![]() “After the Second World War, you’re really into the age of mass tourism,” said Emily Thomas, author of The Meaning of Travel: Philosophers Abroad. Seeing the scenes of anguish at airports in recent months, one could forget that air travel used to carry a certain romance.Ĭommercial flight dates back to about 1919, but it didn’t really become popular until the 1940s. Said Smith, “There’s a hesitancy to be honest and objective about this.” Many observers, including some who have worked in aviation, like former pilot Todd Smith, say the current growth trajectory is unrealistic - and that the industry isn’t being frank about it. This summer alone, we’ve seen drought and forest fires in Europe and devastating flooding in Pakistan, which climate scientists see as linked to climate change - and that’s at (about) 1.2 C of warming. But a substantial increase in flying seems unsustainable at a time when aviation’s share of emissions is set to rise and most of the world has pledged to keep global warming at 1.5 C below pre-industrial temperatures. We all know the benefits of travel - it allows us to marvel at Earth’s riveting beauty and gain a finer understanding of other cultures. Thereafter, EESI expects air passenger traffic to grow by about three to four per cent per year. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute estimates that global air travel traffic is at about two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels, but projects that North America will return to pre-pandemic levels this year or next, with international markets likely to catch up a couple of years later. To give a sense of just how much we fly, there were nearly 39 million flights worldwide in 2019 that was up from 25.9 million in 2009. And the tourism industry, battered by a couple of years of severe turbulence, is happy to accommodate. The subtext of revenge travel is that getting on a plane to see the world is our right.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |