Aviation boom will make countering global warming impossible--UK

[Gloria]

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=641973


Tony Juniper (Friends of the Earth): Aviation is fastest-growing source of C02 emissions

28 May 2005

To fly or not to fly? Many of us facing a long journey, or even a short one, would not even consider the question. Cheaper flights to ever-more destinations prove irresistible to the travelling public, while business travel is seen as inevitable in a global market place.

But increased demand for flights threatens the future of our planet. Aviation is the fastest-growing source of carbon dioxide emissions, the biggest cause of climate change. And because the pollution is released at a high altitude, it has a greater impact.

Extreme climate events have already become more frequent. In 2003, the heatwave in Europe resulted in 26,000 premature deaths and cost $13.5bn (£7.5bn). Around the world, climate change already kills 160,000 people every year.

At home, the risk of droughts, floods, and freak storms is expected to increase. Sea levels are rising, with forecasters predicting an increase of 88cm by 2100. If carbon dioxide emissions do not peak and then decline within the next 10 to 15 years, scientists say, the result may be an abrupt change in climate, with devastating consequences.

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