Taking responsibility and understanding our own individual role in the climate crisis is an important part of reaching a solution and living in a more sustainable way. However, I think it is very unfair to pin the climate crisis solely on individual actions when in reality it is large corporations and government policies that influence the drastic changes in our environment the most. I fully agree that every individual has a responsibility to do what they can, for example by using sustainable items, carpooling, using less water, etc. Actively changing our lifestyles to be more sustainable is crucial to building a greener world, as every individual's actions do add up over time. But when it comes to carbon and methane emissions, a few individuals changing their lifestyles will do little to mitigate the problem when cows release 70kg-120kg of methane a year (with around 1.5 billion cattle worldwide), a greenhouse gas that is 23x more potent than carbon. While traveling does increase one's ecological footprint, the climate crisis should not be pinned on these individuals when another larger issue is that 80% of the energy used in the United States comes from fossil fuels. There are so many factors that go into global warming and the environmental challenges we're facing, but starting with large scale problems is more likely to result in a greener world.
For so many Americans, traveling around the world is a long-time dream of theirs. Yet, these dreams may no longer be realistic considering the dramatic effect of traveling on the future of our world. As climate change becomes a more relevant and serious issue, travel is raising a major red flag considering the carbon emissions that, in the future, will become fatal to the human population and the environments we live in. As much as I personally love to travel, I understand Andy Newman’s concern that even though each person serves a small effect on the environment, those “minor” effects multiply so quickly and become detrimental, yet I do not think it is completely realistic to ban worldwide travel all together. In my opinion, there should just be limitations set. If there are less flights available, less people will travel. If flights are more expensive, it would be more of a rare privilege to travel outside of the country. I also believe that society needs to be educated on the harm they cause every time they travel, whether driving or flying, because then the moral obligation becomes more relevant for humanity to work together to preserve our planet. It is our duty to take care of the world we live in, and no one would want to promote suffering and even fatality in the near future, so with more knowledge of the situation, society may feel responsible for reducing leisurely travel.
I don’t think that it is reasonable to ask humans to stop traveling. There are other ways to help save the planet such as using less plastic, carpooling, and to stop littering. Although, traveling is a major factor in global warming I believe it is highly going to ever stop considering how much people travel for the holidays or just to take a vacation.
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I think it is unrealistic to ask humans to stop traveling across the country or world through plan. It has been used for a while now and is one of the quickest ways to get from state to state or country to country. Even though planes put a lot of harmful toxins into the air and “one cross country flight sinks the summer sea covered in ice by 3 square feet” people are still going to use planes to get to their travel destinations quicker than a car would. Now knowing how much harmful gases are being put into the air it till doesn't change my plan to fly out to philadelphia this weekend. I don't feel guilty at all, I just need to get there in a hurry for my lacrosse tournament the next day.
As a frequent traveler, until now I have never considered what that is doing to my own home. Should we feel guilty about traveling to new places to be able to experience different cultures? No, of course not, however I think we should feel guilty that we take the easy route to get to those experiences. Traveling doesn't always have to be in style, with internet on our airplanes. Taking the luxury out of it to save our planet I think is worth the challenge.
I completely agree with the article that we feel guilty after a plane ride, I know I personally due. There isn't really anyway, though, to get it around it sometimes. Many times it is physically impossible to get to places by a car ride, and on less extreme occasions takes too long. Planes are efficient and easy to get on and off, but their impact on the environment is hard to ignore. People should, to get around this issue, try to drive shorter distances. Further there are programs to reduce your carbon footprints, where every flight you take they plant a certain amount of trees depending on the flight. In other countries they have already engineered functioning solar-powered planes, which could be implemented by pushing the government on the climate crisis even more. Either way, planes are efficient but they are detrimental to the environment, so it's important to eliminate plane usage whenever possible.
Since the recent controversial topic that straws are hurting and/or killing turtles, I have completely stopped using straws in my drinks, or at restaurants. I consider this act to be greener, and hopefully create some impact on the turtles in a helpful way. When I am in a restaurant or at home and I don’t use a straw, I do not consider this to be a sacrifice, as much as I consider it to be a contribution and something that makes me happy to do. If we are being very extreme, and discover that cars are harming the environment enough to hurt animals and humans alike, I would most definitely give up driving (at least in my car that runs on gas), if I knew it would benefit the planet and the organisms that live in it. I personally, really enjoy driving and the freedom that it brings me, but once I understand that our environment, and the organisms that it supplies with food, water, and life, is dying because of something that we, as humans are doing, and it is something so easily fixable like driving an electric car, or giving up driving, then I would 100% stop to help and save the environment.
