Are vapor trails from aircraft influencing the climate, and if so, should we worry?

Question

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun/contrail.html

"They are water vapor. It is like saying "are those clouds in the sky influencing the climate?" I think you need to find something else to worry about." Think a little education would help here.

What if? What if th trails do contain contaminants and what about all the other forms of aircraft in lower altitudes...is it a shower of pollution?

wow "john B" I am so impressed with your answer...well thought out....lol

Answer 1

Yes.

A scientist had a question about the effect of the hundreds of thousands of contrails on the environment but could not come up with any really good way of testing his ideas.

Then 911 happened and all the jets over the USA were grounded. Suddenly the USA went from the day before with jets all over the place to a day with no jets in the air. By working quickly and collecting info he found the jet contrails actually helped with global warming, at least under the contrails. But the fuel burned only added more to the problem.

So do not worry about the vapor trails, worry about the billions of gallons of fuel they burn up each day.

Answer 2

Just the facts:
The vapor trails are just water like clouds.
They have not been used in the past to alter hurricanes.
They are not caused by the engines.
They are caused by the air passing over metal surfaces at high speed which ionizes the air molecules and causes the water vapor to condense.
There was a study done a few years back based on the number of aircraft flying over the US and it was determined that they actually reflect heat and could possibly reduce the amount of heat absorbed during the day by the earth.

Opinion:
This effect is probably minimal at best and whether or not this offsets the pollution created by the engines is debatable.

Answer 3

by aalyianut " They purchased 20 so far for 2010 and the Boeing has come out that will be available soon that is all titanium and plastic." You're thinking of composites, not really plastic but carbon fiber. The plane you are referring to is the new 787 dreamliner with the majority of the fuselage being made from carbon laminate. Better fuel mileage equals lower plane ticket prices in the end. To answer the question. no I will not forgo any plane travel, nor drive my truck less, ride my jet-ski less, or drive my 400hp v8 powered car less. I also dont believe that indirectly taxing the american and european public by taxing their energy industries will help to lower CO2 emissions. It will just make a few elites very rich from fees on carbon credit exchanges.

Answer 4

Normal contrails which we see are not harmful since this is only frozen water vapour.

Should any other contaminant be released alongwith the contrails, this will have an adverse effect on the atmosphere, thereby affecting the climate. The effect will depend on the type of the affluent.

Further, modern day engines are what we call 'lean burn units' where the fuel is completely burnt and hazardous gases minimised.

Answer 5

Before "man made" global warming was the craze, the great fear was that all of the vapor trails would actually cool the earth. This was the big Chicken Little fear of thirty years ago, especially in the northeastern US. With all of the rhetoric that was going on back in the '70s, you'd swear that we humans were going to start a new ice age.

Don't panic.

Answer 6

They are water vapor. It is like saying "are those clouds in the sky influencing the climate?" I think you need to find something else to worry about.

Answer 7

Ofcourse they are effecting climate change. Planes like cars contribute to global warming. More so because of the shear size of the planes and fuel that needs to be used to keep them airborne.

Answer 8

Vapor trails do not influence the climate, but "Cloud Seeding" does.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding

Answer 9

Nnnnnno

Answer 10

Conspiritard!