Sustainable Aviation: Examining the Environmental Oxymoron and Impacts

This essay delves into the environmental impact of the aviation industry, arguing that 'sustainable aviation' is, in many ways, an oxymoron. It examines various factors contributing to this unsustainability, including greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and wa...Read More

Running head: Sustainable Aviation 1
Sustainable Aviation

Sustainable Aviation 2
Introduction
Flight is considered as highly fundamental since its introduction to the world, it has given fast
and rapid transportation system to tourism areas and additionally encouraged world exchange
and enhanced the personal satisfaction and work-life quality of people in countless ways. As air
transport moves more than a total of 2.4 billion travelers every year, there can be analyzed a
regularly increasing interest for taking flights and the continuously increasing emission of carbon
is posing a great threat upon the ecological world. In present time there is a continuously
increasing scarcity of the fossil fuels and the rapid emission of the gases from the burning of
these fossil fuels resulting in change in the greenhouse gases atmospheric concentration, setting
off the development of condensation trails as well as up surging the cirrus cloudiness, which
would add to environmental change (Vasigh, Tacker and Fleming, 2013). And thus, there is an
increasing demand for identifying a number of alternative ways such as taking effective use of
innovative aircraft technologies, safe engines, new guidelines and use of biofuel so that there can
be a decrease in the dependency upon the usage of crude oil. Once these alternative ways are
recognized, the primary objective is to implement these alternative ways for reducing overall
impact upon the environment (Upham, Maughan and Raper, 2003). The key purpose of this
paper is to understand that in what all ways aviation industry is hampering the sustainability of
the environment and what all reasons are there which have made the term “sustainable aviation”
as an oxymoron.
Sustainable Aviation: An Oxymoron
From the economical point of view, there are number of advantages and benefits of aviation
industry and the continuously rising business of airlines. But on the other hand, from the
environment perspective, there are various threatening and severe challenges faced by the
ecological world which has developed a negative and destructive image for the aviation industry
in the minds of masses (Lück and Gross, 2013). There are various factors and reasons that are
responsible for the unsustainable aspect of aviation industry. Out of all, the first and the primary
reason is the emission of greenhouse gases, these gases are highly responsible for the
unsustainability of the environment and there can be traced its presence in the environment in a
good amount (Daley, 2010). There are five gases which fall under the category of main and

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primary greenhouse gases i.e. ozone (O3), water (H2O), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O)
and the carbon dioxide (CO2). The effect of greenhouse gases takes place gases when the gases
present in the environment such as carbon dioxide traps heat reflects upon the surface of the
earth (Abeyratne, 2009). However, the continuously increasing us of airlines and rapidly
developing aviation industry results in increased burning of fossil fuels which as a result turns
out to have an upsurge level of concentrations of these gases in the air and thus enhancing the
impact of these greenhouse gases. And thus increase in the temperature of the global surface
cause changes in the climate i.e. known as global warming (Sanbag, 2013).
Similar to the emission of severe greenhouse gases, the aviation industry has a major role in
causing other severe impacts too. The engine of the aircrafts produce high amount of carbon
dioxide because of the consumption of jet-fuel and combustion of fossil fuel that alters the
concentration of the GHGs in the atmosphere. It causes the creation of condensation trails while
up surging the cirrus cloudiness which leads to climate modification. In spite of the decreased
amount of emission buy taking use of innovative and improved engines in the airplanes that have
a less consumption of the fossil fuel still have a contribution of a total of two percent of the total
carbon dioxide through human induction (McManners, 2012). On an average, the air flights
produced a total of 628,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide on a yearly basis with an overall
estimation of building up of around 1300 more airports by the year 2050 (Bower and Kroo,
2008). There are also forecasting that the number of aircrafts will be doubled in the commercial
aircraft fleet which is expected a total of three-fold increase in the international air travel. All
these emissions of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide will give rose to the various
environmental concerns in respect with the future of the air flights, impact on the quality of the
air and the reliability (ATAG, 2014). There will also be a big contribution of the aviation
industry in the extreme weather conditions and rising number of events in the coming time frame
as a result of rising threat of global warming. There are various natural disasters including
droughts, hurricanes and floods which are the result of the global warming and emission of gases
because of the increasing business of aviation industry (SERA, 2006).
The most key factor or noteworthy impact of aviation industry on the environment t is noise
pollution which is the biggest reason of calling sustainable aviation as an oxymoron. The noise
footprints left because of the growing business of the aviation industry has made it difficult for

