Increasingly, some are preferring to use aviation less, or, even, stop using it entirely. Although it can be interpreted in a positive light in terms of environmental advantages, I strongly feel that it is a change for the worse for the sake of humans and businesses.
The recent appeal of refraining from flights can be attributed to 2 reasons. The first one has to do with carbon footprint. Airplanes release toxic gases, such as carbon dioxide. With the enormous number of flights taking place every year, airplanes are also one of the main sources of carbon dioxide. Consequently, it exacerbates the air quality. Secondly, albeit not significantly, along with carbon dioxide, the planes also release nitrous oxide – much more deteriorating than carbon dioxide. With its strong molecular structure and ability to absorb heat, nitrous oxide has heat-trapping ability and can withstand within the atmosphere for more than 100 years, contributing significantly to the global warming.
That being said, while this shift seems logical on some grounds, I believe it is far more disadvantageous for individuals and businesses. Airplanes are the fastest way of travelling around the global, especially for long distances. With the refusal of employing aviation, business might shift to ships – which is time-consuming. This may lead to aversion of doing business with long-distance countries. Eventually, this may even bring about resource depletion, as every country is interdependent.
Declining the utilization of aircraft may come at a high price for individuals, especially in the cases of emergency. People who are in need of quick organ exchange may suffer because of the pace ships deliver cargos. This may lead to organ not being delivered in time, and even to a death. From different perspective, organs, once they are outside of the body, are prone to heat transfers and bacteria in the open air. Although organs may be kept inside the special box, with ice – to keep it out of bacteria exposure – time it takes to deliver them from one side to another may render the organ obsolete.
In conclusion, although a strong case can be made against the use of aircraft as it exacerbates the environmental problems, I believe aircraft should not be completely ignored for the sake of business and individuals, as there is no better alternative to aircraft in terms of pace.