Climate Impacts of Aviation

Despite the growing body of evidence that human activities are having a prominent role, global warming is a highly controversial issue. Aviation is a small contributor to global warming; although without major changes to aircraft and their operation this may rise to 15% by 2050. Aviation’s contribution to climate change is primarily due to aircraft emissions. This chapter introduces the key metrics used for quantifying and assessing climate change. It lists the most frequently adopted metrics, categorised by time horizon and physical quantity considered. Radiative forcing has been the traditional measure and is discussed upfront, but newer metrics, such as global warming potential and global temperature change potential, have been developed in the past decade. CO₂ emissions are modelled as a function of the aircraft fuel flow, the relations of which can be found in the Base of Aircraft Data.