Commercial ships spew half as much particulate pollution as world's cars Event

Einer US-Studie der Klimabehörde NOAA zufolge produziert die kommerzielle Schifffahrt halb soviel Feinstaub wie weltweit alle Autos zusammen. Die Schadstoffemissionen belasten das globale Klima und die Gesundheit der Küstenbewohner erheblich. Die Studie untersuchte den Ausstoß von 200 kommerziellen Schiffen und rechnete die Ergebnisse auf globale Werte hoch.
Die Autoren schätzen, dass Schiffe knapp eine Millionen Tonnen Partikel jährlich ausstoßen. Die Studie ist am 25. Februar im "Journal of Geophysical Research" online erschienen.
Lack, D. A., et al. (2009), Particulate emissions from commercial shipping: Chemical, physical, and optical properties, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D00F04, doi:10.1029/2008JD011300.

Globally, commercial ships emit almost half as much particulate pollution into the air as the total amount released by cars, according to a new study of the US-Agency NOAA. Ship pollutants affect both the Earth's climate and the health of people living along coastlines. The study is the first to provide a global estimate of maritime shipping's total contribution to air particle pollution based on direct measurements of emissions. The authors estimate that worldwide, ships emit 0.9 teragrams, or about 2.2 million pounds, of particulate pollution each year. Shipping also contributes almost 30 percent of smog-forming nitrogen oxide gases.
The findings appeared online 25 February in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, a publication of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
Lack, D. A., et al. (2009), Particulate emissions from commercial shipping: Chemical, physical, and optical properties, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D00F04, doi:10.1029/2008JD011300.