3.7.1 Aviation, climate and carbon
In this video, we look into the emissions of aviation transport. We explore the contribution of global aviation, the question of its radiative forcing effects, global trends in air traffic volume, and efforts to limit the carbon footprint of aviation.
!!! Correction: Please note that it is effective radiative forcing not radioactive !!!
Key takeaways:
- Aviation overall accounts for only 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions
- International flights do not count towards emissions of a particular country but instead they are counted as their own category: ‘bunker fuels’. As such there are few incentives for countries to reduce them.
- ‘Effective radiative forcing’ (ERF) represents the increase or decrease, since pre-industrialization times, in the balance between the energy coming from the sun and the energy emitted from the earth, known as the earth-atmosphere radiation budget.
- Air traffic volume (in revenue passenger kilometres travelled) – increased by almost 300-fold since 1950; and 75-fold since 1960.