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the aviation sector to sound as sustainable (IPCC, 1999). It is evident and identified that the
individuals who have their residence close to the airport are much exposed to regular loud
aircraft noise pollution and as a result there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease as per
the reports and studies of United States and UK published facts and data (Bower and Kroo,
2008). The continuously increasing barrage of noise from the aircrafts at the time of taking off as
well as at the time of landing had caused actual harm to health and also a factor behind the
deteriorating the quality of lives of the individuals (Graham, 2013). According to the report aired
by British Medical Journal observing the health conditions of the individuals residing in the
vicinity of Heathrow airport had experienced that people with highest exposure to these loud
noises are 10 to 20 people more likely to get admitted to the hospitals because of the issues such
as cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and strokes (Bower and Kroo, 2008). And in
most of these cases, there is an increased risk of death because of such medical conditions of the
people (Guardian News and Media Limited, 2017).
The other major problem imposed on the environment and the societies due to the expanding
aviation sector is containing runoff from the airports (Graham, Papatheodorou and Forsyth,
2008). The issue majorly exists in the northern climates-from the unfreezing operations. For the
prevention from the built up of snow and ice which would restrict landing, takeoff and taxiing,
the airport take us of anti-icing and deicing chemicals to paved the surfaces for example
taxiways and runways (Ashford, 2004). And in a same manner, the various airlines also apply
these anti-icing and deicing chemicals so that the aircrafts can have better and safe operations.
But there is a threatening impact of these deicing fluids on the sustainability of the environment
which is notable due to increasing demand for oxygen at the time of releasing to streams and the
rivers (IATA, 2007). A huge slug of glycol can result in depletion of the dissolved oxygen in the
receiving waters thus, resulting in killing of various organisms and fishes which have their living
on aerobic environments. And the removal of the loads before the discharge in eth water is the
key reason for the increasing use of wastewater treatment plants across the globe. And as an
outcome of such activities the household water even has a demand of biological oxygen (BOD)
of an average of around two hundred milligrams per liter (Warner, 2009). The primary concern
associated with the use of these deicing chemicals comprises of de-oxygenizing effects as well as
other consequences too such as contaminating for the ground water and the surface water, algae
booms and the fish kills (Palmer, 2015).

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There is also a high propensity of spreading diseases breaks of the growing aviation industry and
air travel business. According to the reports of World Health Organization based on the global
public health, there is a rapid spread of the diseases because of a highly interconnected,
interdependent and mobile world (Button, 2002). There is a rapid spread of the infectious
diseases geographically with the aviation business than any other factor or aspect. It was
estimated that in the year 2006, there travelled a total of 2.1 billion airline passengers which
resulted in an outbreak in a single part of the globe then at anywhere else in just few hours. There
was an increasing threat of the infamous diseases such as epidemic meningococcal diseases,
yellow fever and cholera appeared at an extreme rate (Warner, 2009). There were also social
threats such as n the health of the masses as the unsustainable aviation poses huge threat because
of the avian influenza in the individuals as well as there is high risk of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) which caused extreme suffering and had a great economic damage. There is
also a threat of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, Ebola and Nipah virus which can threaten the global
health security as there are increasing number of mortality and illness (Warner, 2009). It is
considered as one of the most critical social impact of the unsustainable aviation. There are
various initiatives and pioneering steps taken by the various Government authorities and
European Commissions as well as the considered authorities and institutes in order to reduce the
environmental impact of aviation but these initiatives are still not been effectively implemented
and this is one of the primary reason behind the growing Harmful impact of aviation sector on
the sustainability of the environment (Obbie and Hooper 2001).
Conclusion
It is a hard fact that the aviation is termed as an unsustainable technology which not be said as a
purely significant aspect of the future of the humans and the environment. The aviation industry
has offered a series of economic benefits as well as other advantages to the societies and the
world but in a broader aspect, the aviation business has been a big threat to the sustainability of
the environment. From the above paper and the discussions performed, it can be concluded that it
is somehow true that “Sustainable aviation is simply an oxymoron” as there are several aspects
and impacts of the aviation business and the operations which leads to unsustainability of the
environment. The air pollution, noise pollution, increasing number of health issues and diseases,
depletion of the ozone layer, emission of harmful gases, increased level of carbon dioxide and

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many other aspects of aviation industry makes it highly responsible for the threat to the
sustainable living. And thus, it can be stated that the operations of the aviation industry and un-
sustainable.

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