Climate Warming, A New Look

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jack Saporito,

Climate Warming, A New Look

There is a great need for the general population and scientists alike to regard jet aircraft emissions as a major cause of man-made climate change and to qualitatively and quantitatively understand all of its potential climate influences (e.g. wind patterns, contrails, solar masking, particulates, ice, etc.), beyond just its impact of "traditional" greenhouse gases in the low-altitude atmosphere. Global warming assumes that all man-made emissions tend to become evenly distributed around our planet, given time, with a major distribution mechanism being "the wind".

But most people think of "the wind" as a local or regional effect, whereas the important wind distributors are, indeed global, in effect. Jet aircraft emissions and their probable climate change impacts have highlighted a need for a tutorial focus on global wind patterns, as they are fundamental to understanding global pollutant distribution. Accordingly, “Climate Change and Global Winds”, a new study authored by Ross Ruthenberg, examines the major global wind patterns and draws a nexus from jet aircraft emissions to the warming of the arctic (http://areco.org/studies.htm#climate).

The new study highlights that, whereas, perhaps 3-6% of current low-altitude "greenhouse gas" emissions are from aircraft, 100% of all emissions emitted directly into the tropopause/lower stratosphere and "jet streams" come from aircraft where they can have large climate change impact. Wind-driven aircraft pollutant transport into Greenland and the arctic region is of particular concern, in that high rates of arctic warming are being experienced in recent years/decades. Adding to this serious concern, is that many international flights, increasing with time, are by way of "over-the-top" routes, which places jet aircraft emissions directly into the arctic region.

It is also important to note that worldwide flights are predicted to increase massively, over the next few decades, greatly worsening impacts on both global warming, and, perhaps more importantly, on Greenland/arctic ice melting. Additionally, much of the jet aircraft emissions, which are not naturally-occurring in our upper atmosphere, have not been studied individually or synergistically and are not now, nor planned to be, characterized, quantified and standardized by governmental regulatory bodies, such as the USEPA, ICAO, etc.

The few characterizations that regulators make generally are limited to emissions below approximately 1000 meters altitude, and the aviation industry and governments are loath to discuss additional low-altitude emissions (e.g. particulate matter, toxics, etc.) and any "cruise altitude" emissions. Yet, as the study suggests, these high altitude emissions could probably be even more important to global and arctic warming.

"It is very important to spotlight aircraft, if for nothing else, but for the fact that when all aircraft in the U.S. were grounded after the 9-11 attack, the temperature quickly reverted back to pre-1950’s; diurnally over the U.S. (Travis, 2002)," states Jack Saporito, spokesperson for various watchdog organizations.

The study’s objective is to provide an improved layman understanding of primary global wind circulation patterns as pollutant transport mechanisms, in order to improve communication on these important issues, between various technically separated parties, including meteorologists, climate change physicists and environmentalists.

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