Flying to distant skies: How much do we understand our impact?

Since our pandemic staycation, we all seem to be flying to distant skies again. But do we really understand what that decision means for the environment and the bigger picture? Some researchers from England shed some light on it. So that the next time we fly, we can take their perspective into account and make a more informed decision, should we want to.

Main image: Pexels, Marina Hinic

Do you remember those images of cleaner rivers as a result of the lockdown? In the meantime, we seem to have resumed our habit of long distance flying. Either to far-away holiday destinations, or to visit family abroad in search of a simpler life. Long-distance flying is hot.

However, can we truly say we understand the impact of our decision to take a flight? A bunch of researchers from England say it’s important we do. That it’s key to the planet, the environment, our time on earth. Because, they say, compared to other modes of transport, flying is really quite a bad thing. And especially longer-distance flights.

Flying and CO2, our buzzword

Turns out, long-distance travel (for which the researchers took 80 kilometres one-way as a minimum baseline) emits some of the highest levels of CO2 of all forms of travel. The thing is, we love going longer distances; in search of adventure, or a different climate. And it’s particularly flying for leisure and social purposes that are said to have become the largest contributors to CO2 emissions.

But it’s not all CO2, our latest buzzword. Air flight traffic also emits other harmful substances. Along with emitting CO2 from burning fuel, planes are also found to ‘affect the concentration of other atmospheric gases and pollutants.’ For instance, they are said to ‘generate a long-term decrease in ozone and methane,’ as well as an ‘increased emissions of water vapour from aircraft exhaust fumes, soot, sulphur aerosols, and water contrails.’

There are also the plastic coffee cups, headphones, unused meals, and all those other throwaway bits and bobs to consider.

The notion that aviation is not only responsible for 2.5% of annual CO2 emissions into the air, but also for a larger negative ‘footprint,’ is key when looking at the total impact of our long flights on our planet and its general environment.

All in all, the British researchers join the growing view that the time has come to turn our policy attention to decarbonising our methods of travel; making them cleaner, and in particular air travel.

Yea, but what are the alternatives

Apart from learning to appreciate destinations closer to home, there do not seem to be many good alternatives. The world needs more inventiveness when it comes to making travel cleaner, say the researchers. Take road travel. Improved renewable fuels for both cars and electric cars may have received more attention recently, in Britain alone the latter would ‘still require 32.9 million cars to switch to electric cars,’ they point out.

It doesn’t help that so many people are unsure about where all those toxic batteries or large numbers of replaced traditional cars will end up in the future. In any case, can we ever go back now that we have the option to buy a flight with the convenience of a loaf of bread?

Flying: The biggest change

Meanwhile, other researchers are also arguing that the ‘current climate policy regime for aviation’ needs improving. They call aviation one of the most ‘energy-intense forms of consumption,’ and tell us that ‘data supports that a minor share of air travellers is responsible for a large share of warming.’

On the plus side, because flying is that bad for the environment, long-haul fliers could collectively make a huge change. By choosing to travel in another way, they could achieve a disproportionately large reduction in emissions. “Collectively, if everyone who flies reduces even one flight, it could make a big change,” one of the researchers Zia Wadud, PhD DIC, Associate Professor told us.

Perhaps we could say that, regardless our beliefs about the effect of flying, leaving less junk in the air can never be a bad thing?

“Collectively, if everyone who flies reduces even one flight, it could make a big change.”

Source: Wadud, Z., Adeel, M. & Anable, J. Understanding the large role of long-distance travel in carbon emissions from passenger travel. Nat Energy (2024).