Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane, Ain't got time to take a fast train.

Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home, 'Cause my baby just a- rote me a letter. Wayne Carson Thompson - The Letter !a"e you e"er looked out of the indo of a passenger plane from #$,$$$ feet at the "ast e%panses of empty ocean and uninhabited land, and ondered ho people can ha"e any major effect on the &arth' I ha"e. (ut it is no becoming pretty clear that e are causing a great deal of damage to the natural en"ironment. And the planes hich rush us in comfort to destinations around the globe, contribute to one of the biggest en"ironmental problems that e face today ) global arming. *or those of us lucky enough to ha"e money to spend, and the free time to spend it in, there are a huge number of fascinating places to e%plore. +he cost of air transport has decreased rapidly o"er the years, and for many people, especially in rich countries, it is no possible to fly around the orld for little more than the contents of our eekly pay packets. ,nfortunately, planes produce far more carbon dio%ide -C./0 than any other form of public transport, and C./ is no kno n to be a greenhouse gas, a gas hich traps the heat of the sun, causing the temperature of the &arth to rise. 1cientists predict that in the near future the climate in (ritain ill resemble that of the 2editerranean, ironically a popular destination for (ritish holidaymakers flying off to seek the sun. If global arming continues, e may also find that

many tourist destinations such as +he 2aldi"es ha"e disappeared under ater because of rising sea le"els. As usual, people in the de"eloping orld are ha"ing to deal ith problems created mainly by those of us in de"eloped countries. (eatrice 1chell, a spokes oman for the &uropean *ederation for +ransport and &n"ironment says that, 3.ne person flying in an airplane for one hour is responsible for the same greenhouse gas emissions as a typical (angladeshi in a hole year.3 And e"ery year jet aircraft generate almost as much carbon dio%ide as the entire African continent produces. 4hen you are aiting impatiently in a cro ded departure lounge for a delayed flight or trying to find luggage hich has gone astray, plane fares may seem unreasonably high, but in reality e are not paying enough for air tra"el. ,nder the 5polluter pays principle6, here users pay for the bad effects they cause, the damage caused by planes is not being paid for. Aircraft fuel is not ta%ed on international flights and planes, unlike cars, are not inspected for C./ emissions. Also, the 7yoto agreement does not co"er greenhouse gases produced by planes, lea"ing go"ernments to decide for themsel"es ho is responsible. 1o hat can be done to sol"e the problem' 4ell, although aircraft engine manufacturers are making more efficient engines and researching alternati"e fuels such as hydrogen, it ill be decades before air tra"el is not damaging to the en"ironment. Go"ernments don8t seem to be taking the problem seriously, so it is up to indi"idual tra"ellers to do hat they can to help.

+he most ob"ious ay of dealing ith the problem is to not tra"el by plane at all. &n"ironmental groups like *riends of the &arth encourage people to tra"el by train and plan holidays nearer home. !o e"er ith prices of flights at an all time lo , and e%otic destinations more popular than e"er, it is hard to persuade (ritish tourists to choose (lackpool instead of (angkok, or 1kegness o"er 1ingapore. *riends of the &arth also ad"ise using teleconferencing for international business meetings, but most businesspeople still prefer to meet face-to-face. !o e"er there is a ay of offsetting the carbon dio%ide e produce hen e tra"el by plane. A company called *uture *orests, hose supporters include Coldplay and 9ink *loyd, offers a ser"ice hich can relie"e the guilty consciences of air tra"ellers. +he *uture *orest ebsite calculates the amount of C./ you are responsible for producing on your flight, and for a small fee ill plant the number of trees hich ill absorb this C./. Another company, co/.org, offers a similar ser"ice, but in"ests your money in energy sa"ing projects such as pro"iding efficient light bulbs to "illagers in 2auritius. :esterday I returned to ;apan from &ngland, and as happy to pay *uture *orests /< pounds to plant the # trees hich balance my share of the C./ produced by my return flight. =o the only thing making me lose sleep is jet lag. - 1ee more at> http>??learnenglish.britishcouncil.org?en?maga@inearticles?aeroplanes-and-global- armingAsthash.sBCD$j!/.dpuf