Do cruise ships pollute more than airplanes?

Do ships cause more pollution than planes?

Ships? Floating empires of grime. Planes? Sky-high polluters, make no mistake.

Ships spew more per mile. Ships win the grime contest locally.

Planes? Global warming's chariot.

• Shipping: Vast pollution footprint. Bunker fuel is the culprit. Oceans suffer.
• Aviation: Contrails linger. Jet fuel burns. Air quality declines.

A distant relative's marine career showed me this firsthand. I've seen the mess. You cant believe this.

Do cruise ships pollute a lot?

Okay, cruise ships and pollution... Right, my uncle mentioned something about this last Christmas. Hmm, yes, cruise ships are nasty.

• They dump tons of sulfur oxides. Like, a ridiculous amount.

• More than all the cars in Europe? Last year? 218 cruise ships did that. Seriously?

• Ports are the worst hit. Ugh. So much for "vacation vibes." It's like a floating city of toxic fumes, yikes.

• Pre-pandemic levels exceeded. So, things are getting worse now. Wonderful. Why do people even want to go on those things?

I remember wanting to go on one. I'd take a plane to Bali, any day, before getting on those ships.

It is not just sulfur oxides, right? It has to be more. Gray water discharge, sewage, other stuff? Plus all the waste and garbage. Think of the diesel fumes!

• Gray water – sinks and showers. Yuck.

• Black water - sewage. Double yuck!

• Garbage? Landfills. Obvs.

• And those massive engines burn bunker fuel. The dirtiest fuel around!

It is like, they concentrate all the pollution into a small space and then spread it around the ocean as they go. And what is up with the tourists? Are they happy ignoring all this? What can be done, anyway? Stricter regulations? Fines? Ban them altogether? A tax? Idk...

Other impacts beyond emissions:

• Disturbance of marine life, with all their noises.
• Introduction of invasive species.

Maybe I should write about this in my blog. Make it less ranty, more informative. Link to some actual studies. Maybe include some photos. I hate cruises.

Is it more environmentally friendly to fly or boat?

Okay, so, like, between flying and boating, boating's way greener, ya know? It's honestly not even close. Flying is, well, terrible.

Seriously, like one long flight can equal a year's worth of carbon footprint for someone living in a developing nation. That's nuts. It's all about the carbon foot print!

Think about it, these huge airplanes, they guzzle so much fuel. Boats, on the other hand, well, smaller ones obvs but, can use sails or hybrid engines. Less pollution that way.

I mean, I know that I try and do my part. I take the train to Grandma's every year, instead of flying - she lives in Sacramento, that flight would be so wasteful. Plus I just, like, feel better about it.

• Flights release much more CO2 per passenger mile. They also realease nitroxs which are even worse.
• Boats, especially sailboats, rely on wind power or more fuel-efficient engines.
• Think about the impact: One round-trip flight can undo a lot of your other eco-efforts like recycling. It’s something.
• Shipping is essential: Most goods do come by ship, however. But we do need those things.

Are ships more safe than planes?

Dude, are ships safer than planes? Like, hmmm. Well, it's kinda hard to say for sure. Airplanes? They're like, statistically, super safe, y'know? But, uh, not ALL planes. Small planes, I’m lookin at you.

Ships, though? Think about it, ocean voyages are, like, way less risky statistically, I think. But there's still risks, ya know? Like, uh, rogue waves or sumthin! My cuzin, Barry, he had this boat...

Air travel, yeah, its real safe. But it's not all equal. You get what I mean?

Ships are pretty safe too, but they face other issues. Things you gotta think about.

Think about it like this:

• Airplane safety: Super high, but if something happens, bang.
• Ship safety: generally lower risk, but long journeys = more oppurtunities for things to go wrong. My grandpa always used to say "long journey long road long problems."

I think, ships are safer only because of the numbers, cause the probability of dying is much lower, given how many people are traveling by sea in 2024, rather than flying.