Avoiding air travel as an academic

Until recently, I really enjoyed flying. I love to travel, and flying allowed me to explore the world with ease. The rise of budget airlines and new airports meant that no destination felt out of reach. Flying seemed essential to my career too, as I travelled to conferences and made valuable face-to-face contacts.

However, flying has a hidden cost which goes largely unnoticed: its role in global warming. The airline industry contributes about 3% of the CO₂ released by human activity, and planes also emit more potent greenhouse gases, such as water vapour and nitrogen oxides. If the aviation industry were a country it would be the seventh highest emitter of CO₂ globally. On top of this, the contrails that form from plane exhausts leave white streaks in the sky that induce high-altitude cirrus clouds. These trap more heat in the atmosphere than the total CO₂ produced by planes.