Shipping Traffic Increases Fourfold Leading To Pollution Concerns.
Global ship traffic has exploded during the past two decades, likely bringing with it more air, water and even noise pollution, according to a new study by the American Geophysical Union.
Using satellite data to estimate oceangoing transport, the Union estimated that the number of ships on the seas increased in every year covered by the study, from 1992 through 2012. It jumped by 60 percent between 1992 and 2002, then accelerated in the subsequent decade, reaching a peak of 10 percent annual growth in 2011, the study found. Total growth over the 20-year period was fourfold.
This growth in shipping occurred in every ocean throughout these 20 years except in waters off Somalia, where commercial shipping has come to a virtual halt since 2006 because of rampant piracy. The adjacent Indian Ocean, though, is the busiest area for maritime shipping, and there traffic grew by more than 300 percent during the study period.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
