Sustainable Aviation: Myth or Reality?

This assignment critically analyzes the concept of sustainable aviation. It delves into the inherent conflicts presented by aviation's contribution to harmful greenhouse gas emissions, health issues, and pollution against its purported goals of sustainability. The analysis draws upon various sources and perspectives to argue that 'sustainable aviation' might be an oxymoron given current practices and technologies.

Running head: Sustainable Aviation 1
Sustainable Aviation

Sustainable Aviation 1
Introduction
Flight is considered as exceptionally basic and vital since its first experience with the world. It
has given quick and fast transportation framework to tourism territories and moreover
empowered world trade and upgraded the individual fulfillment and work-life nature of
individuals in incalculable ways. As air transport moves more than two and half billion explorers
consistently, there can be realized a frequently expanding enthusiasm for taking flights and the
constantly mounting outflow of carbon is representing an incredible risk upon the natural world
(Balzani and Armaroli, 2010). In current phase, there is a persistent shortage of the non-
renewable energy sources and the fast emission of the gases from the consumption of these
petroleum products resulting in a change in the environment. Because of this, the government,
society and the businesses are striving hard to recognize a number of various other alternative
ways for example, taking compelling utilization of pioneering aircraft advancements, safe
motors, new rules and utilization of biofuel so that there can be a decrease in the reliance upon
the use of petroleum products or fossil fuels (Birtchnell and Caletrío, 2013).Once these option
ways are perceived, the essential target is to actualize these option routes for decreasing the
major effect posed on the sustainability of the environment. The key motivation behind this
paper is to comprehend that in what all ways aviation industry is hindering the sustainability of
nature and what can be the probable reasons which have resulted in developing a phrase,
“sustainable aviation is an oxymoron”.
Sustainable Aviation is simply an Oxymoron
Aviation sector has not only benefitted the societies’ by shortening the issues and problems of
travelling at distant places but had also boost the economic development with a rapid rate. In past
few decades, the aviation sector have attained enormous success and heights of expansion but
there are also associated a number of negative aspects or harmful impacts of the operations of
aviation which are continuously increasing and threatening the environment. Analyzed from the
environmental sustainability lenses, the aviation industry is a killer of sustainability which poses
a number of issues, threats and challenges to the ecological system (Bomford, 2009). There are
several researches where the researchers have highlighted both a positive as well an
unsustainable image of the aviation industry and the way in which it is depleting the resources
and the sustainable aspect of the environment. There are a number of reasons because of which

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sustainable aviation is regarded as an oxymoron and among all the most furious and challenging
factor is the rapid and growing emission of the harmful greenhouse gases. The emission of these
GHGs are the main factor behind losing the sustainability of the environment as in present time
there has been traced a huge accumulation of these gases in the atmosphere (Dubois and Ceron,
2009). The greenhouse gases comprises of the presence of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone,
nitrous oxide and water and all the emission of all these gases are the result of burning of the
office fuels. The rapid expansion of the aviation sector has resulted in the use of fossil fuels in a
large quantity which gives a rise to accumulation of these gases in the atmosphere and thus there
is high emission of the greenhouse gases. There is also caused an upsurge in the level of
temperature of the atmosphere and the global surface which brings out a number of severe
changes in the climatic conditions which in turn raises the level of global warming. The most
severe and harmful impact upon the environment is imposed sue to increasing level of global
warming and the aviation sector is considered as an important element in rising the levels of
global warming in the atmosphere (Gössling and Upham, 2009).
Not only has the emission of the greenhouse gases posed a threat to the environment because of
the aviation operations but also challenging the sustainability of the environment various other
manners. There is high emission of the carbon dioxide gas by the aircraft engines as the engines
consumes a lot of jet-fuel as well as combust the petroleum products which brings a change in
the level of greenhouse gases in the environment. There are numerous harmful changes in the
climate because of the presence of these gases and made the environment unsustainable for
living (Higham, Reis and Cohen, 2015). There are modern technologies used by the aircrafts
manufacturers as well as by the government so that there can be decreased utilization of the
fossil fuels but then also it has been identified that there are increasing footprints of emission of
carbon dioxide by the aviation industry. From the analysis, it is identified that hundreds of corers
of tons of releasing of carbon dioxide gas on an annual basis as well as will keep on increasing
with the expansion of the aviation industry and building of the airport in coming few decades
(Kotze, 2017). The commercial aircrafts are the biggest threat to the sustainability of the
environment as this is the fastest growing and developing segment in the whole aviation
industry. These carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases emissions are the major or the key factor
behind the growing level of environmental concerns in consideration with the reliability,
deteriorating quality of lives and air and the future of the aviation industry (Koç and Durmaz,

