I just finished my carbon footprint, and about half of it was from travel, most of which was from flying. I only take two trips a year, which is four flights in total. I feel like the carbon footprint doesn't take into account how many people are actually being moved on one flight, but rather shows you how much carbon is released from the flight overall, as opposed to dividing up the emissions evenly among all the passengers. Am I wrong in thinking this?

No, I agree. Even without you on it, the plane will fly, and release carbon like normal. The only difference that you would make is just a few pounds more for the plane to carry, and likewise have to use a little bit more fuel.

the thing is planes may pollute a lot but how would they compare to every body on the plane driving that distance. even, if they car pooled 2 people per car and used efficient fuel i doubt it would be much better

Sure there are many being moved by the same plane, but its not talking about everyone's footprint. its focusing on yours, you wouldn't have a large portion of your carbon footprint in traveling if you hadn't gone on that trip. maybe it should take in account for the other people, because the plane still runs without you. But its trying to calculate how much you use.

I don't specifically think that airplanes are really a bad thing... yes they are not good for the environment and they can't emit large quantities of carbon in the air but transportation is key and without it we wouldn't have the benefits of life saving care and treatment and wars for our own profit. Planes help the economy  in so many ways but flat out getting rid of them would in my expertise, bring another great depression. The best and absolute problem would be to make planes more fuel efficient...

if you took a small two person plane it would use produce a lot less emissions

@jacknewt_selftest  The plane may fly without you but if everyone stopped using planes then no planes would fly and that would pollute much less

I was thinking the same thing. I've taken a couple flights, and when I put them in, my carbon footprint went from half the national average for carbon footprint to about 5 times as much as it was before. It doesn't really seem to take into account that there are so many people on the plane, and also the plane would go anyway and take up just as much fuel as if you never went on it.

yes, I'm sorry to say that you are wrong in thinking that: your flying footprint assumes the industry standard of 80% occupancy (20% of seats empty).  So we divide by that number of passengers.

I have noticed that flights seem more crowded lately, so perhaps that 80% number is too low, but this would make only a small difference to your flying footprint.

I don't think we can solve this problem by flying less, we need a new design for a plane that uses less fuel or none at all

I agree with owenhagar, I think planes are extremely important and that they help our economy.  Although they do hurt the environment, they are important.  We could possible have planes more fuel efficient.

eric b- you can use the footprint calculator to answer your question.  I think you will find that driving the same distance as flying has a lower footprint, even when driving alone!

I believe that a electric plane would be very effective at solving this problem

There are certainly more fuel efficient ways of transporting large amounts of people across the world.

I agree, flying less won't solve the problem but finding ways to reinvent aircraft's that use less fuel would help

Solar panel homes would be the move

I agree with that guy alex mar one two three four

Javiiiiiii

But that the governemement needs to put a lot more money into doing this stuff

Javi what is poppin

I didn't think about dividing the plane's footprint up by each passenger. I wonder if the carbon footprint calculator accounts for this.

I like planes

An electric powered plane would be efficient, but it depends on where the electricity comes from, and also taking into account the amount of electricity that can be produced. Additionally, I don't think that we could produce enough electricity for every plane, considering the amount of travel each day.

however we have to be open-minded about this and be willing to try new things like solar powered planes or even wind powered. progress is not made by sitting around you have to actively try to change and work towards something better.

i think this would make sense because your not the only one on the plane, there are a bunch more people who are sharing that flight. But planes are actually quite a bit better for the environment then driving a car equal distance, they are much more efficient.

My travel total was 25,699 kgs after i put in the flights i had taken! Are planes really worth it?

That is why you need a Tesla!!!!!!!!!!! Also, what if there were solar powered planes?

Are we sure climate change is real.

Yes. There is many, many, many things that prove this is true. I mean, climate change means the climate is changing, and the global climate has changed by a few degrees in the last century.

of course climate change is real, the earth natural heats up by it self like this, but we have gone through different ice periods before and at this same time from an ice age before ours it was still a lot colder meaning that humans have had a impact on the earth atmosphere. If you still don't think so where does those co2 emission go

read a little bit about it for yourself and you'll probably find the answer

Well some could argue that conclusive science is not yet in in such a short period of time. And that instead of destabilizing one of the pillars of our economy, we should look into it more.

locate12 Yes, we are almost 100% sure climate change is real. Although there are some stubborn people that still do not except the idea, I think that if over 99% of scientists agree it is actually happening, it is probably true.

Especially since the US census report has only been reporting on it for 30 years. And I do believe climate change is real I am just looking at it from the other side.

I have at times wondered if climate change was real. I like trump, and a lot of the things he does. Maybe china did just make it up

thats not at all an effective conversation

Sorry

But I feel it is real I guess. I mean #Rippolarbears for real

It shouldn't even be a debate anymore. Most if not all countries have completely switched to more efficient ways of producing energy. It's brain-numbing to know that the USA, which happens to be one of the most developed countries in the world, is still bickering back and forth if climate change is real or not. OPEN YOUR EYES! It baffles me that just because the man in the lands highest office thinks it;s a hoax, that all of the little sheep that support follow suit. It's now or never to start protecting the climate.

Also see my thing about drilling in the arctic

Well still if we convert to clean energy to fast it could destabilize a pillar of our economy. To switch over to clean and renewable energy there would need to be a well thought out plan. You must take it at an economical stand point. Also I do believe in climate change I am just acting from the other point of view on this argument.

Leif, I don't think that there is any scenario where such a shift would be so fast it would be destabilizing.  The reality is that the current structure of fossil fuel based energy is tenaciously entrenched and changing it is very difficult.