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illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece in The Guardian or enjoy below
🗞️ Driving the news: While southern Europe battles catastrophic wildfires, airlines persist in high-emission flights towards these disaster-stricken regions
• The growing resurgence of recreational flights post-pandemic has intensified environmentalists' critiques of aviation, often labelled "the planet's quickest path to global warming"
🔭 The context: Before the pandemic, the UK aviation sector emitted roughly 40 million tons of carbon annually, a figure that could double when considering additional pollutants like nitrogen oxides and water vapor
• Globally, aviation's impact rivals triple the emissions of Russia
• Despite a brief pandemic-related decline, aviation emissions nearly doubled in 2022 compared to 2021, as reported by the Climate Change Committee (CCC)
🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: The promotion of air travel and high-carbon products sends conflicting messages about climate change, impeding shifts in behavior and systems essential for mitigating climate catastrophe
• The aviation industry's failure to meet environmental goals, coupled with inadequate governmental policies, compounds the problem
⏭️ What's next: The CCC recommends that the UK should not expand its airports and suggests a comprehensive public engagement strategy to promote low-carbon choices
• This includes a reduction in air and car travel, counteracting the constant promotion of flying by advertisers
💬 One quote: “After the pandemic, when people quickly learned to live without flying and found other places to visit using other forms of transport, heavily advertised leisure flights are back.” (Andrew Simms, analyst and co-director of the New Weather Institute)
📈 One stat: Research indicates that additional flights taken due to advertising could result in up to 34 million tons of carbon dioxide in a year
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