Economy Class

Most studies have glibly assumed that environmental catastrophes, like wildfires, floods and droughts, do not affect the global economy. A consortium of prestidious universities in Austria; Germany, Switzerland, the UK and the US have calculated that the economic cost of the climate crisis will cut 37% from global GDP. This means the climate crisis will have twice the impact of the Great Depression (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/06/climate-crisis-transatlantic-flight-global-economy-gdp ). The new study suggests that, every tonne of carbon dioxide emissions, costs the global economy approximately $3000 (£2170). A return flight between the UK and New York, generates 1 tonne of carbon dioxide. If the passengers had to pay for that (it would only be fair), tickets would be markedly more expensive. As we also know, carbon dioxide emissions are not the only way in which air travel drives climate change. Nitrogen oxides and high altitude contrails also have impacts.