A map showing pollution caused by ships

[n2doc]

George Dvorsky
For many years now, scientists have used satellites to chronicle "ship tracks" — bright and easily visible atmosphere-bound emissions similar to the vapor trails produced by airplanes. But ships also emit a less obvious signature, one that's not so easy to see. As data from the Dutch and Finnish-built Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite now shows, ships are leaving long tracks of elevated nitrogen dioxide (NO2) along certain shipping routes. And alarmingly, a bi-product of NO2 — what's called NOx — often leads to cardiovascular and respiratory problems in humans.


OMI has been tracking these highly-reactive oxides of nitrogen since 2005, allowing researchers to put together this high-resolution bird's eye view of the Earth's hot zones. The researchers believe that shipping accounts for 15 to 30 percent of global NOx emissions — but they're not entirely sure. The team is hoping that their data — and their new map — will reduce the uncertainty associated with this potentially escalating problem.
more
http://io9.com/5983698/a-map-showing-pollution-caused-by-ships

[stuntcat]

1. someone who went on a cruise told me-

told me that a few times during the cruise he saw them empty tons of trash into the water.
This was no environmentalist telling me this but he did seem disturbed at what he'd seen. & How many of those nasty things are all over the sea every day dumping all their shit?

[n2doc]

3. When I lived on the gulf coast

most of the trash came from Shrimp boats and oil boats. Lots of bags and white buckets. In international waters they pretty much dump anything, as there is very little enforcement.

for cruise ships:
All cruise ships generate the following types of waste:
"Gray water" from sinks, showers, laundries and galleys
Sewage or "black water" from toilets
Oily bilge water
Hazardous wastes (including perchloroethylene from drycleaning, photo-processing wastes, paint waste, solvents, print shop wastes, fluorescent light bulbs, and batteries)
Solid wastes (plastic, paper, wood, cardboard, food waste, cans, and glass)
Air pollution from the ship's diesel engines

A 3,000-passenger cruise ship (considered an average size, some carry 5,000 or more passengers) generates the following amounts of waste on a typical one-week voyage:
1 million gallons of "gray water"
210,000 gallons of sewage
25,000 gallons of oily bilge water
Over 100 gallons of hazardous or toxic waste
50 tons of garbage and solid waste
Diesel exhaust emissions equivalent to thousands of automobiles
http://www.beachapedia.org/Cruise_Ship_Pollution

[AtheistCrusader]

2. Simultaneously awesome and horrifying.

Awesome in that we can see it anyway.