Shipping industry 'major factor in climate change'

Water/wastewater

Shipping industry 'major factor in climate change'

09 Mar, 2009

Published over 17 years ago. See the latest and most current information on Water/wastewater.

The shipping industry is a major contributor to climate change, according to a new study.

Conducted by researchers from the University of Delaware, the study, which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, found that the world's operational 100,000 cargo ships emit half as much as the planet's 600 million cars.

Professor Daniel Lack, one of the study's leading authors, explained that the ships are "in international waters most of the time, so the pollution doesn't really get noticed by people."

He continued that the use of cheap fuels means that ships are "literally burning the bottom of the barrel. After oil refining, there's a black sludge left and that's what ships are burning, so they're burning a really dirty fuel."

A recent tanker spill that occurred in the Merry Point area of Hawaii's Pearl Harbour saw the release of 2,000 gallons of wastewater, informed the Hawaii Reporter last week.

Latest News

IET Guide 2026

Explore our Digital Edition

Discover the latest news and research

Digital edition

Explore Our Other Sites

Labmate Online
Leave helium concerns in the past
Explore more Arrow
Pollution Solutions Online
Leading UK biogas operator places first orders for new FlowSep technology
Explore more Arrow
Petro Online
EU E20 plans could create a new testing workload for fuel laboratories
Explore more Arrow
Chromatography Today
Unlock high-resolution analysis of therapeutic oligonucleotides
Explore more Arrow