Skip to main content

Private jets - are they really as bad as people say?

Hello everyone,

On social media, they will be an uproar every few months because some celebrity used a private jet to get somewhere. Today, I'll be talking about whether these flights really are as bad as they seem or whether social media is just making a big deal out of nothing.

Emissions: private jets vs public flights

Private jets are 5 to 15 times worse than commercial flights per passenger. Also, private flights are normally not 4 hours long, some of them are only 20 to 30 minutes! These flights are worse because taking off and landing emit more greenhouse gases. With a flight that's only 20 or so minutes, you've only got 10 minutes at the most where you're actually flying 'normally'.

So when it comes to emissions, private jets are very bad for the environment.

Morals

You can't talk about private jets without talking about the morals involved. The first moral problem with private jets is the people who use them. People who can afford private jets are usually part of what is known as 'the super rich'. That in itself is not a problem. The problem is that a lot of these people publicly say that they are going to invest so many millions of dollars towards the climate crisis. This however is clearly not on their minds when they get into their private jets.
The second thing is again to do with money. Basically, private jets can cost up to 90 million US dollars. That money could easily be put towards things like refugee centres, children's education, starving children in poorer parts of the world and so on.


We can conclude, private jets are indeed very bad for the environment, in terms of CO2 emissions as well them being a simple waste of money that could be put into something else. This is not to say that long flights with hundreds of passengers are good, but owning a private jet is by far worse.

My personal opinion:

I would say in conclusion that private jets are just generally terrible, especially for flights under an hour. They are just another thing that's destroying our planet.

Your Green World Blog TeamšŸ’š


Image:
This image, owned by Istvan (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.


Sources:
https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2022/8/4/23287843/everything-you-need-to-know-about-private-jets-cost-gas-emissions-mileage
https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/private-jets-can-the-super-rich-supercharge-zero-emission-aviation/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How much do you know about trees? - Quiz

Hello, This month's quiz is all about trees. Questions: What is the name of the network that trees use to communicate? a) the mycorrhizal network b) the mythcorhinia network c) the symbocommunial network How much of the amazon rainforest has been lost due to deforestation in the last 50 years? a) 12% b) 17% c) 23% True or False? Over 75% of land-based species are found in forests? How much carbon do tropical forest contain? a) 230 gigatons b) 280 gigatons c) 330 gigatons In California, there is a rather strange tree that has survived 13 000 years by cloning itself. What species? a) Pin oak ;b) English oak c) Palmer's oak True or False? The oldest surviving tree species, Gingko trees, have been around since just after the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs struck. Where do acacia trees grow? a) cold and ha...

Animals 11-15 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hello, We have another five amazing animals for you today. Enjoy! 11. Dhole This is a dog species which looks rather like a red fox . They are difficult to put into any of the dog subfamilies. They aren't foxes, nor wolves, nor domestic dogs. Dholes are fast runners and live in packs of 5-12 individuals. Although sometimes, different packs will join forces to become a pack of 30 or more individuals! However, these super packs are broken up after a successful hunt. The different packs rarely attack each other as neighbouring packs are often closely related. Dhole packs live in burrows with multiple entrances. They can be found in eastern and southern Asia. They eat wild berries, insects and lizards and as a pack hunt deer, rodents and other wild mammals. Interestingly, unlike other dogs, they rarely kill by biting at the throat. They are also good swimmers! 12. Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin can be found in coastal areas of south a...

Ecosia

We all need to do something to save our planet: it is no use just leaving it to Greta Thunberg! She is very inspirational, yes, but she can only do so much. She isn't superhuman! The climate crisis is up to us; up to you. We all have to get stuck in. Research, learn, discover and most importantly: never give up! The world's animals need us. The world's trees need us and a simple way to do this is to switch to Ecosia. Ecosia is a search engine but it plants trees while you search the web. Okay, it doesn't have as many websites as google so you may want to have google as a backup but it plants trees: this is your opportunity to make a simple change. Just google Ecosia and search to plant trees. Make a difference. Image: This image  is owned by  Binyamin Mellish on  pexels.com .

