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It's a drop in the bucket vs container ships and cars. The containership situation can only have gotten worse since this article was published https://www.theg

It's a drop in the bucket vs container ships and cars. The containership situation can only have gotten worse since this article was published https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping...

missedthecue 5y ago
Containerships emit very little carbon due to the variety of fuel they use. In fact, because the major sink of methane in the atmosphere is by reaction with OH radicals, research has shown that the NOx emissions from ship travel leads to a net global cooling effect! The main threat of containership emissions from bunker fuel is the sulfur content which isn't very nice for the respiratory tract of humans and other mammals. That's why there are bans on burning that type of fuel within so many miles of port.
- eesmith 5y ago
  Sources? From https://ssl.law.uq.edu.au/journals/index.php/maritimejournal/article/viewFile/126/172 https://ssl.law.uq.edu.au/journals/index.php/maritimejournal... I read something rather different: > CO2 is the main greenhouse gas emitted by ships. Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from ship engines have a minor global warming role compared with CO2. Further, SOx, NOx, PM and VOC also have a minor role in global warming. Particulate matter arising from SOx emissions has a potential cooling effect and/or creates local climate disturbance (see section 6.1). The sulphur content of marine fuels will decrease due to IMO MARPOL Annex VI and other measures. Page 27 says: > Fuglestvedt et al[10] claim net cooling for shipping. Bows pointed out that their methodology was flawed as they did not account for cumulative effect of CO2[11]. That is, CO2 that has accumulated goes on accumulating, but other pollutant concentrations remain steady. The sulphate particulates have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere in terms of global warming. [11] is http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13157-transport-emissions-study-misleading-say-experts.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13157-transport-emissi... .

missedthecue 5y ago

Containerships emit very little carbon due to the variety of fuel they use. In fact, because the major sink of methane in the atmosphere is by reaction with OH radicals, research has shown that the NOx emissions from ship travel leads to a net global cooling effect! The main threat of containership emissions from bunker fuel is the sulfur content which isn't very nice for the respiratory tract of humans and other mammals. That's why there are bans on burning that type of fuel within so many miles of port.

eesmith 5y ago
Sources? From https://ssl.law.uq.edu.au/journals/index.php/maritimejournal/article/viewFile/126/172 https://ssl.law.uq.edu.au/journals/index.php/maritimejournal... I read something rather different: > CO2 is the main greenhouse gas emitted by ships. Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from ship engines have a minor global warming role compared with CO2. Further, SOx, NOx, PM and VOC also have a minor role in global warming. Particulate matter arising from SOx emissions has a potential cooling effect and/or creates local climate disturbance (see section 6.1). The sulphur content of marine fuels will decrease due to IMO MARPOL Annex VI and other measures. Page 27 says: > Fuglestvedt et al[10] claim net cooling for shipping. Bows pointed out that their methodology was flawed as they did not account for cumulative effect of CO2[11]. That is, CO2 that has accumulated goes on accumulating, but other pollutant concentrations remain steady. The sulphate particulates have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere in terms of global warming. [11] is http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13157-transport-emissions-study-misleading-say-experts.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13157-transport-emissi... .