Latest news with #ColinMurphy
Boston Globe
11 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Private jets polluted more than all flights from Heathrow combined, study finds
Advertisement The study spotlights the outsize impact of the United States on emissions. Globally, private jets emitted up to 19.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023: Aircraft departing from the United States accounted for 65 percent of global private jet flights, and 55 percent of those gas emissions. That year, private jets polluted more than the total of all commercial flights departing from London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest hub. Researchers identified 22,749 private jets by unique tail number that operated over 3.57 million flights. The analysis is the first effort to combine flight trajectory information with publicly available emissions models to allocate private jet activity to specific airports. The study also modeled air pollution, meaning it considered not only greenhouse gases, but also nitrogen oxide pollution and fine particulate matter - both associated with significant human health risks. Researchers found that 18 of the 20 most polluting airports for private jet use are in the United States. And the majority of these flights are short-haul trips, lasting under two hours. Advertisement 'If you look at individual airports that are polluted from private jets, Van Nuys Airport [in Los Angeles] popped out,' Rutherford said. 'This is getting a lot of visibility because it's where the celebrities and influencers are all parking their planes.' Short-haul flights, defined as covering distances less than around 930 miles, account for roughly a third of aviation's annual carbon output. Airplanes burn a significant amount of fuel when taking off and climbing to altitude, making these trips less efficient than longer ones. France imposed a ban on short-haul domestic flights in 2023, but because it was limited to trips within its borders, analysts described the policy's impact as modest. Private jets generate between five and 14 times more greenhouse emissions per passenger than commercial planes, according to the European clean transportation nonprofit group Transport & Environment, and 50 times more emissions than trains traveling that same distance. While private jets often show up in large numbers in big events, from the World Economic Forum at the Swiss resort of Davos to the Super Bowl, the United States still ranks higher than other wealthy countries. The new data shows 687 private jet flights per 10,000 people in the United States, compared to just 117 in the United Kingdom and 107 in France. Florida and Texas alone generated 543,815 flights - more than the entire European Union. 'With smaller, private aircrafts, you don't have as many passengers to distribute the emissions across, so you lose some economies of scale,' said Colin Murphy, associate director of the Energy Futures Research Program at the UC-Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, who was not involved in the study. Advertisement 'We have a lot of millionaires and billionaires,' Rutherford said. 'We're a highly unequal society, and so that generates a lot of traffic.' This week dozens of private jets are expected to arrive in Venice for Jeff Bezos's wedding. (Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.) Policy efforts to cut down on emissions from private aviation have largely fallen short. Legislation introduced in 2023 would have raised the federal fuel tax on private planes nearly ninefold, from $0.22 to $1.95 per gallon, but the bill never came to a vote. At the same time, a Federal Aviation Administration program implemented last year allows some owners to remove their flight data from public distribution, making it more difficult to track private aircraft. 'The very important insight is that the global growth in emissions is coming from the top, from more people entering the very affluent classes that can afford private aviation,' said Stefan Gössling, professor of Tourism Research at Linnaeus University and Human Ecology at Lund University, who was not involved in the study. 'That is a trend that is quite powerful and ongoing and will mean that we will not be able to meet our climate goals simply because there's so much growth in the system that we cannot compensate.' Still, researchers say that the data offers a stark picture of an elite mode of travel with an outsize climate footprint - one that has increased its emissions by 25 percent over the past decade. Advertisement 'Private jets are like the canary in the coal mine here for a hyper unequal warming world,' Rutherford said.
