The latest episode of “Growing Impact” features a team of researchers that is exploring how to mitigate aviation’s climate impacts, specifically the warming effect created by contrails. As the number of airline passengers is anticipated to grow significantly in the coming years, there is a concern about the increasing impact of contrails on climate change, said Sven Schmitz, the Boeing/A. D. Welliver Professor of Aerospace Engineering.

“You can broadly categorize aviation’s climate impact into CO2 (carbon dioxide) and non-CO2,” said Schmitz. “The CO2 climate impact is driven by fuel burn. The primary non-CO2 effect is contrails, which is warming caused by the creation of artificial cirrus clouds. This impact is one that many in the public may not be aware of.”