Pacific Flights Create Most Amount of Ozone

A new study may make you think twice before jetting off to Australia or New Zealand this fall. Research by a team from MIT’s aeronautics department found that out of 83,000 worldwide flight routes studied, flights to and from Australia and New Zealand during the month of October create the highest amount of a powerful global warming pollutant, known as tropospheric ozone.

The new findings come at a time when the aviation industry, which has the fastest-growing emissions within the transportation sector, faces the challenge of trying to slow its global warming footprint. The European Commission has projected that by 2020, despite gains in fuel efficiency, global international aviation emissions may be around 70 percent higher than in 2005, and they could grow by 300 to 700 percent by 2050.

Pacific Flights Create Most Amount of Ozone