[cochne]

So people polluting the atmosphere will actually have to pay for that? Oh the humanity!

[melling]

Nope, airline travel is 2-2.5% of all greenhouse emissions.

All the coal we burn is at least 10 times that. If we stopped burning coal it would actually make a difference. Air travel is a rounding error in comparison.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/27/coal-consumption-hit-an-all-...

[netsharc]

Heh, so we do nothing because most things are just <5% of emissions?

Can I have 2% of your bank account? It's just a rounding error right?

[melling]

To keep it simple, 10 years of burning coal is 100 years of aviation.

100 years of coal is 1000 years of aviation.

And with your analogy, if I have 100,000 dollars and I give you $2000, I still have almost $100,000. If I give you $20,000, that’s going to make a dent. Repeat 4 more times and I’m broke.

Any of that sinking in?

It’s really important that people understand because they’re literally driving us into a climate disaster.

[polski-g]

2% here, 1% there, 0.5% here, and before you know it--its a 10% reduction.

There is no panacea to solving this issue.

[melling]

Maybe it would help if we went with the bathtub filling up analogy and greenhouse gases.

https://scied.ucar.edu/video/modeling-carbon-dioxide-bathtub

Would you try to empty the tub with a spoon or bucket?

[polski-g]

We don't have buckets, so we must use the spoons available for now.

[wkat4242]

Also, for power generation we have greener alternatives. For aviation we don't.

[tonyedgecombe]

It’s 3% and growing quickly. Also that’s only the burning of kerosene, it excludes extraction and refining as well as all the support services air travel requires.

[dzhiurgis]

And it will grow even more if other sources of emissions are reduced