CBC
16 hours ago
- Climate
- CBC
'Like a clear-cut forestry operation': Cleanup begins at downburst-hit Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park
Cleanup starts after this northern Ontario provincial park was devastated by a downburst 7 hours ago Duration 2:28 Social Sharing When Cameron Hockey is asked to describe the devastation from a downburst that hit Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park in northeastern Ontario the night of June 21, he's almost at a loss for words. "The closest thing that I could correlate this to that some folks might have a mental image of would be like a clear-cut forestry operation," he said while standing in front of a building camouflaged by the large pine tree on top of it. Hockey is manager of the Algonquin Zone of Ontario Parks. Over the past week, he's been co-ordinating the collaborative efforts to clear fallen trees from the park's roads and assess the damage. "The number one priority right now is just to be able to provide that safe access for people to come on site and to grab their personal property," he said. Downbursts are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm. Unlike a tornado, which produces a wind funnel from the ground up, a downburst produces strong winds that move downward from a storm. Hockey guesses the storm destroyed at least 100 trailers and vehicles when it knocked trees over like bowling pins. He said it's a miracle no one was killed. Significant damage But some campers, like Colin Murphy of Eganville, Ont., suffered serious injuries. Murphy said his femur was shattered in four places after a tree sliced through his family's trailer and fell on top of him. Hockey said another camper nearly lost her arm after it was caught under a tree for hours. Emergency workers, who trekked through the brush for hours to reach the campers, were able to free her, and surgeons later saved her arm. The damage to the park is so significant that Hockey said it's impossible to say exactly when it will be able to reopen. A drone image taken by researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) at London's Western University shows thousands of trees in the park's Jingwakoki Campground were flattened. "There's so much material down right now that we actually need to remove a lot of debris just to fully understand all of the impacts that this has had on the park," Hockey said. He said that includes critical infrastructure such as high-voltage power lines, water systems and buildings, such as public washroom facilities. Non-profit caught up in the storm Bill Steer is general manager of the Canadian Ecology Centre, which is located in the park. Steer pointed to several cabins that had their roofs destroyed by fallen trees. Had the storm happened a week later, more than 100 students would have been at the centre for summer camps. "That would be a whole different story," he said. Steer said the centre will need to close for at least three months to allow for repairs. "As a non-profit, as an environmental education centre, we rely on operations, and so we don't get any subsidies," he said. "The next real challenge is going to be a financial one." Steer said it could take even longer for the park to reopen. "The park has to go through an initial assessment, and then I believe, you know, it's anticipated a major forestry operation will come through," he said.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Cat Laughs Comedy Festival visits Belfast and Londonderry
For the first time in its history, Ireland's longest-running comedy festival has come to Northern Ireland. Billed as Ireland's "annual craic pilgrimage", organisers of the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival said it has been "heralding the start of the summer season since 1995".It has previously played host to big names like Bill Murray, Suzy Eddie Izzard, and Tommy Tiernan, and, from now until 26 May, there are 26 shows across Belfast and Karl Spain, who is performing in Belfast, says Northern Ireland is "definitely on the map now for comedy". This year's acts include Colin Murphy, Diona Doherty, Seann Walsh, Deirdre O'Kane and Chris Cook, who founded the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, says he wanted to create something linked to theatre."Cat Laughs is a celebration and an exploration of stand up. It's not a comedy festival, it's a stand-up comedy festival and that's very particular."For Mr Cook, the difference between "comedy" and "stand-up comedy" is an important one. He says that, unlike many other performers, stand-up comedians are immediately aware of the audience's reaction. "If people aren't laughing, it's not working. It can be a very lonely place." Over the last 30 years, acts such as Dara Ó Briain and Kevin Bridges have performed at the when Mr Cook first founded it, he says he had no idea if it would work. "A lot of shows didn't sell. But there was something quite magical about it."Now, the festival is venturing north from its usual venue in Cook says he was "inspired" by County Down comedian Shane Todd's "brilliant" performance at last year's also cites the thriving comedy scene in Northern Ireland as a reason for the festival coming to Northern Ireland."You see the explosion of stand-up comedy [in Northern Ireland]. I thought: 'Why don't we bring comedians from all corners of Ireland to share a stage?'"There's a passion for comedy in Northern Ireland". Comedian Karl Spain says Belfast "feels very exciting"."There's lots happening," he says the comedy scene in Northern Ireland is "growing more and more", with the likes of Colin Geddis, Shane Todd and Paddy McDonnell who are now well established."There are so many now that are really good, and very different," he says."It's going to be the first of many festivals in Belfast. I think it will be a regular thing."Spain says comedy festivals provide an opportunity for up-and-coming performers to "gauge their ability". Spain himself performed on a line-up that included Jimmy Carr, Bill Bailey, and David Cross in the early 2000s."It reassures you that you are on the right path," he admits that the cost of organising comedy festivals is rising year on year but says he organises Cat Laughs "for the love of it". "We're bringing these great comedians together not as a commercial proposition - it's an artistic proposition."
