Aviation experts say new research suggests the climate-damaging vapors left behind by jets is easy to deal with and can be removed at a cost of just a few pounds per flight.
Jet planes’ condensation trails, or contrails, have spawned wild conspiracy theories alleging mind control and the spread of disease, but scientists say the real problem is their warming effects.
Researchers claim these smoke trails effectively double the amount of heat generated by aviation’s use of fossil fuels.
The issue will be discussed for the first time at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku.
Contrails form in the sky, just as your breath fogs up on a chilly morning.
When an airplane passes through cold, humid air, vapor from the engine condenses on unburned fuel debris in the exhaust stream, forming a contrail.
Although the causes of contrails have been known for decades, the impact of human-made clouds on climate warming has only recently been recognized.
“We create an artificial cloud layer that traps the Earth’s heat as it escapes into space,” said Carlos López de la Osa of the Transport and Environment Campaign Group, who conducted new research into the solution. speaks. into a contrail.
“The magnitude of the associated warming is about the same as carbon emissions from aviation.”
Conspiracy theories surround contrails, with some claiming they are actually “chemtrails” containing chemicals or biological substances.
Conspiracy theories continue to claim that the purpose of these chemtrails is to vaccinate the population, spread the pandemic, or control the minds of the masses.
All these thoughts are completely untrue.
Matteo Milolo of Breakthrough Energy, one of the organizers of the COP29 discussion on contrails, said: “It’s unfortunate that these conspiracy theories are muddying the waters on an issue that needs a lot of agreement and clarity. ” he said.
“Chemtrails are an unsubstantiated theory. There is no scientific support whatsoever.”
The COP event aims to draw attention to the fact that many of the warming effects of these trails can be removed with relatively simple changes to aviation practices.
According to a study by Transport & Environmental, about 80% of the warming associated with contrails is caused by just 3% of flights.
Adjusting the flight paths of a small number of aircraft could cut contrail warming by more than half by 2040 at a cost of less than £4 per flight.
Geography and the latitude of the plane have a big impact on whether the contrail is warming or not. Flights over North America, Europe and the North Atlantic region accounted for more than half of the global contrail warming in 2019, the report said.
Time of day also influences the climate impact of contrails. Airplanes formed by evening and night flights contribute the most to warming. Seasonality is also important. The warmest contrails tend to occur in the winter.
“Planes are already flying through areas of thunderstorms and turbulence,” López de la Osa said.
“Another constraint must be added to the flight plan: avoid areas where contrails occur.”
“Among the climate change solutions being discussed at COP29, this is probably one of the simplest.”
The researchers hope that holding this event at COP will spread awareness about the problem and solutions.
They point out that huge amounts of money and research are being spent on developing sustainable aviation fuels.
They believe that by tackling contrails, we can achieve big wins on climate change at a fraction of the cost.
