It saves the environment, is saner and simpler,
and helps promote your local community. In America, we get so few vacations,
days off, free time. We work all the time. So when we do get a break, what
do we do? Jump on a plane and rush somewhere else! Let's rethink this.
So you may recycle your newspapers. You may take buses or bike wherever you
can. You may compost, wash and reuse your plastic bags, carry around your
own coffee mug, use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, turn down the heat, all
of it. But you're still not doing enough good to outweigh all the harm you
do if you fly a lot. Sorry.
The main reason is that jet planes are HUGE oil consumers. The first problem
with that is that the oil extraction and processing business is a highly toxic
affair. The second problem is that planes contribute a tremendous amount of
carbon to the global greenhouse. And as we all know, carbon dioxide (CO2)
is the main gas causing global warming. It is a by-product of the burning
of fossil fuels. And nothing uses fuel more than an airplane.
How much? The average airplane sends approximately one ton of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere for every passenger it carries from New York to London.
That's more carbon dioxide production than a year's worth of driving. Over
distances less than 350 miles, air travel produces around three times more
carbon dioxide per passenger than rail.Indeed, air transport is the single
fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Global air traffic has
quadrupled since 1970, from 350 billion passenger miles a year to 1.5 trillion
passenger miles a year last year. Meanwhile, air fares have fallen by 40 per
cent in real dollars in the past 25 years. Indeed, aviation has the highest
growth rate of all modes of transport worldwide.
The result? Aviation is the source of about 13 per cent of the carbon dioxide
emitted by all transport and represents two per cent of all human-made carbon
dioxide emissions. If you think about the totality of personal, communal and
industrial production, including every fire we burn on every level, that's
a huge percentage.
What's worse, jet engines give out not only carbon dioxide but also nitrogen
oxides. Once a plane reaches cruise altitude, these increase ozone concentrations
in the upper atmosphere, contributing significantly to the greenhouse effect.
Vapor trails of tiny ice particles also have a greenhouse effect by preventing
the escape of infra-red radiation from the atmosphere.
Aviation is on schedule to produce 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year
by 2015 - a 159 per cent increase over 1992. And by 2050 experts forecast
an overall 487 per cent increase in yearly carbon dioxide emissions from 1992.
What can we do? Fly less! It's also a saner way to spend your holiday, as
any American who's rushed to relatives only to rush back to their home in
a blur will tell you. And there's one final benefit: the local business community
you live in will appreciate it if you keep yourself and your dollars where
you live. And it's nice to feel a little rooted, to relax and just enjoy where
you live as if you were on vacation. So, next opportunity, take a pass on
the air travel, and enjoy the fact that you've done the single most significant
thing you can do to save the environment.
[ Next: Number 2 ]
