5 ms·
I share your feeling, but I also note this contradiction: > I spent quite some time in South-East Asia > I come home, diligently recycling my trash Not sayin
by yodsanklai 9y ago
I share your feeling, but I also note this contradiction:
> I spent quite some time in South-East Asia
> I come home, diligently recycling my trash
Not saying you shouldn't recycle your trash, but your flights are much more impactful for the environment than your trash.
- bamboozled 9y agoIs flying really that bad compared to ocean pollution? I feel like flying is overall a pretty efficient means of transport, everything is geared towards efficiency. Plastic in the oceans, now that’s a mess.
- the8472 9y agoConsider a world where every human traveled by plane like you do and where also every human used recycling as you do. Would you prefer living in that world?
- bamboozled 9y agoyes?
- paulryanrogers 9y agoNot the OP, but if jet fuel were more sustainable or electric planes more common then certainly. (I too feel conflicted about plane travel and it's long term impact.)
- 35bge57dtjku 9y agohttp://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_juice/2014/07/driving_vs_flying_which_is_more_harmful_to_the_environment.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_juice/2014/07/dri...
- darpa_escapee 9y ago> Consider a world where every human traveled by plane like you do and where also every human used recycling as you do. Would you prefer living in that world? According to the above article, one would prefer that. > The trend has continued so that in 2010, flying burned just 2,691 BTU per passenger mile—an improvement of 74 percent since 1970. That was 43 percent better than driving the average car, which gets about 21.5 miles per gallon (4,218 BTU per passenger mile)
- gajjanag 9y agoThe impact of flying has been very nicely estimated in the freely available book "Sustainable Energy - without the hot air" by the late Prof. David MacKay FRS: http://withouthotair.com/c5/page_35.shtml http://withouthotair.com/c5/page_35.shtml and http://withouthotair.com/cC/page_269.shtml http://withouthotair.com/cC/page_269.shtml if you are interested in how he arrives at the estimate. The book also remarks upon how a (theoretical) revival of ocean liners would actually be worse.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- thatcat 9y agoFlying is ocean pollution. By emitting that large amount of co2, you are disrupting the ocean co2 flux, reducing o2 available and causing acidification. The warming caused by the thermal capacity of the co2 melts the polar ice , cooling the oceans and reducing their salinity. Plastic is relatively a small problem.
- toomuchtodo 9y agoAgreed, but air travel is only 5% of global emissions. There is much more low hanging fruit in electric vehicles and moving building HVAC to electricity (AC and heat pumps). Eliminate natural gas and fuel oil for heating, eliminate petroleum for moving people and goods around, and start feeding cows seaweed to reduce their methane emissions by 95%. Air travel research has shown biofuels are production ready, but it’s not cost competitive yet, although that’s a market failure through the externalization of emission costs.
- stingraycharles 9y agoWell, it's actually that I spent 2.5 years in the area non-stop, and came back last year pickup up my habits again. Having said that, I agree with aircraft pollution. And this indeed implies that I recycling is silly compared to other things I do. So this only fuels the apathy I'm starting to feel towards this whole thing.
- guelo 9y agoIn my perfect world air travel would be one of the few remaining uses for petroleum.
- korzun 9y agoI'm not following the logic. Planes would fly either way.