## 1 Introduction  
Numerous scientific studies have found ample evidence that black carbon (BC) emissions, which are extremely small particles in soot from burning fossil fuels, including those of maritime shipping's diesel engines, pose significant threats to human health and agricultural production at local and regional levels, as well as to global climate change. However, the application of those findings in policymaking processes at many governmental levels has lagged behind progress in scientific research. Nevertheless, there are now BC-related emission-mitigating measures under active consideration in policymaking contexts at several levels of governance, and some have already been adopted for ports and coastal areas in several countries. This article reviews the scientific evidence, including the resultsof port case studies, and applies the evidence to a specific current agenda, namely maritime shipping emissions in Italian ports and coastal areas. Ports and coastal areas in Italy are particularly appropriate subjects for research now because there is rising public concern about the effects of cruise ships' emissions on local air quality as well as other quality of life conditions (e.g., in Venice) and because of a wider national interest in air quality issues in other Italian ports and in the policymaking institutions of the European Union (EU) [1]. That agenda includes proposals for a regional Mediterranean Emission Control Area (Med ECA), which the Italian government has endorsed [2]. Black carbon emissions are on the agenda of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at the global level [3]. A proposal to include international maritime shipping in the existing EU Emissions Trading System is on the agenda of the EU institutions in Brussels [4], and thus in European national capitals. Within Italy, maritime shipping issues are being addressed by the national government, of course, as well as regional port authorities and local port operators [5]. The paper addresses two central questions: What are the effects on human health and agricultural production of shipping's BC and other emissions in Italian ports and coastal areas? How can the emissions be reduced? The article analyzes current and prospective air pollution problems, and it assesses current policies as well as options for the future. The damage to public health and agricultural production is done by ships' as they pass along coastal areas and as they enter and leave ports. In addition, there are emissions while they are anchored or tied-up for loading and unloading, and there are also emissions from on-shore transportation systems and material-handling operations. A common element of these emissions is that they are emitted by large diesel engines. The emissions thus include black carbon and other air pollutants, such as sulfur and nitrous oxides, which are known to cause human health [6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17] and agricultural production problems [7; 8; 18; 19; 20; 21]. A challenge of the present study is thus to apply this knowledge to the activities of maritime shipping in Italian ports and coastal areas and to assess technologies and policies to reduce the emissions. Shipowners and operators with headquarters and registrations in many countries have been changing their ships, their equipment, and their operations in order to reduce their emissions [9]. These changes are partly responses to changing technologies, and partly responses to changes in government policies at many levels of governance. In order to understand the air pollution policy issues and options facing Italian governmental authorities and shipping industry executives, the article therefore considers the core issues in the context of the Italian, Mediterranean, European and world shipping industry, and governmental policies at several levels of governance-local, intra-national regional, national, international regional and global.