Causes and Effects of Air Pollution

Historically, aviation is often regarded as one of the weakest sources of carbon emissions. When the Wright Brothers took to the skies for the first in time in 1903, he traveled 120 feet in a few seconds. They developed their own wing, propeller, and engine (nps.gov). Gasoline engines, though far from efficient, were also far from common. When the Wright Brothers designed their engine, their thoughts were not on the environment or the emissions of the engine, but rather the efficiency and weight. That was 111 years ago and since then, combustion engines have taken over the world. They’re everywhere and power almost anything, from lawnmowers to eight hundred passenger planes. Jetliners, ranging from single propeller to eight engines, crisscross the sky at over 500mph, connecting thousands of people thousands of miles apart. But as we begin to depend heavily on air transportation, demand has skyrocketed and passenger volume is expected to rise by about 32% (or 930 million passengers) by 2017 (IATA Airlines…).While the increase in demand promotes economic growth by providing jobs and expediting the transportation of goods, how will the increase in passenger and cargo volume affect carbon emissions and ultimately the environment?

In 2011, the United States released six billion seven hundred and two million tons of greenhouse gases (EPA) and the IATA states that as low as 2% of global human made CO2 emissions come from aviation (IATA Environment) and about 20% from the transportation sector (EPA). This amounts to only 134 million tons of greenhouse gases, a rather insignificant number compared to over 2.21 billion tons produced solely from electricity, which accounts for a third of US greenhouse gas emissions (EPA). Globally, flights p...

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...2000. Print.

United States. General Accounting Office. Aviation and the Environment Aviation's Effects on the Global Atmosphere Are Potentially Significant and Expected to Grow: Report to the Honorable James L. Oberstar, Ranking Democratic Member, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives. By Gerald L. Dillingham. Washington, D.C. (P.O. Box 37050, Washington 20013): Office, 2000. Print.

Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a Competitive and Resource Efficient Transport System. Rep. Brussels: European Commission, 2011. Print.

Primary Sources:

Esmaili, Houshang, Senior Engineer in the Environmental Services Group, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA. Personal interview. 5 Mar. 2014.

Galindo, Carlos, Noise Office Supervisor, Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA. Phone Interview. 23 Mar 2014