More about airplane emissions:
Exactly How Bad Is Flying? Depends How Far into the Future You Look
When it comes to carbon emissions, we know air travel is the worst kind of transportation, and that the plane's vapor trails are the main culprit.
But a new study has taken a closer look to understand and quantify how these emissions impact the atmosphere, and found that long-term, planes aren't quite as bad. Short-term, however, they're even worse than we thought.
the effects of different greenhouse gases play out in the atmosphere at a different speeds. CO2, released by all fuel-burning vehicles, can remain in the air for centuries, causing a gentle warming effect. By contrast, most other gases and impacts – such as the vapour trails and tropospheric ozone produced by planes at altitude – cause much more potent but shorter-lived bursts of warming
The story uses this analogy to better illustrate the point: CO2-induced global warming is equivalent to slow-cooking the earth, while vapor trails act more like "flash-frying it in an extra-hot wok"—and that the wok is likely to be more disastrous, even if they ultimately generate the same amount of heat.
Not good, considering the urgency that's needed to prevent wholly irreversible damage, at least according to Bill McKibben, one of the leaders of the call for urgent action: "We're at 390 parts per million or so today and rising about two parts per million a year. That's why the Arctic is melting. It's why the oceans are acidifying. And it's why we need a movement around the world to force political action sooner rather than later. We're running out of time."
There's more to it, but the bottom line is that non-CO2 greenhouse gases, such as methane, are the fastest contributors to climate change.
I'll skip the rest of the nitty gritty here, but read more about the findings from the Guardian, or from the study itself, and consider your next flight's flash-frying wok effect on the atmosphere before booking your ticket.