Aviation and Climate Change

Have you ever wondered how much aviation contributes to our climate change? Well the fact is that aviation contributes its own share of 4 to 9% in "greenhouse" gas emissions, and this figure is ever so rapidly growing in our world today.

Are today's aircraft more fuel efficient than they were 40 years ago?

Some reports state that Aircraft entering in todays aviation world are 70% more fuel efficient than they were 30 -40 years ago, while others argue that the typical airplanes of the 1950s were as efficient as the modern airplanes we use today. Activity in the airline industry today, is far greater than it was in the 1950s, and the planes are much larger which leads me to believe that the figure at 70% more fuel efficient is slightly exaggerated. Studies show that air travel is 10 times more climate intensive, than any other means of fuel-driven transportation that we use today. Airplanes produce more than one type of greenhouse gas, but the most common being C02, along with others such as nitrous oxide, and sulfate. The sad part of this all is that nothing is really being done to combat this ever growing problem. There are very few sanctions or policies imposed to the aviation industry which could induce any type of change in the near future.

So what can we do to help?

Well, first and foremost, travel by air when only necessary. Try having your meetings via video-conferencing, email, or try using web cams or related technologies. Try using other means of transportation, especially for shorter trips. Air travel is a luxury and treat it as so. Contact your local political constituency and voice your concern, in the importance of this issue.

The more people that do this, the more likely we will be, to see change in our environment in the years to come.

You can read more about climate change at http://bigeasyclub.com/index.html.