I understand what there saying in the article that we leave a bigger carbon footprint as individuals and that we should watch it because global warming is becoming a big problem. I completely agree, but that means less car or eco-friendly cars. That is not an option for everyone these types of cars right now are very expensive compared to an older gasoline car. Then there would be “oh why don't you ride a bike” argument and the answer is quite simple, some places are just too far apart for a bike to be anywhere efficient enough for that type of travel. So in my opinion no you shouldn't feel guilty with your current travel methods until the alternative options are more available to the rest of the population. The plane travel could be cut down on but that's really the only plausible argument I see here. And what the article says about that in my general opinion is valid. Maybe that's just because I don't travel for vacations that much. That I feel that way about less airplane travel. I would have to read more into how much carbon is put out in airplane trips compared to road trips.
No, I do not feel like we should be guilty for traveling. Traveling I feel, is not killing the environment. What's killing the environment is driving to work and back every day, massive factories spewing out tar into our air, and massive dumps of trash into our oceans. An occasional vacation is a minor component to global warming. It's another thing if your going on long flights every other day. As a person who travels occasionally I understand that it's an important thing to be able to do. People deserve to travel occasionally. Its healthy for people to break free from all the stress and drama in their lives.
After reading the article I still feel people need to travel long distances for family, jobs etc. None of my opinions have been changed by reading the article, but I am more attentive to my actions affecting the environment around me. The only way the problem will subside is if the government starts making regulations.
Even after reading this article I personally have no moral qualms about traveling and it consuming a decent amount of gas and producing a decent amount of carbon dioxide. If it’s for vacation, I suppose it’s alright to give it up maybe once but no more than that in a lifetime, there’s just too much to see and experience to just give that up. Not only vacationers but there are also people who need to travel long distances because of their jobs or possibly something college related. Reading this article hasn’t changed in the slightest what my travelling plans will be and won’t make me feel guilty in the slightest. I don’t really try to do anything much to be greener except maybe plant plants to convert carbon dioxide but that’s about it. If it’s left up to the individual nothing good will happen in climate change debates and actions, there needs to be a collective action from the people and the government to correct things on a global scale. The only thing this article really made me feel we should do is find more and more ways to convert the carbon dioxide in better ways like planting more trees.
I know that there are tons of other ways to reduce our footprint, and even though this will reduce the footprint a lot I don’t believe its that fair. If you needed to visit your family for an emergency of some sort you wouldn’t be able to. Places that live on tourists would struggle, and I don’t think traveling on planes would ever be completely banned, I would just assume that the prices would go up to the extent where no one except a few would be able to afford them. This would also cause more overall traffic especially for places that are made of people who are passing by. I feel that at this point we are built on traveling and taking plane travel away would just cause more problems.
I do not think that it is realistic for people to give up long distance travel. Whether people are travelling for work, to help others, or just for fun, everyone has a good reason. Unless everyone in the world gave up long distance travel, I don’t think it would make enough of a difference to be worth it, and that likely won’t happen. Instead of focusing on things individuals can give up, I think we should focus on big corporations who have a much larger environmental impact. Although it doesn’t make much of a difference for just one person, I try to be to reduce my impact on climate change every day. I always try to reuse plastic bags and bottles before getting rid of them to reduce waste and I also try to walk or bike places instead of drive when it is an option. At first it was a little hard to adjust to this less wasteful life, but if everyone drove their cars for half as long or reused plastics before going out and buying new ones then it could help a little with our climate problem.
I think it is hardly fair to make people feel guilty for wanting to see the world God made. Without long distance traveling some people would never see an ocean or snow in their lifetime. It's not realistic to deprive people of expanding on their culture, knowledge, and wonderful experiences when there are so many other solutions.
