Planes Are Said to Contribute to Global Warming: Germans Urged to Quit Flying

Flying is perhaps the only way to get from one side of the gobe to the next very quickly. But there are tradebacks, one of which is the fact that plane exhust, courtesy of jet fuel, releases tons of carbon dioxide into the air, contributing to the greenhouse effect which traps heat in the atmosphere.

While it may be an extreme move for some, quitting or refusing to fly when travelling is said to lessen one's carbon (dioxide) footprint, thereby helping to mitigate the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some environmentalists have pushed for a reduction in flights and have suggested other means of transportation. Germans, for instance, have been advised to substitute exotic travel destinations for more local and less exotic Baltic sea destinations. "In the near future, people are going to become increasingly aware that aircraft emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases, far more than cars or trains," said Manfred Stock, a climate researcher in Potsdam near Berlin.

Still, even if you take a ship or a car to get from point A to point B, you would still use fuel and release carbon dioxide, unless the vehicle you're riding in is some kind of next-generation transport that does not use fossil fuel.

EXCLUSIVE: For a video of the tragic plane crash in Phuket, Thailand taken by a survivor during the crash, go to i-Mash.