Ships pollute in East Asia

A Chinese-led study has estimated that sulphur dioxide emissions from ships caused an estimated 24 000 premature deaths a year in East Asia, mainly from heart and lung diseases and cancer. About three-quarters of deaths were in China, and others mainly in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea. China, where Shanghai is the world’s busiest container port, will start demanding cleaner fuels for ships in coastal regions from 2019.

The study “Health and climate impacts of ocean-going vessels in East Asia” was published online in the journal Nature Climate Change 18 July 2016.
Source: PlanetArk/Reuters 19 July 2016

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