On October 21, there were 105 ships waiting for a berth at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, according to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California. On several occasions in October 2021, anchored ships had to activate their main engines or move to much deeper water to ride out inclement weather. In addition to the large numbers of waiting ships, another element that might be contributing to greater contamination levels is that all 3 ports are processing considerably more items than in previous years due to surging customer need. The port of New York/New Jersey reports record-breaking freight volumes in 2021.
“The blue area over downtown Los Angeles may be the result of less people travelling into offices downtown and working remotely instead,” stated Daniel Goldberg, a climatic researcher at George Washington University.
October 1– 23, 2021
The maps above and listed below reveal the concentration of the air toxin nitrogen dioxide ( NO2) in between October 1-23, 2021, as compared to the same duration in 2019 and 2018 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic upended worldwide trade). The ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New Jersey– the busiest ports in the United States– show evident increases in NO2 in October 2021.
The maps on this page have actually remedied for this.).
The elevated concentrations of NO2 near the ports appear to be a minimum of partly an effect of having lots of ships waiting a number of days to dump their freight. On October 21, there were 105 ships awaiting a berth at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, according to information from the Marine Exchange of Southern California. While ship backups are not as extreme off of New York/New Jersey, those port facilities have likewise seen some backlogs and unusually high freight movement in current months.
October 1– 23, 2021.
Given that there is only adequate space for roughly 60 freight ships to drop anchor in shallow waters near the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, the remainder of the waiting ships are kept in deeper waters, where they keep their primary engines running and move in circles to maintain their position. Even ships that are anchored still need to run auxiliary engines to keep key systems operational. On numerous events in October 2021, anchored ships needed to activate their main engines or relocate to deeper water to ride out severe weather. All of these situations produce emissions of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and other toxins that can result in more smog and ozone downwind in more populated areas.
In addition to the great deals of waiting ships, another factor that may be contributing to greater pollution levels is that all three ports are processing significantly more goods than in previous years due to rising consumer need. The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports have seen roughly 50 percent increases in the movement in cargo in some months in 2021 compared to 2019, according to a report from the California Air Resources Board. The port of New York/New Jersey reports record-breaking freight volumes in 2021.
The satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide also hint at other procedures happening onshore. The small area of raised NO2 near Santa Barbara is connected to the smoke plume from the Alisal fire, which burned through chaparral along the California coast in mid-October. The blue area right away over Los Angeles points towards reductions in urban emissions over the city core.
” Part of what we may be seeing over Los Angeles is that the controls on mobile (trucks, automobiles, trains) and stationary (factories) sources of NO2 that have actually come into impact in recent years have actually been efficient, especially some of the controls at the port itself,” said Ted Russell, a Georgia Tech climatic researcher and member of a NASA Applied Sciences group concentrated on air quality. Because 2006, the LA and Long Beach ports have actually enacted a clean air plan that has resulted in considerable reductions in NO2 emissions.
October 10, 2021.
Other scientists note the COVID-related modifications in transport practices might be a factor. “The blue area over downtown Los Angeles might be the result of fewer people commuting into offices downtown and working from another location instead,” said Daniel Goldberg, an atmospheric scientist at George Washington University. “When you are looking at satellite data showing changing concentrations of contamination, you always have to keep in mind that there are several aspects at play that can be difficult to disentangle.”.
Goldberg, Russell, and other atmospheric scientists all warn that other aspects– especially wind and climate condition– can make it quite challenging to interpret changes in nitrogen dioxide. “Double the wind speed, and you can around cut in half the concentrations. Modification the wind instructions, and one location appears to have more, another less,” stated Russell. One current analysis by Goldberg discovered that strong winds or the direction of the winds might change NO2 concentrations over Los Angeles by as much as 80 percent.
In this case, it is possible that days with strong Santa Ana winds in 2018-19 could have overemphasized the apparent boost in NO2 over Riverside and Irvine. “Without taking a cautious appearance at the meteorology, what I can say is that this initial information certainly supports the idea that were seeing increased emissions offshore due to the shipping backlogs,” stated Russell. “In another month or 2, it may be possible to tell a much clearer story.”.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, utilizing customized Copernicus Sentinel 5P information processed by the European Space Agency. Story by Adam Voiland, with fact-checking and analysis from Daniel Goldberg (George Washington University), Ted Russell (Georgia Tech), and Aristeidis Georgoulias (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).
October 1– 23, 2021
Scientific Questions Arrive in Ports
Satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide near key U.S. ports suggest that increased shipping activity and backlogs may be affecting air quality.
In October 2021, natural-color images from the Landsat and Terra satellites returned striking views of record-breaking backlogs of container ships idling offshore of some of Americas biggest ports. Surging demand for durable goods, labor and devices scarcities, and a selection of COVID-related supply chain snarls have added to the backlogs.
Now atmospheric researchers are working with air contamination data gathered by satellites to discover whether the uncommon shipping activity is affecting air quality near ports. Though other industries and processes might be contributing, a preliminary take a look at satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide pollution offshore of ports suggests that shipping may be contributing to an uptick in pollution.
