Size of the Problem (Part 3: Sustainable Aviation)

In this video, I discuss the scale of aviation's environmental impact.

The aviation industry is keen to point out that it 'only' produces 2-3% of global carbon emissions. However, this still puts it ahead of countries like the UK, Mexico and Brazil: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/if-airlines-were-a-country-theyd-be-one-of-the-worlds-top-10-greenhouse-gas-emitters/

More importantly, its share is projected to grow to closer to 25% of global CO2 emissions by 2050: https://www.carbonbrief.org/aviation-consume-quarter-carbon-budget

Additionally, aircraft also produce non-CO2 emissions (NOx, soot, water vapour, sulphates, contrail cirrus) which have an even greater global warming effect and essentially triple the global warming impact of the CO2 emissions: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117834.

Conclusion: we should dispel the myth that aviation is only a small part of the global warming problem - it's a big issue, and its impact will only become larger with time, unless we take effective action to limit this damage.