Heading to Venice? Don’t forget your
pollution mask
Venetians regularly protest against
the huge cruise ships docking in the city, but mass tourism is not the only
problem they bring – the toxic air they pump out is harmful to locals and
visitors alike
Demonstrators in boats try to block the
passage of large ships to demonstrate against their impact on Venice
Axel Friedrich
Monday 31 July 2017 06.30 BST
If you’re heading to Venice on holiday this summer, don’t
forget to pack your pollution mask. Worrying about toxic air might seem strange
in a city with few roads and cars, but Venice’s air carries hidden risks.
Every day five or six of the world’s largest cruise ships
chug into the heart of the ancient city, which hosts the Mediterranean’s largest
cruise terminal. These ships advertise luxurious restaurants, vast swimming
pools and exotic entertainment – but keep quiet about the hidden fumes they
pump into the city’s air.
It’s one reason locals are so enraged over the impact of
tourism on their famous city. Protests against cruise ships are now
commonplace. In May nearly 20,000 Venetians voted in an unofficial referendum,
with 99% backing a motion to keep cruise ships away.
They are right to be angry.
Ship operators claim they use low-emission fuel when they
are near big cities, but measurements I have taken near the port of Venice tell
a different story. The fuel they burn while at berth contains more than 100
times as much sulphur as truck diesel.
As big ships sailed down the main canal, just a stone’s
throw from the shore, my team recorded up to 500 ultra-fine particles per cubic
centimetre – 500 times higher than clean sea air.
These particles linger in the air long after the ships have
passed, and are carried hundreds of kilometres inland by the winds. Particulate
matter is linked to severe health problems such as cardiovascular and
respiratory diseases, including strokes and cancer.
The World Health Organisation places diesel particles in the
same carcinogenic category as smoking and asbestos.
And it’s not just particulates we should worry about. The
dieselgate scandal has reminded us that diesel engines produce a range of other
pollutants that damage human health, the environment and the climate, including
carcinogenic soot and sulphur and nitrogen oxides.
Figures by the European commission estimate that about
50,000 people die prematurely every year in Europe because of pollution from
the shipping sector. This is a scandal because there are measures available to
fix the problem cost-effectively, from using cleaner fuels to installing
filters and using battery technology near the coast.
But the very profitable cruise industry has proven unwilling
to engage with the problem. Nearly a million Britons take a cruise holiday
every year, many paying up to £1,000 each for a week-long trip around the
Mediterranean. With more than 6,000 passengers packing the larger ships, that’s
a decent revenue.
Despite this, major shipping lines still refuse to spend
money on proper exhaust gas technology, creating a massive threat to the
health, not only of citizens and guests of the ports they visit, but of
citizens along the coasts and even inland.
The fumes can also endanger the passengers: the German lung
doctors association recently gave a warning to passengers with pre-existing
conditions not to go on the deck of a cruise vessel. Even newer ships still
pump out incredible levels of pollution.
The cruise industry is failing to meet basic public
standards on the environment and human health. The good news for Venetians is
that the Port Authority expects 10% fewer vessels this year, which may allow
residents to breathe slightly easier.
But until ships are fitted with better filters and burn
cleaner fuel, I’d advise you to pack a mask for when they sail by.
• Axel Friedrich is an international shipping consultant
working with German environmental group Nabu, and was formerly head of the
transport department in the German federal environmental agency.
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