The German organization Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and Ecologistas en Acción conducted measurements of the atmospheric emissions from ships in the Strait of Gibraltar and Barcelona, and they found levels of contamination up to 70 times greater than the pollution on cities.
Shipping pollution is a serious threat to human health, the environment and global climate. This high pollution has been demonstrated by measurements from NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Union) and Ecologistas en Acción, and showed that the quality of air in the Strait of Gibraltar and the port of Barcelona is 70 times worse than the pollution on urban cities.
In order to deal with shipping emissions, coastal states in Northern Europe designated the Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA) in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Channel of the Hose. This regulation improved air quality up to 50% since 2015.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Under this light, Ecologistas en Acción called the Spanish government to join France in the creation of a SECA that limits the entry of highly polluting vessels in the Mediterranean. Namely, it invited those responsible for the environmental quality of the MAPAMA and the air quality technicians of Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Catalonia to participate in the II International Conference ‘Reducing Air Pollution boats in the Mediterranean Sea ‘, organized by the French Ministry of Environment and the European alliance of environmental organizations.
