When you click order on an item from amazon, do you ever think about how it gets to you? Transportation has taken a big role in the rise in global warming due to the rising global population and demand for goods and services. The oil industry has taken a hold of the world and has made us reliant on the resource. 90,000 ships run for an average of 280 days a year across the globe that use oil as a fuel. Compared to cars and coal, ships produce over 5,200 tons of Sox in a year that will impact the already depleting ozone layer. These ships bring harm to all aspects of the environment with no regulations to prevent them from emitting worse things. But what will happen to oil in 50 years? How do we replace oil?
The earliest civilizations were known for importing and exporting food, goods, and services by water because it was the easiest way to transport goods over long distances. Fast forward to the mid 18th century when steam and water power paved a path for the industrial revolution. This revolutionary technique allowed machines to create a better way of transportation. In the early 1900s, coal and oil began to take over large industries that required large amounts of energy. Later on in the same century, nuclear power highlighted the world as an energy source. The trend of energy sources used by humans has grown to a level we have not seen before. But, with each advancement in technology brought out new problems. The more powerful energy sources like nuclear, coal, and oil produce more waste since they are creating more energy. Even though few ships are nuclear powered like the атомный ледокол from Russia to break through ice, people chose to not use nuclear power due to it being dangerous for the environment. If this is the case, why are people letting container ships spew oil and pollutants into the ocean at the expense of the environment? If we truly don’t want to harm our environment, why are we still doing so?
All of these past power sources have proven to be beneficial in the expansion of many countries, many of which are still in use today. The past sources of energy like water and steam power had no negative impacts on the environment and proved to be huge advancements at the time. When oil and coal began to rise, the amount of pollution they created could not be managed or accounted for at the time. However, as humans advanced through the 20th century, climate change started to expose problems with this harsh style of consuming energy for the environment. Now, the effects of polluting for this extended period of time have shown in the depletion of the ozone layer, increased temperatures, melting of the polar ice caps, and the negative impact on the wildlife on land and in water. Change is long overdue and is still necessary to preserve the future.
Today, the demand for goods has allowed for a network of trade routes via shipping containers to be put in place. These ships transport food, materials, people, and much more every day. Animals like whales and sharks are impacted by these ships because they typically are along similar routes and therefore get exposed to these toxins very frequently. I found a group called OceanX that studies ocean life and the effects human action has on the environment that had completed a recent analysis regarding whales and ship movement off the Chilean coast. This study showed a diagram that was compiled from ships gps data and from a tagged whale from 2014. The gps data was aligned according to time stamps to show both patterns of travel. It showed how ship travel negatively effects whales and their feeding patterns because the whales seemed to swim away from ships when they were close by. Over 70% of all ship pollutants are within 400km of land and this is typically where marine mammals migrate during the changing seasons.
Oil spills from crashed ships and from offshore oil rigs have had an immeasurable impact on the ocean. However, nuclear power has also had several horrific accidents that have destroyed entire ecosystems for generations to come. Unfortunately, we have not found an alternative energy source to oil yet, which has allowed for the oil market to continue to rise. The stubborn politicians who only have a brain revolving around money have prevented a transition away from oil to renewable sources that is necessary to combat climate change. This has allowed for over 90,000 container ships to run practically unregulated across the world’s oceans. So, what can we do if the sources we have are not efficient to maintain being sustainable?
The UN has made few regulations for these large ships that are almost always transporting goods across the ocean. A study from The Guardian found that seven of the world’s largest ships pollute the same amount of toxins as the 760 million cars that are in the world today. This is from a single trip across the ocean. The world’s largest container ship has an engine that’s 109,000 horsepower and weighs 2,300 tons. Many of these ships are diesel powered and use low quality, cheap fuel. These ships typically run for 280 days per year and produce 5,200 tons of Sox a year. Shipping takes up 18-30% of global NOx pollution and 9% of the global Sox pollution. These chemicals are direct components in the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, and the melting of the ice caps.
Solving and addressing the issue begins with our lawmakers because they hold the majority of the power in our country. The next step is to use media outlets and the technological platform we have as activists to spark a movement surrounding the issue. Media sources need to reiterate the fact that humans have a responsibility to preserve the Earth for future generations. Former president Trump made several decisions that had a serious impact on our economy and the environment. Now that he is out of office, President Biden must move to make a decision to reduce the importation of goods into America to fight the rise in climate change. This is one option to help reduce the amount of cargo ships that are crossing the ocean. The other option is to pass regulations on the emissions of ships that enter U.S. waters. If those foreign ships want to transport goods into America, then they must pass the emission requirement in order to transport goods into America. Reducing how frequently these ships are transporting goods will also dramatically decrease the emission of pollutants. It also may encourage these ships to buy cleaner more refined fuel to use instead of cheaper, less efficient fuel. Instead of putting tariffs on imported goods, politicians should create laws to regulate their emissions instead. That way, ships can use up a certain amount of credit that they are allowed to emit before they must pay extra if they go over the set amount. Wind, solar, and water are three of the best sources for renewable energy that should be incorporated into the transportation industry in the future to aid decreasing oil use. But for now, addressing the oil industry should be our next goal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N9JHYtAzVk cruise ship impact
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/04/26/cruise-ship-pollution-is-causing-serious-health-and-environmental-problems/?sh=231a24a337db
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82220-5#Sec11
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution
http://www.sernapesca.cl/informacion-utilidad/anuarios-estadisticos-de-pesca-y-acuicultura
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda-retired/
