Inconvenient truth:
Air travel is really, really bad for the planet.
Air travel creates huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. If we ever want to get serious about climate change, we’re going to have to reconsider our frequent flying
I first discovered this unfortunate fact while reading Colin Beavan’s book, No Impact Man. Colin spent an entire year implementing all sorts of strategies to lower his carbon footprint. After his project was over, just one flight from NY to California, he put more carbon into the atmosphere than he saved in that entire year.
A roundtrip airplane flight between New York and Los Angeles creates about three tons of CO2 per passenger.
Perhaps we should plant trees to compensate for the CO2 we’re putting out there with our flights? One tree can absorb fifty pounds of CO2 every year.
I’d like to see kids in middle school math classes make these calculations. It might help them to better understand the challenges of what we are up against.
How many trees must we plant to make up for a round trip from NY to LA?
If burning a gallon of conventional gas emits about 20 pounds of CO2, how much CO2 would we put in the air if we drove a Prius the 2,778 miles from NY to LA. Assume the Prius gets 50 miles per gallon.
Or take a bus to LA. 50 seats on the bus that gets 15 miles a gallon. Burning a gallon of diesel emits about 22 pounds of CO2.
(c) Melanie Rubin 2012
Here are some ways to cut that carbon footprint caused by air travel:
- Fly less, vacation closer to home.
- Trains, buses, even cars are more energy efficient than airplanes. Use air travel as a last resort.
- Use videoconferencing for meetings, use webcams and Skype to keep in touch with family that is far away.
- If you have to fly, choose the flight with the least number of stops. Take offs and landings use the most fuel
Perhaps flying will become more like a tuna fish sandwich. I used to eat them all the time until I learned about the fact that tuna contains significant amounts of mercury. Now I only eat a tuna sandwich once a month or less. It would be wise if all of us cut back on our air travel as a way of caring for our planet and for future generations.
Tuna is high in mercury thanks to coal fired power plants
PS Interestingly enough, the reason our tuna is contaminated with mercury has to do with coal burning power plants. It drifts through the atmosphere and rains down on rivers, lakes and the ocean. As bigger fish eat smaller fish, mercury accumulates, so top predators like tuna, king mackerel and swordfish are the most contaminated. To learn more about the tuna situation, click here.
