For all those who love transcontinental travel, pilot Patrick Smith, of askthepilot.com, points out that, "unlike cars, commercial aircraft are remarkably efficient on a fuel-per-passenger basis. Using average capacity and aircraft size, a round-trip journey between New York and London, each passenger is responsible for approximately 110 gallons of fuel. Between New York and Boston it's about 10 gallons -- less than half of what a person would consume if he or she chose to drive."
Furthermore, Smith reports that commercial air travel accounts for only 2%-5% of fossil fuel emissions worldwide.
Why then the frequent complaints from environmentalists concerning air transport and petrol use? Apparently it's the obvious: compare one airplane's fuel use with one automobile's fuel use over the same distance, and the airplane uses many times the fuel that the auto does. Account for the number of passengers that the airplane holds compared with the auto, especially single passenger autos, and the airplane comes out much 'greener'
Interested in which sectors create the most greenhouse gases around the globe, or just how greenhouse gas emissions have changed over the last several decades? See http://timeforchange.org/cause-and-effect-for-global-warming
No things don't look good...let's see how quickly our human race can awaken now that the chips are down!
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