[dheera]

The average american commute is about 15 miles [0] which is 24 km.

A round trip from JFK to FRA emits about 0.91 t (910 kg) CO2 but if you account for radiative forcing [1] it is equivalent to 1.62 t (1620 kg) [2].

That's not to mention multiplying all these figures by 6 (for every 2 months), so that's 9720 kg.

I don't think it's a wash.

[0] https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1006/ML100621425.pdf

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiative_forcing

[2] https://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

[DenisM]

1. 15 miles one way. 30miles x 1.6km x 1.12kg/km x 250 days = 1440 kg

2. Few people will move form US to Germany. It's more likely someone will move e.g. from Portland to San Diego. 275kg roundtrip, 550kg adjusted for radiative forcing.

So if you fly 3 times per year it's a wash, if you fly 6 times a year it's double the CO2 emission.