What impact does air traffic have on the climate ?
Flying requires energy which mainly comes from the kerosene combustion, a product made from oil.
Combusting one litre of kerosene emits more than 3kg of CO₂ ¹ which is one of the main greenhouse gases. Although absorbed by oceans, soils, forests and others carbon sinks, almost half of the CO₂ emissions from human activities accumulate in the atmosphere.
Other emissions contributing to the greenhouse effect must be added to CO₂ : nitrogen oxides and contrails (from the water vapor emitted by aircraft engines). 2% of the flights are responsible for the most long-lasting contrails. Those cirrus clouds can spread out in the atmosphere and participate to the greenhouse effect.
For more than a century, CO₂ released in the atmosphere has been increasing while retaining more heat. Thereby, the worldwide temperature has risen by 1.1°C since the pre-industrial era (1850-1900) but the rise has accelerated since the 1980s.
To help you choose the less CO₂e emitting flights, Option Way displays the CO₂e emissions for each offer in partnership with Atmosfair. You can also sort the results by CO₂e emissions.
Everything we do counts as the global warming is a reality with "irreversible consequences for centuries or millennia", warns the IPCC.
¹ 2.5 kg plus 0.5 kg for the extraction, the refining and the transport
² 2018 data, non-carbon emissions are not taken into account
³ CO₂e: CO₂ equivalent is a unit of measurement helping to compare the impacts of the different greenhouse gases on the environment and to add them up thanks to a single unit
⁴ IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC is a group of 195 countries which impartially assesses the risks of climate change due to human activities using scientific, technical and socioeconomic data.