air travel
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Plane commutes on the rise
An increasing number of people are commuting to New York jobs from hundreds of miles away or even the other side of the country, according to WNYC’s Transportation Nation. There are about 4,000 regular plane commuters, accounting for more than 1,000 tons of carbon every week. Has nobody told these people about the internet?
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Airport to increase safety by gassing birds
Last year, a Royal Air Maroc plane made an emergency landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after it was hit by a flock of geese. They've been trying everything to get rid of the birds, they say, including "luring them away" (presumably with irresistible offers from Groupon). Incidents like these have been increasing at the airport, […]
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Critical List: Rina heads to Cancun; French wildflowers are disappearing
Hurricane Rina is heading towards Cancun. The U.S. wants to start trade wars all over the place. First, the solar industry goes toe to toe with China, and now the House of Representatives is mixing it up by trying to exempt U.S. airlines from the EU emissions scheme. Multinational energy companies who want to exploit […]
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Airport beekeeping project is a win-win-win
A new project raises bees on undeveloped land near O'Hare Airport, trains ex-convicts in beekeeping, and sells the resulting honey and beeswax.
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JetBlue offers $4 L.A.-to-L.A. flights for Carmageddon
Los Angeles is quaking in fear of "Carmageddon" this weekend, when 10 miles of heavily-populated Route 405 will be shut down. But never fear, Angelenos ... you won't have to spend even a single weekend not pumping out tons of carbon! JetBlue will let you fly from Burbank (just north of L.A.) to Long Beach (just south of L.A.) for only $4.
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Turtle sex disrupts air travel
Some flights out of JFK International Airport were delayed today as officials scrambled to clear runways of turtles. Apparently the diamondback terrapins, which live in nearby Jamaica Bay, were all "oh yeah, buiding a runway next to our habitat? That's how you're gonna play it? Fine, WE F*CK ON YOUR RUNWAY. DEAL WITH IT." Still, if there's a cuter reason to get stuck in the airport than turtles putting baby turtles inside other turtles, we don't know about it.
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Get ready for solar airplanes
There’s nothing that exciting about a plane that uses no fuel and emits no CO2 — I’ve been folding those since the fourth grade. A plane that uses no fuel, emits no CO2, has the same wingspan as an Airbus A340, and can transport people on international flights, though: That’s a big deal. And that’s […]
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Airships may be the key to a greener, steampunkier future
Steampunk enthusiasts rejoice: The skies may soon be full of airships. Dirigibles are the low-carbon way of shipping goods long distances, according to a recent article in Scientific American. No word on whether it's greener to wear aviator goggles, petticoats, and button boots while flying them, but let's just go ahead and assume the answer is […]
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The nuts were right — airplane contrails WILL kill you
Wow, Fortean Times was right about something: Airplane contrails really are dangerous. The carbon emissions from air travel are profound, but the water vapor planes emit is just as bad, or worse. And airplane-spawned water vapor is what makes up the high, thin clouds known as contrails. Michele Bachmann would surely object — water vapor […]
