The US Environmental Protection Agency has declared that jet engine exhaust is a danger to public health by contributing to climate change, which is being dubbed as “a key milestone” by environmental experts. Large commercial jets account for 11% of all emissions from the global transportation sector. Aircraft emissions are expected to grow by 50% by 2050, as demand for air travel increases, according to Climate Central. “If airplanes were considered a country, that is all the airplanes in the world, they would be in the top 10 countries as far as their carbon pollution is concerned,” Annie Petsonk with the International Counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund told KCBS. She believes two things are needed: transformational technology and total airplane population. “Even if we make each airplane more efficient, the amount of planes that are going up into the sky and the amount of pollution they’re putting out means that pollution will grow unless we put a cap on it,” Petsonk said. Governments will meet this September to reach an international agreement on that cap.
