4. Mass Tourism

Air Travel

The international flight traffic from and to Germany includes all passenger flights departing from and arriving at the 25 biggest German airports. This transport capacity increased from 199 billion passenger kilometer (Pkm) in 1995 to 319 billion Pkm in 2005. The CO₂-emission of the international air traffic from and to Germany rose greatly by 48% - from 23.3 million tons (1995) to 34.5 million tons (2005). After a significant decrease in the increase of passenger transport capacity in 2002, due to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the increase of flights and CO₂-emission since 2003 is again comparable with the development before 2001. Due to the average high kerosene consumption the national short trip flights based on the CO₂-emissions are of particular importance: In 2005 the CO₂-emission caused by national air traffic came to 1.3 billion tons, which contribute 3.8% of the emissions caused by international flights (Destatis).

 

atmosfair: Initiative against greenhouse gases

Aeroplanes produce up to 11 t CO₂ per passenger on long distance flights. These fumes add significantly to the greenhouse effect, and therefore to global warming. Experts speak of a proportion up to 10%. And because of continuous growth of air traffic, the global climate is becoming more stressed.

For those who cannot do without flights atmosfair offers a concrete alternative. Together with the environmental organization Germanwatch, the Ministry for Environment, Health and Consumer Protection and the 'forum anders reisen' atmosfair was founded in 2003. The initiators call on all air travellers to support voluntary compensation for greenhouse gases that were caused by them: Depending on distance one can read the amount of contaminantes that were produced per person on the map (see figure above). The amount is matched with a sum necessary to offset these contaminantes in environmental projects. The traveller transfers this sum to atmosfair. atmosfair projects reduce greenhouse gases either by the use of renewable energies or economizing. Furthermore, it contributes to the improvement of life and environmental situations in developing countries: and therefore it is a direct technology transfer from north to south! (forumandersreisen 2008, translated)

Here you can find a Link to the homepage of atmosfair and an emissions calculator. 1. Calculate the costs of your last flight.
2. Would you agree to pay this sum to atmosfair? Why or why not?