Britain at risk from shipping pollution

New research suggests emissions from shipping are responsible for the premature deaths of an estimated 39,000 people across Europe. Britain and Ireland are particularly badly affected because they have long coastlines with some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes just offshore.

According to The Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria, Britain’s west coast is likely to be so badly affected by shipping pollution that average life expectancy for people living in or near coastal towns could be reduced by as much as 30 months from 2020.

Some of the largest vessels have engines so large that over the course of a year they can emit the same amount of pollutants as 50m cars.

Shipping is currently excluded from most national laws controlling pollution, but this is set to change. The European Union is set to introduce controls on emissions from shipping while America will ban from its waters foreign-registered ships that fail to meet strict new standards.

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