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ENC 2135

Florida State University

March 16 of 2016

IS RESTRICTING AIR TRAVELLING THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD OF REDUCING AIR POLLUTION?

In the contemporary world, Air travel is one of the most efficient means of travel across the borders. Nevertheless, there are numerous setbacks associated with the air travel. Specifically, the impact it has on the environment in consideration of the aspects of air pollution that cannot be looked down upon. Restricting air travel would be an effective method of reducing air pollution as air travel imposes great climate impact per passenger kilometer ahead of other forms of transport such as the maritime, rail, and road .This report entails a research as to whether restricting air travel would be an effective method of reducing air pollution (Teoh, Lay, and Hooi pg. 1049).

Is restricting air travel the most efficient way of reducing air pollution?

At the moment, emissions that are attributed to the air travel are about 5 percent of the global warming. More to that the rate is expected to rise exponentially in the next moment in consideration of the fact that air travels are increasingly becoming a preferred means of transport to many people as time elapses.

According to the experts in the aviation industry, once the jet fuel burns, carbon is released from the fuel bonds that subsequently mixes with the oxygen in the air thereby leading to the formation of the carbon dioxide. Soot and nitrous oxides are as well released from the burning process. After all, this the resultant output is the global warming brought into existence by the carbon dioxide that traps heat which would have otherwise run away from the earth. Since 1990, carbon dioxide emissions have increasingly risen continually over the past two decades by an increment of 83 percent. This is not encouraging as the future looks miserable given the number rising above the laid down criterion that would result to fuel efficiency leading to a decrease in the planes greenhouse gas emission. As expected the proposal counted resistance and more so furious opposition from the American Airlines. Such act from the American Airlines demonstrates restrictions and challenges that are ahead of any organization that opts to impose air travel restriction at the global platform. What is more annoying is the fact that as per today there is no global emissions control plan about the air travel that in the end would yield to limiting the aspect of the global warming emerging from the air travel. Having realized the need for the need for controlling gas emissions, the European aviation sectors had laid down guidelines that would result in finding any operating airline from the European airport that goes beyond the prescribed emission limits (Kubesch pg.552).

Admitted some people undertake that air travel ought to be restricted given the severe pollution experienced and consumption of the world’s fuel resources. Expectedly people are different and have diverse opinions regarding as to whether or not there should be limits on the air travel. It is to the majority opinion that air travel restriction is paramount considering the scarcity of the fuel resources and the increasing number of airplanes that result in more air pollution. Nevertheless, another school of thoughts undertakes that restricting the use of the aircraft cannot improve the pollution status quo to a great extent and as well may lead to the hindrance of the global economic development (Huo pg.719-733).

All in the all the fact remains that a massive number of the planes flying every day in the sky produces exhaustible gasses in additional to noises that are sometimes unbearable and detrimental to only the environment but also to the human health living. The main cities such as the New Yolk and Shanghai that have a significant portion of their international trade grounded on the air transport suffer because of the enormously inferior quality of the air. The cities’ residents also suffer from the faint high-pitched noises emanating from the fat frying machines all over the sky. As if that is not enough, the rate at which these planes consume the scarce precious fossil fuel raises a lot of concerns and is staggering. The question in the minds of those who understands the emerging crisis is that if the trend continues of increasing use of the airplanes what would be the outcome? (Brugge pg.95-104).

The act would accelerate rapidly heading to a point that energy crisis hints to servicing the conflicts all over the global. It is thus in all aspect reasonable for the people to reason and more to that claim that air travel ought to be restrained for the sake of quality life and the right conducive living environment .On the other hand, the effect of restricting air travel on the reducing pollution as well as diminishing fuel consumptions may be viewed temporarily. This is so because of the expectation that the saved fuel could be allotted to the promotion of the private cars and cargo ships whose could as well further the deterioration of the environment. As long as there is demand for adequate transport, it is anticipated that people will always find alternative modes of transport even in the absence of the air travels. The truth is that global economy put a lot of emphases on the air travel as it is more time- consuming than other modes of transportations. The argument is that if air travel is restricted, there would be grave problems to various global businesses thus reversing and slowing down the global economic growth. All in all, putting into consideration of the other side, if cleaner substitutes including the solar energy and nuclear power have the chance of replacing the fossil fuels, it is undoubtful that the prevailing situation would improve to a great extent. Making use of the green and limitless sources of energy would result from the better clean environment in addition to strengthening the bonds of global peace. The truth is that nobody desires to fight over the inexhaustible and healthy environment (Schlenker, Wolfram, and Reed. Pg. 43)..

It is apparent that air travel contributes immensely to the global warming. Restriction on the air travel regarding the emission control ought to take the center stage in limiting the global emission from airplanes. Making use of the nuclear power and cleaner solar is a more efficient method of dealing with pollution and energy shortages likely to result to long lasting paybacks to the environment protection and hence global peacekeeping. Thus, according to the above analysis, it is faithful to undertake that restricting air travel is one of the most powerful means of reducing air pollution given the number of increasing cases of air pollution and need for a clean environment all over the globe (Cox, Joseph, Isaiah and Rodney pg. 20).

Why restricting air travel is an effective method of reducing air pollution.

