Currents Summer 2024 (1) - Flipbook - Page 10
ONE OF THE MANY 90-PASSENGER TOUR VESSLES IN ANTARCTIC WATERS.
A 2022 study by researchers at the University of Santiago, Chile, lent scientific merit to the
notion that pollutive tourism vessels also leave a traceable impact on the Antarctic region.
Black carbon, known also as soot, is emitted by forms of transport relied upon by tourists in
the region, mostly through the combustion engines that power ships and snowmobiles.
Analyzing the snow from more than two dozen sites on the Antarctic Peninsula, the study9s
authors concluded that concentrations of soot were at their highest levels nearest to tourist
routes and research bases. The scientists estimated that each tourist visiting the Antarctic
Peninsula is responsible for close to 80 additional tons of snowmelt in the region each year.
This is because soot particles in the air, even at levels below detection by the human eye, are
nevertheless detrimental to the polar environment. Increased concentrations of soot, which
has low albedo, accelerate melting processes, and can be linked to the shifting patterns of
snow cycles on the Peninsula.
Even as the pollution produced by cruise ships is beginning to be regulated in Antarctic
waters, the industry is still far from zero-impact and unreliable in its adherence to protocols.
Since 2011, the use of heavy grade oils in Antarctica has been prohibited under an
amendment to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, known
as MARPOL. In 2017, the United Nations9 International Maritime Organization (IMO)
strengthened environmental protections in the polar regions through a mandatory Polar
Code governing matters ranging from ship construction and operations to the handling of
waste and fuel.
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