On September 23rd, 2019, the United Nations (U.N.) held a Climate Action Summit to discuss measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which could raise the average global temperature by over 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the same time, Riverdale students took action by walking out to attend the Global Climate Strike and by holding their own rallies to protest climate change. At the climate strike, many paid attention to the emissions of cars, trucks, and planes. But which method of transportation pollutes our environment the most per passenger? The shocking answer is the cruise ship, which emits three to four times more carbon dioxide (CO2) per passenger than even jets! Cruising is now the fastest-growing aspect of U.S. tourism and grew ten percent last year, transporting over 26 million people worldwide. The impact that cruising leaves on the environment will only worsen in the future. 

When planning a summer vacation, nothing beats cruising in value. A three-night cruise to the Bahamas from Miami, for instance, only costs $169 per person. Cruising companies love bragging about their ships and all the new activities that they bring to the ocean. These companies promise nonstop fun and a perfect family vacation. But to comprehend the real effects of cruises on the environment, one must understand the sheer size of these vacation machines. Cruises nowadays are five times as big as the Titanic, with one ship called the Symphony of the Seas tipping the scales at 228,000 tons. This ship, which debuted in 2018, can hold up to 6,680 passengers with roughly 2,200 crew members. Another ship, the Harmony of the Seas, boasts 18 decks, 24 elevators, and more than ten restaurants, as well as a range of features including a go-kart racing track, a roller coaster, and a ten-story water slide. 

While cruises are incredibly fun, moving a floating city requires tons of fuel and emits an outrageous amount of toxic gases into the atmosphere. Cruise ships are polluting the air with CO2, one of the main contributors to global warming, and sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain, at unprecedented levels. The CO2 emissions from these cruise ships are incredibly high, taking into account the fact that thousands of passengers inhabit them, and cruises still produce far more CO2 than other methods of transportation per passenger! The amount of sulfur dioxide released by the Carnival cruise line alone in Europe is an astounding ten times greater than all of Europe’s 260 million cars. To maximize profit, cruise ships chug along every hour of the day, only stopping when they need to refill their humongous tanks of gas and storages of food. And CO2 and sulfur dioxide are only two of the gases that are polluting the atmosphere with every hour from every cruise ship around the world. 

The pollution from the cruise industry is not limited to the atmosphere. Floating cities destroy marine ecosystems and contaminate the water with all sorts of garbage. Maritime law enables cruises to dump food waste, cargo residue, cleaning agents, and animal carcasses straight into the ocean. Even with these lenient rules, the industry has been caught hundreds of times for polluting and illegal dumping of waste, paying over 100 million dollars in fines. Who knows how much junk they are dumping in the water to trigger these violations? The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union in Germany conducted a study last year, which found that cruise ships use the dirtiest of fuels, leaving vast amounts of filthy residue in our oceans. Cruise ships use bunker fuel, which is a tar-like sludge that contains 3,000 times more sulfur than the diesel used for trucks. 

Why can cruise ships get away with generating enormous amounts of pollution and garbage? The problem is that there is no regulatory framework. Under maritime law, merchant ships are subject to the laws of the countries’ flags they carry. Forty percent of the world’s fleet is registered to Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands, countries that are lightly regulated and barely have to follow any rules. Furthermore, the high seas are defined as outside any nation’s territorial waters, which only extend 12 miles beyond a nation’s shores. Cruise ships dump all kinds of trash because they can, and the result is a mountain of toxic waste that damages the ocean. 

What steps can we take to reduce the environmental impact of cruising? First, the U.S. must assert regulatory powers over ships that dock in American ports. Regardless of the flag flown, cruise ships with American passengers should obey laws similar to the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. Second, international waters, defined as beyond 12 nautical miles from shore, should not be a haven for ecological abuse. The U.N., with the support of the United States, Europe, and emerging cruising markets, should pass measures to reduce pollution and the dumping of waste. The oceans belong to the world’s citizens, not predatory cruise lines. Third, sulfur-rich bunker fuel must be banned globally. Requirements for higher-grade, less toxic fuel have been accepted for every other mode of transportation. Why should cruise ships be immune? 

So what can students do to make an impact on this issue? Raising awareness about the environmental impacts of cruising will drive change. Write to Congress, tell friends and family, sign and circulate petitions, and send letters to the U.N. and other bodies with regulatory power. We can speak up and advocate for a better and healthier world. We should not tolerate cruise ships trashing our planet anymore!