Aviation and the Global Atmosphere

Other reports in this collection

7. Issues for the Future

This report has assessed the potential climate and ozone changes due to aircraft to the year 2050 under different scenarios. It recognizes that the effects of some types of aircraft emissions are well understood. It also reveals that the effects of others are not, because of the many scientific uncertainties. There has been a steady improvement in characterizing the potential impacts of human activities, including the effects of aviation on the global atmosphere. The report has also examined technological advances, infrastructure improvements, and regulatory or market-based measures to reduce aviation emissions. Further work is required to reduce scientific and other uncertainties, to understand better the options for reducing emissions, to better inform decisionmakers, and to improve the understanding of the social and economic issues associated with the demand for air transport.

There are a number of key areas of scientific uncertainty that limit our ability to project aviation impacts on climate and ozone:

There are a number of key socio-economic and technological issues that need greater definition, including inter alia the following: