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Aviation is one of the fastest growing drivers of climate change. In "Climate Change and Aviation", Stefan Gössling and Paul Upham have brought together a wide range of academic perspectives on the issue. What makes aviation particularly relevant, apart from its growth, is not only its estimated contribution to climate change, but also the fact that air travel is particularly damaging to the environment and that it is a privilege of the rich. The actual emissions of a flight remain difficult to calculate. They depend not only on the route travelled, but also on the operating conditions, such as load factor, the atmospheric conditions, flight speed and altitude. The impact is attributed not only to CO2, but also to other greenhouse gases, and to contrails and cirrus clouds the effects of which have not yet been sufficiently researched. In any case, an important conclusion is that a reduction in aviation will yield far more benefit in terms of mitigation than the mere CO2 emissions suggest.

Climate Change and Aviation: Issues, Challenges and Solutions. By Stefan Gössling and Paul Upham (Ed.), Earthscan, London/Sterling, 2009. 386 pages. ISBN 978-1-84407-620-8.

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(195 words, 15 lines, September 2009)