Air travel is the highest personal consumption of fossil fuels an individual can undertake. It is the best exemplar of the problem of the fossil fuel and climate change, with air travel by jet being enormously convenient, desirable, and readily available to millions around the globe. Crucially, there is no replacement technology for current modes of air travel that can scale up fast enough in the small time left to prevent dangerous or now runaway climate change. This is fully accepted by the industry itself, which proposes massive offsetting (the recent ICAO agreement). Accordingly, large scale reduction in air travel is urgently required.
Therefore, being open to taking that step is an excellent indicator of personal understanding of the seriousness of the climate crisis. An example is this video about a group of pro surfers who have stopped flying and are focused on enjoying local surf breaks.
Beyond The Break from The Perennial Plate on Vimeo.
When millions are taking that step and governments are openly talking about drastically reducing air travel as policy, it will be an indicator that the fight against dangerous climate change is engaged at the right level and we have given ourselves our best chance of being successful.
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