The Routledge Companion to Air Transport Management

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Air transport and climate change

Stefan Gössling

Introduction

Environmental impacts of aviation have been highlighted for decades (Fabian, 1974, 1978; Johnston, 1971; Schumann, 1990; Schumann and Wurzel, 1994). With the expansion of air traffic, environmental consequences of aviation received growing attention, in particular in the United States (US) and Europe. Today, aviation’s contribution to climate change is considered the sector’s most important environmental impact. This chapter provides a brief overview of the sector’s environmental impacts (see also Chapters 17 and 18), though its main focus is a discussion of air travel’s contribution to emissions of greenhouse gases and policy responses to address the situation.

Air transport ...