With the growing awareness about worldwide warming has come an inflating strain on the travel industry, particularly aviation, to take steps towards the offsetting of carbon emissions. According to figures from the Humorless Review the contribution of aircraft to global temperature rises is three percent today and could rise to five percent by 2050. And though aircraft emissions are the speediest growing source of CO2 emissions, becoming stricter on flights isn’t going to save the world. In comparison road transport accounts for ten percent, electricity generation 24% and deforestation 18% (half this last figure is due to deforestation in just 2 states alone, Brazil and Indonesia). Many feel that vacation travel is a luxury and so optional. In effect, if we are serious about saving the planet then it is something which we will be able to cut without too many far reaching results.
Instead of folk campaigning for cleaner nuclear energy or the management of forests they like the moralistic sense of raging against the jetsetters and western consumerism. This is where the moral pressure to plant trees, buy carbon credits and offset our carbon footprint comes from. But the idea that we will be able to plant our way out of global warming is faintly daft. There’s contemporary research to proffer that planting trees in Northerly climes may very well trap heat leading to a rise in global warming.
Trees suck up CO2 but in temperate latitudes absorb plenty of heat without losing much moisture; and when the trees burn or rot the carbon is released into the atmosphere. And, it would most likely take a forest the dimensions of Dorset to be planted every year, continuously, to offset the UKs carbon emissions – any advantages of which would take a long time to materialize.
Other offset schemes, like buying energy conserving light bulbs and stoves for the 3rd world, might be better. There’s a root of the problem with the theory of carbon offsets. Instead of looking for ever more clever methods to offset pollution we deserve to be making an attempt to produce less of it in the 1st place. But there’s now a growing industry of balancing firms, often in the States and UK, each pleased to figure out our carbon debt and each offering a confusing array of away to neutralize it from planting trees in Dorset to building wind farms in India. But do these schemes really do much? According to a study by the respected US charity, Clean Air-Cool Planet, the answer’s, maybe incredibly, frequently no. The study gave an insignificant 8 out of 30 corporations a score of more than 5 out of 10.
Lots of the schemes – planting trees, using bio fuels, or installing solar electricity – would have occurred anyhow and so don’t offset anything. It is also very difficult to find out whether the offsets you have bought have been sold more often than once as there is not any record of what has been done already. And, more cold hearted, shopper guilt over the environmental value of flying represents large dividends for those peddling the offset schemes. Another problem is that calculations for CO2 offset regularly vary significantly.
A statement in the magazine Nature showed calculations for the CO2 emissions per person on a return flight from Bangkok to London varying between 2.1 to 9.9 tons of CO2. Wind farms, solar cells, installing energy saving light bulbs, low flow showers and energy efficient wood burning stoves are only some of the options available. But even green groups like Pals of the Earth remain distrustful. Given scale of the difficulty which faces us today we would as well try “stopping sea levels rising by drinking a tumbler of water”.
Actually bigger clearness is required in the offset industry and folk need to grasp that it is not the solution to global warming. The reduction of emissions is much more effective than compensating for those already released. This does appear to be the growing understanding, that carbon offsets are just a route for the snug off to lotion their consciences without really making any sacrifices.
Maybe the future lies not in carbon offsets but in severe carbon allowances for enterprises and people and permitting the trading in such allowances to develop. The greenest thing would be to stop flying and stop going on vacations. This isn’t realistically going to occur, so folks need to take their vacations in the most ecological way possible.
So from now think about your carbon footprint before you jet off on vacation and check to see if your travel company or tour operator has an environmental policy ; then you will be on the way to becoming an ecologically friendly visitor.