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2015). The continuously worsening weather conditions is another big risk for the sustainable
environment raised because of the aviation industry as due to increase level of the global
warming, there are increasing number of disasters taking place across the globe. The researchers
have identified the major reasons of the disasters such as floods, droughts, volcano eruption,
hurricanes, etc. is the increasing level of emission of the harmful GHGs and the rising levels of
global warming for which the aviation sector is one of the responsible factor. These disasters are
also having a direct deterioration of the economies of the word and their respective development
because of the losses encountered due to the increasing natural calamities (Kivits, Charles and
Ryan, 2010).
Another negative impact of the aviation industry and its operations on the sustainability of the
environment and the lives of the individuals are the increasing issues of noise pollution. There
are recognized cases of high level of noise pollution caused because of the unsustainable
operations of the aviation sector (Linz, 2012). There are numerous cases when people have
claimed that they are suffering from various diseases as they reside close to the airports as the
people who are highly exposed to the noise and disturbance caused because of the airplanes have
a risk of cardiovascular disease in them. When the airplanes takeoffs and perform landings
operations, it results in loud noise pollution which impacts the health and lives of the people
exposed to it. Because of these noise pollution caused because of the airplanes, the individuals
suffer cardiovascular disease, strokes and the risk of coronary heart diseases (McManners, 2012).
The next big threat to the sustainability of the environment is the rising levels of the water
pollution because of the aviation industry. There are unfreezing practices in the aviation sector
that has a huge negative impact upon the environment and all the living beings. The aviation
sector strives hard to prevent the building of the ice and snow which is the major barricade for
successful taxiing, landing and the takeoffs. To avoid issues and the occurrence of the barricades
in these major operations of the airlines, the industry takes extensive use of the chemicals which
can help in deicing and anti-icing so that the airport runways can be smooth (Nair and Paulose,
2014). There is also practicing of deicing or called anti-icing for having efficient and sage
functions but these practices lay down very harsh and harmful impacts i.e. excess of water
pollution. There are water bodies where the planes release the excess amount of glycol and as a
result of the large quantity of presence of glycol there is rapid decrease in the oxygen level

Sustainable Aviation 4
present in the water bodies in the form of dissolved oxygen (Warner, 2009). And the outcome of
such activities of eth aviation sector results in killing of the fishes and the water based organisms
which causes high level of environment unsustainability. Because of these actions and operations
even the household water is also getting contaminated day by day and taking the lives of
hundreds of people in various regions of the globe. The most severe concern allied with the use
of the technologies of deicing chemicals results in algae blooms, contamination of water and fish
kills (Regan, 2014).
The environmental sustainability is also at a high risk because of the aviation industry as there
are extreme chances of spread of the various diseases due to the growing air travel business. In
past also, there was reported a sudden in increase in the spread of diseases because of the
mobilized world which is highly interconnect ted as well as interdependent in nature. A number
of viruses and diseases such as the cholera, epidemic meningococcal diseases and high risk of
yellow fever were recognized due to increase in the number of international travellers (Snippe,
2017). There are also high risks to the sustainable living and sustainability of the environment
due to high presence of severe acute respiratory syndromes which results in health issues of the
masses. The viruses such as Nipah, Ebola and various other also have a spread because of the
growing aviation business as travellers travel from one placed to another with the symptoms of
these viruses and there take place increase level of contamination (Upham, et al., 2012). Such
spread pouf virus cause high level of risk to the international health security as in last few
decades there has been experienced a sudden increase in the mortality rate due to the spread of
the diseases because of such viruses spread because of the rising aviation business. The
Governments, the aviation industry and the respective authorities have also taken sustainable
initiatives to have a better and sustainable aviation business but there are still presents several
loop holes which is continuously giving increasing threat to the environmental sustainability
(Upham, Tomei and Boucher, 2009).
Conclusion
The aviation industry is one of those technologies which have equally posed positive as well as
negative aspects on the society, environment and the economies of the world. There are
enormous advantages which the nations have driven through the aviation industry in terms of
success of the tourism business and economic development. But from this paper and the overall

Sustainable Aviation 5
analysis, it can be stated that the aviation business has posed a major threat to the environment
and the societies in respect with the hampering of the sustainable living. There are various
negative impacts of the aviation business including emission of harmful gases, rising health
issues and diseases, increased level of release of the carbon dioxide gas and rising level of global
warming, noise pollution, air pollution and water pollution made it more evident that the
sustainable aviation can be termed as oxymoron.

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