14 DAY TRIAL // Not very long ago, a team of researchers working with the US National Wildlife Federation warned that trading coal can be as harmful to the environment as burning it, simply because considerably more ships will start crossing the oceans at regular intervals.
The American Chemical Society now claims that, according to their latest research, the ecological footprint of transporting not just coal, but also other types of goods, with the help of cargo ships can be significantly cut down if these ships simply agree to go at a slower pace.
As the specialists who have looked into this issue explain, as many as 100,000 ships are presently used to transport various goods from one corner of the world to the other, and most of them run on low-grade oil.
Because this particular type of fuel releases considerable amounts of chemical compounds into the atmosphere when burnt, the researchers warn that both human health and marine environments face considerable threats.
However, it seems that a simple limitation in these ships' speed can help cut down on the total air pollutants they produce by as much as 50-70%.
The official website for the American Chemical Society explains that, according to the estimates brought forth by this investigation, legally forcing container ships to go at the speed of 14 miles per hour (22.5 kph) would translate into their CO2 emissions being cut down by roughly 60%.
As well as this, the amounts of nitrogen oxides these ships release into the atmosphere would be diminished by 55%, not to mention the fact that soot emissions would be reduced by 70%.
Naturally, this means that significant progress would be made in terms of tackling phenomena such as climate change and global warming.
For the time being, most of these ships travel at the speed of 25-28 mph (40.2 - 45 kph).
The findings of these study were published in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology.