NEW SATELLITE DATA REVEALS WHOPPING BOOST IN SHIPPING
Maritime traffic on the world’s oceans has increased four-fold over the past 20 years, likely causing more water, air and noise pollution on the open seas, according to a new study quantifying global ship traffic.
The research used satellite data to estimate the number of vessels on the ocean every year between 1992 and 2012. The number of ships traversing the oceans grew by 60 percent between 1992 and 2002. Shipping traffic grew even faster during the second decade of the study, peaking at rate of increase of 10 percent per year in 2011.
Traffic went up in every ocean during the 20 years of the study, except off the coast of Somalia, where increasing piracy has almost completely halted commercial shipping since 2006. In the Indian Ocean, where the world’s busiest shipping lanes are located, ship traffic grew by more than 300 percent over the 20-year period, according to the research.
Ships powered by fossil fuels dump oil, fuel and waste into the water and pump exhaust into the air. Shipping is also a major source of noise pollution, which is increasingly considered potentially harmful to marine mammals, said Jean Tournadre, a geophysicist at Ifremer, the French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea in Plouzane, and the study author.
“I found it quite worrisome that the ship traffic grew so much, even in very remote regions of the world,” Tournadre said, “especially when we know that they are the major source of pollution [on the open ocean].”
International trade and the sizes of merchant fleets have both enlarged rapidly over the past two decades, explaining the steep rise in ship traffic, the study reports. The new analysis has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
Burgeoning ship traffic has increased the amount of pollution in the atmosphere, particularly above the Sri Lanka-Sumatra-China shipping lane, where the study notes a 50 percent increase in nitrogen dioxide, a common air pollutant, over the 20-year period.
Tournadre said he hopes the new study will increase scientists’ understanding of how human activities are affecting marine ecosystems and improve models of atmospheric pollution in the open ocean.
The new dataset will provide scientists with invaluable insights into the patterns of ship traffic and the traffic’s effect on the environment, said Batuhan Osmanoglu, a radar systems engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Green Belt, Md., who was not involved in the study.
“The nice thing about this study is that they have a unique dataset, that maybe we’re looking at for the first time,” he said. “Whenever you have a unique dataset you can quite easily learn something new.”
The Latest on: Worldwide ship traffic
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Worldwide ship traffic” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Worldwide ship traffic
- Baltimore port partially reopens, allowing first ship to pass through since bridge collapseon April 26, 2024 at 5:01 am
A cargo ship has navigated through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore, ending its weeks-long immobilization due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
- Key Bridge collapse: First large ships leaves Port of Baltimore using deeper temporary channelon April 25, 2024 at 3:59 pm
The first of 11 ships trapped for a month behind the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge left the Port of Thursday using an alternate shipping channel that opened earlier in the morning. The ...
- Norfolk cruise center getting multiple upgrades ahead of year-round trafficon April 25, 2024 at 2:44 pm
Construction on the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center is due to begin in June. But additional cruise traffic from ships diverted by the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore have ...
- First ship passes through new channel alongside Baltimore bridge wreckage and stranded Dalion April 25, 2024 at 11:49 am
First ship passes through new channel alongside Baltimore bridge wreckage and stranded Dali - After 33 days waiting in the port of Baltimore, Balsa 94 has become the first cargo ship to leave through ...
- First cargo ship passes through newly opened channel in Baltimore since bridge collapseon April 24, 2024 at 11:49 pm
The port’s main channel, with a controlling depth of 50 feet (15 meters), is set to reopen next month after the ship has been removed. That will essentially restore marine traffic to normal.
- US-required bridge inspections don’t test for ship strike. Then, one hit the Key Bridge.on April 24, 2024 at 8:05 pm
The decades-old Francis Scott Key Bridge earned high marks when it was last inspected. It wasn’t, however, assessed for its ability to withstand a vessel strike.
- Cargill debuts the world’s first ever wind-powered ocean liner with WindWings®on April 24, 2024 at 12:57 pm
Cargill has debuted the first ever wind-powered ocean liner with WindWings®, which could have large implications for the shipping industry.
- Ship traffic through Suez Canal plunges by two thirds after Red Sea attackson April 24, 2024 at 3:10 am
Ships crossing through the waterway dropped by 66% in the first week of April, compared with the same period last year, official figures showed.
- Norwegian Cruise Ship Delayed Returning to New Yorkon April 23, 2024 at 8:13 am
Norwegian Getaway will be delayed in returning to New York, but not for any technical difficulties. So why will the ship be late?
- I made $40,000 a month from 3 income streams during a 4-month cruise around the world—here's howon April 22, 2024 at 4:45 am
I spent 10-15 hours a week running my online business from a ship, making mostly-passive income that helped me pay for my four-month, around-the-world cruise.
via Bing News