Shipping emissions may pollute Arctic

Global warming will open new Arctic shipping routes, but ship traffic on new northern sea lanes may increase levels of low-lying ozone, as exhaust from ships spew pollutants into the environment.

Claire Granier, from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, says ozone emissions associated with the opening of these new sea routes, assuming that the routes would be accessible for six months of the year, could triple ozone levels, making them comparable to those in industrialized regions today.

These very high ozone levels are likely to have a serious impact on plant life.

Smog from cruise ships is already settling over Norway’s scenic Geiranger Fiord, which recently won a spot on the United Nations’ World Heritage” list, reports the Aftenposten.

The smog has been forming “like a grey-blue lid,” says the Aftenposten.

According to the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, the fiord’s air quality is similar to London’s.

“Our calculations show levels no one would expect to find in otherwise virtually untouched wilderness,” the institute’s Dag Tønnesen told the newspaper.

Some days, when as many as five cruise ships have sailed into the fiord, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide has reached 180 micrograms per cubic meter, about the same level found in London.

Tourism officials say they are concerned.

“If tourists’ experience in the fiord is the opposite of what we’ve been marketing, we have a problem,” Terje Devold of marketing firm Fjord Norge told Aftenposten.

Norwegian tourism officials and authorities want stricter international rules on allowable emissions from cruise ships. Starting in November, cruise ships will be required to present a certificate proving they comply with emissions requirements.