Carbon Emissions From Flying

It's a dilemma, you want to get out of the house and visit somewhere new, exciting and distant, but at what cost to the planet in terms of environmental impact? Does flying really put out so much carbon that it needs to be regulated? Will planting a tree off-set the effect? And if so, how many?

Maybe we should all just stop breathing out to balance the carbon that results from the burning of fossil fuels, or maybe it isn't that bad, after all trees are made of the stuff - as are diamonds, the argument will rage whilst interested parties, whether they be promoting their carbon trading enterprises or aeroplane manufacturers and the related industries.

It is true that driving a relatively fuel efficient car, at say 25-30 miles per gallon, will produce fewer waste gasses than the plane, but once one starts factoring in distances only achieved by plane the numbers start to change, of course if you choose to not drive the thousand miles in one go, but break the journey into easily manageable chunks, the numbers start to change again, as does one's pace of life.

Another factor is the number of people traveling, one person driving a car versus 300 people on a plane, but car pooling makes a huge difference and a family holiday taken as a road trip clearly favours the motorhome form of transport.

Of course public transport, and surely flying is just a glorified BS in the sky? Is the best, but maybe the bus or train doesn't go exactly where you want to go to.

Better yet is the bicycle, so perhaps the best is to take a bike on the back of a motorhome for the short trips wherever you decide you're going.

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