight of the world’s 10 biggest container ports, scientists have said. Ship traffic, often overlooked compared to cars and factories that are far bigger causes of smog, has more than doubled off east Asia since 2005 and some pollution from the fuel oil of ships wafts inland, scientists said on Monday. The Chinese-led study estimated that sulphur dioxide, which generates acid rain, and other pollution from ships caused an estimated 24,000 premature deaths a year in east Asia, mainly from heart and lung diseases and cancer.

About three-quarters of deaths were in China, and others mainly in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea, according to the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change based on satellite data-tracking of almost 19,000 vessels. The death toll is a tiny though rising share of an estimated one million deaths caused annually by air pollution in east Asia, the study found. Given many uncertainties, the number of deaths could be as low as 14,500 or as high as 37,500, it said.

Read the full article @ the Guardian

Indian Ports More Cargo Than 7 Seven Years Ago

@ ToI - India's 32 prominent ports handled 1,080 million tonnes of cargo in 2015-16, compared to 1,052 million tonnes in the previous year as exports fell through the year and import remained muted due to the economic slowdown and a fall in the value of key commodities, led by oil and metals.

Data, however, showed the 12 major ports witnessed a 4.3% rise in cargo traffic, estimated at 606 million tonnes. The private sector players, which have an over 40% share, saw an under 1% rise.Cargo handled by them increased from 471 million tonnes to about 475 million tonnes during 2015-16. Sources said one of the major reasons behind this is the decline in import of coal because of increased domestic production.

Industry insiders said several initiatives, including greater monitoring had improved the efficiency of major ports. The revival of port sector is also evident from the trend of a reduction in average turn around time from 2.55 days in 2012-13 to 2.03 in 2015-16. The average output of ship berth per day has also increased from 11,800 tonnes to 13,809 tonnes during this period.

More @ Times of India

Controlling Ship Emissions

The shipping industry is not only a major contributor to the air pollution choking many port cities, but also, as explained in a front page article in today's New York Times, one of the fastest growing sources of transport greenhouse gas emissions.Shipping is currently responsible for almost 3 percent of global CO2 emissions and over 2 percent of global black carbon emissions, the second most potent climate pollutant behind CO2. Shipping emissions are predicted to grow by 50% to 250% by 2050 depending on future economic and energy developments. A new study by a European Parliament research committee found that shipping could be responsible for 17% of global CO2 emissions in 2050 if left unregulated. In Paris the European Union, the Danish Shipowners Association and many environmental NGOs are calling for an international climate agreement that includes an ambitious CO2 emission reduction goal for the shipping sector in order to help keep warming below dangerous levels. Others are calling for fast action to regulate black carbon and other short-lived but very harmful climate pollutants. Read more @ Huffington Post

Fake Backdrop of Clean and Blue Skys in Hong Kong

Picture this: Tourists visiting one of your city's most prominent attractions are unable to see it because of smog, haze and a bevy of other airborne pollutants.

Hedley Environmental Index for Hong Kong's Air Pollution.

Real time air quality in Hong Kong.
 
What's the solution? Erect a backdrop for visitors to pose in front of. One that's impervious to pollution and projects an image of the city as always sunny and full of clean air. Welcome to Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor, where bright banners of the city's skyline block the view of its gray, polluted, real-world counterpart.

Real time air quality index in Hong Kong.

Photos from Huffington Post

 

 

 

Shipping Industry Going Green (Singapore)

Read more on CNN

 

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