Pollution From Shipping Is Double That Of Flying

Global shipping produces two times as much greenhouse gas pollution as aviation, despite the attention that air traffic gets during consideration of people's "carbon footprints."

Ocean shipping accounts for 5-7% of the world's output of CO2, as well as a whopping 15-30% of the nitrogen oxide emissions that cause smog and acid rain.

Many companies have resisted recent U.S. efforts to clean up ports, in part because standards are so low elsewhere in the world, and so the dirtier and cheaper fuels are used, and pollution controls are minimal.

With ocean shipping on the rise -- studies predict as much as a 75% increase in the next 20 years -- the time to tackle this pollution source is now.

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