Deal of the day: New study links online shopping to air pollution

The Impact of E-commerce Warehouses on Air Pollution and Communities

In recent decades, the way Americans buy things has undergone a radical transformation. E-commerce firms like Amazon have reshaped how people shop and how they receive their purchases, dotting the country with gigantic warehouses for the distribution of merchandise and bringing high volumes of truck traffic to nearby communities.

Introduction

In a paper published Wednesday, researchers at George Washington University used satellite data to measure the air pollution associated with large warehouses — the first such nationwide study.

Air Pollution and Warehouse Locations

The researchers focused in part on nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, a traffic-related air pollutant that is regulated under the Clean Air Act and is linked to asthma and other respiratory diseases. The study, which was funded by NASA, cross-referenced the locations of 150,000 warehouses across the U.S. with satellite observations of NO2 and found that people who live near warehouses are exposed to an average of 20 percent more NO2 than those who don’t. It also found that warehouses are located disproportionately in Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods — and that the concentration of racial minorities was closely correlated with the number of warehouses in a given area. Over 250 percent more Hispanic and Asian residents live near the largest warehouse clusters than the national average.

Impact of Warehouse Emissions

The highest concentrations of NO2 pollution are one or two miles downwind of the warehouses, said Gaige Kerr, the study’s lead author. This reflects the fact that NO2 is not directly emitted by vehicles. Instead, Kerr said, “Tailpipes emit NO, nitrogen oxide, and then NO undergoes chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Those reactions take a little bit of time, so the result of that is, you can imagine, there’s this plume of NO-rich air at the warehouse and it’s blown by the prevailing winds.”

Implications for Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – The exposure to increased levels of NO2 near warehouses poses a risk to the health and well-being of individuals, particularly those in minority communities.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – The concentration of warehouses in minority neighborhoods contributes to environmental inequalities and disparities in exposure to air pollution.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – The growth of warehouses and the associated increase in truck traffic highlight the need for sustainable urban planning and transportation systems.
• SDG 13: Climate Action – The emissions from warehouses and truck traffic contribute to air pollution and climate change, emphasizing the importance of reducing carbon emissions.

Policy Solutions and Actions

Warehousing is as old as the shipping of goods, but Kerr said the growth of online retail has transformed an industry that had looked the same for decades. “If you look at a plot of warehouse characteristics over time, the average new warehouse built from about 1980 to 2010 all kind of are the same,” Kerr said.

But then everything changed. “Following 2010, there is a really dramatic increase in the average square footage of warehouses,” Kerr said. “There’s about a 400 percent increase in the number of loading docks at the average warehouse, and also increases in the number of parking spaces as well as the density of warehousing clusters.”

With the growth of these facilities came organized community opposition in some of the country’s biggest warehouse hubs. In California’s South Coast, home to the largest concentration of warehouses in the country, local regulators adopted a landmark pollution rule in 2021, requiring warehouses to offset pollution from their trucks by choosing from a suite of actions including adding electric vehicle chargers or solar panels, or paying a mitigation fee to fund clean energy investments in the affected communities.

This rule was novel in its recognition of warehouses as an “indirect source” of pollution: Even though the buildings themselves didn’t emit pollutants, their owners were now on the hook for the pollution from the traffic they brought. Other states have begun considering implementing versions of this rule.

Kerr said there are policy solutions available at a variety of jurisdictional levels to lessen the health impacts of warehouse pollution. Besides issuing emissions limits, the federal government can further incentivize the electrification of trucks. But other players can do their part as well: “Individual corporations can pledge to phase out some of their older diesel vehicles, which are the worst when it comes to pollution. And there can also be commitments from electric utilities to deploy charging infrastructure, especially near clusters of warehouses and in really heavy trucking corridors,” Kerr said.

Conclusion

The study highlights the environmental and health implications of the rapid growth of e-commerce warehouses in the United States. It underscores the need for sustainable development practices and policies that address the impact of warehouse emissions on air pollution and communities, while also aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals.

References

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50000-0
2. https://natlawreview.com/article/warehouse-and-logistics-operations-targeted-regulatory-push-indirect-source-rules

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination.
• SDG 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status.
• SDG 11.6: By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.
• SDG 12.4: By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water, and soil to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 3.9: Air pollution levels, specifically nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations near warehouses.
• Indicator for SDG 10.2: Proximity of warehouses to communities of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• Indicator for SDG 11.6: Concentration of NO2 pollution downwind of warehouses.
• Indicator for SDG 12.4: Adoption of pollution offset rules by local regulators and consideration of similar rules in other states.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: grist.org