This article outlines the results of a study on the impact of aviation on climate change.
Students will learn that carbon dioxide emissions, contrails, nitrogen oxide, water vapor, sulfate aerosol gases, soot, and other aerosols produced by the aviation industry contribute significantly to climate change.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This quick read provides students with an example of how fossil fuel-dependent industries contribute in multiple ways to climate change.
A detailed infographic provides a good visual of how airplanes affect the environment.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should have basic knowledge of the causes of climate change.
Differentiation
Before introducing this article, teachers could ask students to write a short paragraph about how aviation contributes to climate change. After reading the article, students could discuss what they learned with a partner or a small group.
Students could read this article independently and then read portions of the study, which is linked in the article, together in small groups.
Scientist Notes
There is no contradiction in the resource. However, the 5-year study is not sufficient to estimate global emissions from aircraft. It is a complex study and would have been extended to about 20-30 years period to thoroughly investigate the atmospheric circulation system, chemical transformations, and microphysical properties of emissions from aircraft in contrail cirrus - short-lived clouds. Using the IPCC estimates to quantify the datasets and to ensemble the projections, this resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
HS-ESS2-2 Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-6 Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 3: Gathering and Evaluating Sources
D3.2.9-12 Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.