30.08.2020 Animal of the week: Whale Shark

Hi! It is International Whale Shark Day today, so we thought, we would do this week's animal of the week about whale sharks. Are whale sharks, sharks or whales? Whale sharks are not whales and they aren't a mix of whale and shark. They are sharks. So, why are they called whale sharks if they aren't whales? Well, they are very big. Whale sharks normally grow to a length of 5.5-10 metres. However, the largest whale shark to be accurately measured was 18.8 metres long! That is about as long as a lorry or as high as a short oak tree. Basically, whale sharks are massive. Habitat and Diet Whale sharks prefer warmer waters. They live in all tropical seas. Every spring, they are known to migrate to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia. The whale shark is one of the three known filter-feeding shark species in the world. Like whales, they eat plankton.  Images: Image 1:  This image is o...

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

Hi everyone, Today we are going to be looking into the life of an alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon). After mating, the females lay their eggs on marsh gentian, a blue-coloured wildflower. The eggs can only be laid on these flowers, as this is what the newly hatched caterpillars will eat. Although in some alp regions, they can also be found on willow gentians, a close relative of the marsh gentian. Once the caterpillars have hatched from the eggs, their main predator and danger are the ants that swarm below. But high on their plant homes, the caterpillars are safe. However, this isn't where the alcon blue caterpillars are going to stay forever. Eventually, they drop down to the ground using silk strings. With no protection, they are soon dragged off by the ants. The most amazing part is, the alcon blue caterpillars give off the same scent and chemicals as the ant larvae. So the ants take the caterpillars back to their brood chamber, wher...

Energy comparison: natural gas

Hi everyone, Today we're talking about natural gas. Natural gas is a commonly used fossil fuel. So we thought we would go over the pros and cons of natural gas. So first of all, we can quickly cover what natural gas actually is. In its natural form it's a mix of mostly methane and then some other chemical components like propane and butane. However, it's normally processed so that it's almost pure methane. Natural gas forms when organic materials (like dead plants and animals) are crushed into the ground. So it's like coal in that sense. The most popular theory is that the different conditions like temperature and pressure then control whether coal, oil, or gas is formed. Natural gas reserves are found globally. The largest gas fields are in Russia, under the North Sea, in the United States, Canada, Algeria and the Middle East. It's often found near to or even in oil fields. Natural gas is colourless, odorless, tasteless and ...

Eco System, Galapagos: part 3 Discovery and modern life

Hello Everyone, This post in our mini series is all about the discovery of the Galapagos. The islands are renowned for their evolution and extraordinary animals but how did we discover it and who? The first recorded visit to the Galapagos was completely by chance in 1535, when Fray Tomas De Berlanger found this undiscovered land during a voyage to Peru. There may have been others who saw the islands but he was the first to step foot on them. De Berlanga was Spanish and returned to the Spanish Empire, describing the islands and the animals that inhabited them. The group of islands was named "Insulae de los Galopegos" (Islands of the Tortoises) in an atlas published in 1570. The first full map of the islands was made in 1684 by Ambrose Cowley, who named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after British royalty and high class citizens such as Lords. These names were used in the navigation charts of the islands that wer...

Animals 46-50 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi everyone! Welcome to the final part in our '50 Incredible Animal series' where you can find out about animals 46-50. We started this series almost a year ago to celebrate our 50th post and it feels crazy to think that we are now nearing our 100th. To read all of the previous posts from this series, click here . Hope you enjoy it! 46. Spiny bush viper Spiny bush vipers, Atheris hispida, are a species of venomous snake native to Central and East Africa in tropical forests and shrubland. They are mostly solitary creatures but can climb trees, which is where they find the majority of their prey. Spiny bush vipers are carnivorous and feed on mammals, frogs and lizards, as well as birds. Independent from birth, Spiny bush vipers can have up to 12 'snakelets' at a time and are 15cm in length. Currently, there are no known threats to Spiny bush vipers, and they are categorized as Not Evaluated on the IUCN Red List. 47. Leafy sea dragon ...

How well do you know the ocean floor? - Quiz

Hi Everyone and welcome back to Green World! Today we have another quiz to test your knowledge about the natural world. This is, of course, part of our monthly series of quizzes, so please give us some feedback on how you are finding it so far in the comments! This time, it's all about the ocean floor. Questions How much percent of the earth's surface consists of ocean floor? a)50% b) 60% c) 70% True or False? Just like on dry land, the ocean floor has mountains, plains and valleys. Which ocean can the Mariana Trench be found? a) Pacific Ocean b) Altantic Ocean c) Indian Ocean True or False? The Mariana Trench is 11km deep. How much of the earth's surface is covered by abyssal plains? a) about 33% b) about 50% c) about 10% True or False? Studies estimated that 90% of deep sea species haven't been discovered yet? Tr...