Global warming: are cheap flights to blame

As budget airlines increase, so does air travel. It's a simple case of numbers.

But, as the world is slowly being made aware of the impacts of carbon emissions on the earth's atmosphere, air travel is now being brought under the spotlight.

Although air travel contributes about 4-9 per cent to global warming, its impact are disproportionate.

Scientists in the UK have found that time of day and the season can determine the extent of the impacts of emissions.

Contrails - or vapour trails, are more readily formed at night and in the winter months. Their impact of a night is to trap more heat on the earth's surface, whilst in the winter months humid air allows contrails to form more readily.

With the recent release of the IPCC reports, more attention has been focused upon the so-called budget air lines. Naturally, this is seen as an attack on middle and low income earners, who in past generations could not afford air travel. Budget airlines have said they are an easy target, whilst the bigger global airlines are often not criticised.

However, it appears it could be a question of maintaining the status quo and waiting for others to take action. As with most of the planet's environmental problems - more people equals greater impacts. More people and greater consumerism and perceived needs - results in climate change.

As most scientists agree that the world is warming and its weather destabilising, the media is often split with about half agreeing and the other creating conclusions based upon opinion or vested interests. This has helped create an army of sceptics who tend to rely upon and trust their regular media reports. Science, it seems, is at the mercy of media interpretation.

Let's just hope we can be wise and listen to those who actually know. Every impact is crucial. With huge increases in air travel predicted in the coming decades, it may be a case of arguing over who's right whilst the planet goes into a nose dive.