If we all took more care on how we got to our holiday destinations maybe Global Warming may not happen?

Question

It damages the earth more going to our holiday's than actually staying in the place where we are. For example say you go to Spain. It would of polluted the Earth more getting their than what it did staying in the couuntry.

Answer 1

It's very true that we contribute to global warming by going on holiday but the overall contribution isn't really all that much.

All forms of transportation produce just under one fifth of all the carbon dioxide emissions (19%) and are responsible for 13.7% of global warming.

Air travel makes up about one fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions from transport, if we were to say that half of all air travel is people going on holiday then the overall contribution to global warming is between 1 and 1.5%.

It's still a significant amount and many airports include machines which allow you to purchase aviation offsets - you key in a few details such as where you're going and the machine calculates how many trees are needed to be planted to offset the flight(s). You can then purchase the offsets if you wish and the requisite number of trees will be planted on your behalf.

There are alternatives to flying but they're not always practical. If you've only got a week or two for your holiday it's not ideal to spend half the time getting there by train or coach.

If nobody went on holiday the effect would be a slight slowing down of global warming but I think a better solution, rather than deny people the choice of how to travel and where to go, is to offset the carbon emissions caused by the journey. This needn't be at all expensive, done correctly a tree can be planted for as little as $0.20 (£0.10).

Answer 2

You people are all mad. Its complete nonsense, but hey what ever fills the gaps in your life. I think its a good idea you stay at home. The Airlines will reduce the ticket prices allowing more sensible and less gullible people to jet off and enjoy life. I cant wait.

The conclusions are wrong, the models are in-accurate and the science does not support the current cycle of Global Warming being related to CO2 or any other green house gas. Quite the opposite in fact. This cause is based on liberal politics and has nothing to do with the science.

Answer 3

Why do we (the average man on the street) get the blame for damaging the earth by going on holidays in planes??

What about the space rockets the governments put into space? Think of all the rubbish of disguarded metal left up there everytime a rocket goes up there? Surely this has more to do with global warming and the ruin of the ozone...

Answer 4

I agree that the current gas powered transportation does contribute to the pollution as well as the need for less in city motorised vehicles and more foot travel/bicyclers. Having said that, regrettably the only way to get from one country to the other across an expance of water is by boat or plane. Unfortunatly, I dont see much change comming anytime soon. People for the most part would rather have convenience, speed and comfort than healthier lifestyles.

Answer 5

Your question assumes that it’s a fact that rising CO2 levels are causing global warming, and that assumption is by no means certain.

“But all scientists say it does!” I hear you cry. Well, that’s not true either. Have a look here… http://downloads.heartland.org/20861.pdf

This is the result of a survey of climate scientists.

To the question “Can we assess the effects of greenhouse gasses?” less than a quarter thought we could, and nearly half of the scientists *strongly* disagreed.

As ever with global warming - don't believe the hype.

Answer 6

Is a nice gesture but would not make much difference. Most flights are taken by businesspeople travelling to meetings not by holidaymakers. There are also people with family who don't live in the same country as them - are they supposed to never see them again? Of course not. Flights will always be essential and a plane has to fly whether it has 1 or 200 people on it.

More importantly for the planet you could limit the amount of air travel we cause for our food by buying fruit and veg in season from local producers.

Answer 7

Traveling for pleasure does create pollution but not as much as our daily commute, at least for most of us. Also, it depends what you do in the country. If you don't go to Spain but you do travel a thousand miles in shorter trips on your vacation it won't make any difference to the Earth.

Answer 8

Travel IS one of the largest contributors to our environmental problems. Not only does it contribute a lot of CO2 to the atmosphere, but it also dumps chemicals into the high atmosphere which damage the ozone layer. A double whammy.

The appropriate thing to do would be for governments to stop giving the airlines tax free fuel and pass on the costs to travellers so they know the cost of the environmental damage they do "by going on vacation".

Answer 9

If you wasn't using electricity while asking your question, then the power company would not have to generate the amount of power used by the rest of us answering your question.Thereby, there would be no need for the extra power company employees to drive thier SUV's to work,in order to explain to the CEO (who flew in on a private jet).Why there was a need to buy more fuel.

Answer 10

What makes you think that there is anything that you can do to slow down or speed up global warming? Because some "expert" tells you it is what we are doing to the earth?

How does he know? Was he here 15000 years ago and taking temperature and environmental readings then? The experts know nothing. They make assumptions and state them as fact, because it serves their purposes to do so.

Are they more likely to claim that this is something they can't do anything about, or that it is something they can? Think hard about that.