Truly, airport operations are some of the critical factors in any economy in consideration of the imports, exports, tourism and business. Nevertheless, these benefits ought to outweigh the impact of the air travel has on the quality of life given the increasing population on the locals and global environment. Some of the factors associated with air travel that is very disturbing include the noise as well as air pollution from the aircraft and airport ground operations that greatly needs to be restricted. This cannot be allowed to continue and thus need for restricting the travel is paramount. It is considered that the most immediate influence of aircraft is noise whether it is the common rumble of the international jets or even the buzz of the microlights besides increasing proportion of the air light aircraft on the sunny afternoons. It is no doubt that aircraft contribute to a great extent for the rampant air pollution globally. It is imperative to note that anything that distracts with the wellbeing of the environment is a hazard to the well-being of the healthy human living and hence taking precaution measures such as restricting air travel should be a welcoming move everywhere (Schlenker, Wolfram, and Reed. Pg. 43)

It is the due responsibility of the international civil aviation organization to not only draw up the aviation noise standards with the European civil aviation conference and other standards but also ensure implementation of the set standards to the as per the regulation. It is unethical just to watch the unwanted impacts of the global warming and other environmental hazards brought forth by the air travel operation thereby doing nothing about it. Here we are referring to the safety of living health in a clean conducive environment that is under attack by the air travel. Strict measures need to be undertaken as a means of completely reducing aircraft noise and night flying. It is critical that all aircraft comply with the set maximum limits by the aircraft noise management via active monitoring of the air operations and noise insulation schemes. Failure to comply with the monitoring compliance and any other breach ought to be a subject heavy financial penalty that would be a good example to other air operators who otherwise would prefer adhering to the laid down air travel restrictions (Brugge pg.95-104).

Air travel restriction is mandatory in the current world of increased renovation such that any development or alteration of the aviation infrastructure, flight scheduling, or any air operations should not lead to increased noise exposure to any of surrounding residents. In the case of the increased and unavoidable exposure there ought to be a full package of the mitigation measures offered to those affected by the aviation industry. Everyone needs quality air and airports nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is the main pollutant. NO2 comes into existence being formed by (NO2) emissions from the aircraft, airport operations and surface traffic. The actions by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICA0) of putting in place international standards for smoking and specified gaseous pollutants about the newly- produced jet engines is recommendable. This further restricts the venting of the raw fuels that might be very dangerous to the environment. All in all, it would be very unconcern and risky to let the air travel operates in the absence sufficient restrictions considering that aviation produces a lot of carbon dioxide emission thus presenting a major threat to the existing government given the increased emission growth. To effectively combat this challenge, restriction on the air travel can take some of the following forms for better results on the wellbeing of the environment (Viard, Brian and Shihe pg. 98-115)

First, we would like to see the aviation policies being developed in a manner that is consistent with the related approach that is being used by the sectors of transport. Aviation does not require special treatments thus should be completely bedded to integrate into the transport policy instead of being treated separately. The environmental and social harm that arises from the aviation industry should be checked by the governments and other key stakeholders via a balanced progressive Program in line with the enhanced technology, demand management and effective operational practice. Concerning the needs for new infrastructures or expansions, the key priority should be mitigations of the environmental and social harm caused (Slovic pg. 21).

Recommendation

It is imperative to note that reduction of the environmental and social harm brought about by the air travel can only be effectively restricted via international cooperation. Thus, one of the governments needs to adopt a leading as well active role in the global debate more so corroborating with the European Union besides encouragement of the development of essential ground-breaking and innovative air restricting policies. Planning development is critical to enable meeting the anticipated demand for the air passenger traffic as one of the primary concern in the aviation industry. The environmental impact of the aviation takes in consideration of the impact of the surface access to airports. Moreover, it is important to comprehend that passenger, employees, as well as goods, moves to considerable distances in reaching to the airports. Thus! All in all, restriction on air travel is required for an effective reduction of air pollution.

Work Cited

Brugge, Doug, et al. "Developing Community-Level Policy and Practice to Reduce Traffic-Related Air Pollution Exposure." Environmental Justice 8.3 (2015): 95-104.

Cox, Joseph J., Isaiah W. Cox, and Rodney T. Cox. "METHOD FOR ADDING VALUE TO OPERATION OF LONG HAUL AIRCRAFT." U.S. Patent No. 20,160,016,659. 21 Jan. 2016.

Laurent, Olivier, et al. "A Statewide Nested Case-Control Study of Preterm Birth and Air Pollution by Source and Composition: California, 2001–2008."Environmental health perspectives (2016).

Higham, James, et al. "Climate change, tourist air travel and radical emissions reduction." Journal of Cleaner Production 111 (2016): 336-347.

Huo, Hong, et al. "Vehicular air pollutant emissions in China: evaluation of past control policies and future perspectives." Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 20.5 (2015): 719-733.

Kubesch, N., et al. "Arterial blood pressure responses to short-term exposure to low and high traffic-related air pollution with and without moderate physical activity." European journal of preventive cardiology 22.5 (2015): 548-557.

Power, Melinda C., et al. "The relation between past exposure to fine particulate air pollution and prevalent anxiety: observational cohort study."bmj 350 (2015): h1111.

Shekarrizfard, Maryam, et al. "Investigating the role of transportation models in epidemiologic studies of traffic related air pollution and health effects."Environmental research 140 (2015): 282-291.

Schlenker,Wolfram, and W. Reed Walker. "Airports, air pollution, and contemporaneous health." The Review of Economic Studies (2015): rdv043.

Slovic, Anne Dorothée, et al. "How Can Urban Policies Improve Air Quality and Help Mitigate Global Climate Change: a Systematic Mapping Review."Journal of Urban Health (2015): 1-23.

Teoh, Lay Eng, and Hooi Ling Khoo. "Green air transport system: An overview of issues, strategies and challenges." KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering 20.3 (2016): 1040-1052.

Viard, V. Brian, and Shihe Fu. "The effect of Beijing's driving restrictions on pollution and economic activity." Journal of Public Economics 125 (2015): 98-115.