Environmental impact of aviation
The environmental impact of aviation is a significant concern in the context of global climate change. Air travel has become one of the most popular modes of transportation, enabling rapid global connectivity. However, airplanes primarily rely on fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases when burned, substantially contributing to climate change. In fact, aviation is responsible for about 4 percent of human-induced climate change.
The emissions from aircraft include a large percentage of carbon dioxide, which exacerbates global warming, and while some of these emissions occur at ground level, much is released at high altitudes, where it can have a pronounced warming effect. As awareness of carbon footprints has grown, many consumers have begun to feel guilty about their air travel, leading to a movement known as "flight shaming," which encourages individuals to seek more sustainable travel options.
In response, airlines and governments have committed to plans for reducing carbon emissions, including targets for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Various strategies, such as developing more efficient aircraft engines and supporting sustainable practices like tree planting, are being explored to mitigate aviation's environmental impact. This ongoing dialogue reflects a broader societal push towards balancing the benefits of air travel with the urgent need to protect the environment.
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Environmental impact of aviation
Many activists are concerned about the environmental impact of aviation. Airplanes are one of the most popular means of transportation in the world. Flying enables people to travel across continents in a single day and is often safer than traveling by automobile. In many ways, the mass adoption of planes has made the world a smaller place. However, such advancements have not come without cost. Airplanes run on hydrocarbon fuel, and burning hydrocarbons contributes to the acceleration of global climate change.
In the late 2010s, some consumers began feeling guilty about traveling by plane because it increased their carbon footprint, or the total greenhouse gas emissions they caused expressed as a carbon dioxide equivalent. They felt that avoiding air travel was a good moral choice. To combat this perception, many aviation companies instituted plans to become carbon neutral, or balancing carbon emissions with carbon removal, and repair the environment to offset the damage caused by aircraft.
Background
Modern transportation is an important part of life. Automobiles, boats, and especially planes have made it easier for people to travel to faraway places. In previous eras, a trip across the Atlantic Ocean could take months and might result in sickness or death, or the ship might be blown off course and land elsewhere. On a plane, a flight across the Atlantic might take only about eight hours and is generally safe.
Aviation has made travel safer and more convenient. It allows people to travel far from home, see more of the world, and visit family and friends who may live in other parts of the world. However, advances in transportation technology have not come without cost. Airplanes, as well as other forms of transportation such as most automobiles and ships, run on fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources, meaning that only a finite number of them exist on Earth. When burned, they release emissions in the form of greenhouse gases, which rise into the atmosphere, where they remain for an extended time. While greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere, they increase the amount of heat that the Earth retains. Though some amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases is necessary for the continuation of life on Earth, an excess of greenhouse gases may lead to sudden environmental change. These changes may be catastrophic for many species, leading to waves of extinctions. Global climate change can also have devastating effects on human life, such as increased flooding and greater and more powerful storms.
Overview
The massive volume of air traffic during the last century has had a notably negative impact on the environment. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2020, airplane transportation is responsible for about 4 percent of human-caused climate change. In most cases, this is due to carbon emissions from the planes themselves. Only 10 percent of pollutants released by aircraft are emitted near the surface of the Earth. The rest are emitted more than 3,000 feet above the surface.
Aircraft engines are large, powerful machines that burn large amounts of fuel and release large amounts of exhaust fumes. Roughly 70 percent of that exhaust is carbon dioxide, which directly contributes to the acceleration of global climate change. About 30 percent of that exhaust is water vapor, which is mostly harmless to the environment. Less than 1 percent of airplane exhaust is composed of other pollutants. These include particulates, carbon monoxide, and unburned hydrocarbon fuel.
According to Fund the Planet in 2024, a round-trip flight from New York to London emits about 2,646 pounds (1.2 metric tons) of carbon dioxide per passenger. A car would have to drive 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers)such as a trip from Los Angeles, California, to Miami, Floridato emit this amount of carbon dioxide.
The aircraft travel industry creates more pollution than the direct emissions of aircraft. To operate safely and efficiently, each aircraft requires a large support structure. This includes numerous ground vehicles, shuttles, and the construction costs associated with the creation of large airports. It also includes the vehicle traffic necessary to transport people to and from airports.
To reduce this environmental impact, many organizations have proposed widespread reform of the airline industry. Some organizations have proposed the use of more sustainable aircraft, including the use of engines that emit less greenhouse gas. Such engines, they argue, could be designed to be more efficient than current models, could be powered by batteries, or might utilize renewable biofuels.
Other groups have sought to use the power of world governments to reduce the pollution created by the airline industry. For example, in 2016, more than one hundred and ninety nations signed a United Nations (UN) accord related to flight pollution. Each nation agreed to reduce their aircraft-related carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent. In 2023, the UN reported that nations belonging to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to achieve net-zero aircraft-related carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
During the latter half of the 2010s, many consumers began to grow concerned over the environmental impact of commercial airlines. Consumers who paid attention to their carbon footprint, meaning the amount of carbon dioxide pollution they generate during their daily lives, began to feel guilt for their role in airline-related pollution. This led many consumers to seek alternate forms of travel, such as public transportation or driving more environmentally efficient automobiles. Media outlets labeled this phenomenon of trying to avoid flight shaming.
Financial analysts noted that airlines stood to lose a substantial portion of their revenues if the flight shaming movement continued to grow in popularity. In response to flight shaming, some airlines pledged to work to become carbon neutral, meaning that they would no longer contribute to environmental carbon pollution. However, such widespread changes take time to develop and implement.
In the meantime, many airlines have attempted to offset their carbon footprint, repairing as much pollution as they contribute. Some have sponsored mass tree plantings to increase carbon absorption, while others may subsidize green technologies to make up for the damage that commercial air travel causes to the environment. Airline companies also hope that publicizing such measures might help convince consumers to continue to travel by air instead of transitioning to more environmentally friendly forms of transportation.
Bibliography
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“Aviation’s Impact on the Environment.” Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders, aviationbenefits.org/environmental-efficiency/aviations-impact-on-the-environment/. Accessed 2 Sept. 2020.
Imolore, David. "The Carbon Cost of Air Travel and What You Can Do About It." Fund the Planet, 10 Sept. 2024, fundtheplanet.net/fund-the-planet/the-carbon-cost-of-air-travel-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024.
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