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Corporate Responsibility Report 2008 33 Flying is overwhelmingly the most practicle form of travel on long journeys, because it is efficient and does not need much land area or infrastructure. Over long distances, moreover, other forms of transport cannot compete with flying in terms of speed. Tackling environmental impacts with the right means Air transport causes around two per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions produced by humankind. Carbon dioxide has a warming effect on climate and its impact does not depend on the altitude at which it is produced. Of the nitrogen oxide emissions produced by human activity, around three per cent originate through air transport. In terms of the greenhouse effect, nitrogen oxide emissions have both an accelerating and a slowing impact. At cruising altitudes, an average of 1012 kilometres, nitrogen oxide emissions actually reduces methane, a strong greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. After carbon dioxide, methane is the most significant climate-warming gas. The warming effect of nitrogen oxides arises from the ozone they produce. The more ozone is produced the stronger the solar radiation is. The effect of nitrogen oxides is currently being studied on different flight routes. On northern flight routes, the climate cooling effect of nitrogen oxides might be greater than their warming effect. Nitrogen oxides, however, also have an effect on local air quality and that's why it is important to try to reduce them. With current technology, however, it is difficult to reduce both carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides at the same time. ir transport, moreover, also gives rise to limited amounts of sulphur oxide and particulate emissions. Particulates increase the formation of clouds at cruising altitudes and are thus climate warming, but at the same time the sulphate particles formed by sulphur dioxide have a cooling effect on the atmosphere. At cruising altitude, aircraft produce under certain conditions water vapour condensation trails, which influence the formation of cirrus clouds. The warming, or correspondingly the cooling effect, of these clouds depends on the time of day, the season of year and the flight route in question. The impact process is currently being studied by various parties. It is important to elucidate the effects so that air transport could be directed to the most favourable altitudes and routes in terms of cloud formation. In this case, too, it seems that the warming effect of flights in the northern hemisphere would be less than traffic taking place in the southern hemisphere. "It is important to discuss the climatic effects, but at the same time we should also pay attention to the ecological footprint of the different forms of transport. In addition to emissions, environmental loading encompasses, for example, use of non-renewable natural resources and weakening of biodiversity," says Atte Korhola, Professor Environmental Change at the University of Helsinki. A aviation emissions are continually being reduced through developing technology. Finnair's new airbus a330 aircraft consumes 14 per cent less fuel per seat than the Boeing MD-11 aircraft. The airbus a350 aircraft, moreover, which will join the fleet in future, will use 36 per cent less fuel per seat than the MD-11 aircraft.
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