There are many other ways we can reduce our carbon footprint other than giving up long distance traveling. I don't think we should have to sacrifice vacations or for whatever reason you are traveling just to help reduce your carbon footprint. We can do little things that make a big impact around home such as not wasting water or energy, bike to school/work, or even carpool with others to help keep harmful emissions out of our air. If my family decides to not travel to help make this planet greener our impact won't do hardly anything, but if we all come together and try to stop traveling then we will start to see a good change. I still don't think this would happen because people don't want to give up there vacations or long drive to see family.
It is important that we all do something to help the environment, and to reduce our carbon footprint. But, I also think it is unrealistic to expect people to never go on long trips, to never travel so they can see the world. Yes, it is true that we all need to do our part and help the environment, but we can help the environment and still occasionally enjoy a far away trip. To tell people that their one trip to Europe is the reason a country is some day underwater without addressing big companies that do far more damage than the individual person is wrong. To say we need to never enjoy a trip because it is growing our carbon footprint, and not address the big companies who are constantly releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is unfair to the individual.
The planet is doing fine. Environmentalists aren't worried about the planet, they are worried about a clean place to live, their own habitat. The planet is doing great. The planet has been through much worse than some carbon. Asteroids, comets, tectonic shifts, volcanic action, magnetic reversal of the poles, ice ages. The planet has been around for 4 and a half billion years and we have only been involved in heavy industry for 200 years. 200 vs 4 and a half billion. Our increased output of carbon really should help the planet as it will increase vegitation growth and therefore increase the amount of oxygen. Climate change is a thing but humans are not causing it. The earth goes through hot periods and cold periods. Ever since the 70’s there has always been some natural disaster politicians are telling us we need to elect them to stop. The UN was saying in 1999 that the earth would end in 10 years if we didn't stop our carbon output. We are hearing the same today, the earth is going to end in 2030. I see all this stuff as political hustling and fear mongering. Keep us running around fearing for our lives so that the rich can run off with all the money. They keep us scared so we will vote for them, so they can keep going to the banks. The planet is doing fine.
The planet is doing fine. Environmentalists aren't worried about the planet, they are worried about a clean place to live, their own habitat. The planet is doing great. The planet has been through much worse than some carbon. Asteroids, comets, tectonic shifts, volcanic action, magnetic reversal of the poles, ice ages. The planet has been around for 4 and a half billion years and we have only been involved in heavy industry for 200 years. 200 vs 4 and a half billion. Our increased output of carbon really should help the planet as it will increase vegitation growth and therefore increase the amount of oxygen. Climate change is a thing but humans are not causing it. The earth goes through hot periods and cold periods. Ever since the 70’s there has always been some natural disaster politicians are telling us we need to elect them to stop. The UN was saying in 1999 that the earth would end in 10 years if we didn't stop our carbon output. We are hearing the same today, the earth is going to end in 2030. I see all this stuff as political hustling and fear mongering. Keep us running around fearing for our lives so that the rich can run off with all the money. They keep us scared so we will vote for them, so they can keep going to the banks.
While I do agree that if everyone stopped taking vacations it would help with global warming, I believe there would be a much greater impact if we changed the amount of pollution we use in our everyday lives. In fact I would argue that taking the opportunity to see the world will actually make us want to work harder to save it. You also can’t forget the benefits of having that family time and so many special memories you share with your family when you travel together. When it comes to saving the planet I believe the focus should be on how we can make the planet greener by making changes in our everyday lives to reduce pollution. If everyone switched to electric cars instead of gas cars and used a cleaner source of energy such as wind or solar, this would make a much greater impact than stopping family vacations.
Theres probably no possible argument that traveling deteriorates the environment but not being allowed to travel is quite unfair to everyone and to the future generations. I believe it is quite fair to limit traveling, but if people actually took a little bit of their time to contribute to the earth such as bringing in a reusable bag, bringing a reusable cup, shopping in bulk, refusing single use items and etc. then that itself could already be a huge help. There are some people in the world who wish to see the whole world, experience all kinds of new foods and cultures. So instead of worrying about how traveling may ruin the environment, people should think about their own actions and how contributing a little bit of their time can actually help save the Earth. So in final I strongly disagree the you should feel guilty for traveling, anyone is already doing it anyways and its probably a little too late already so just go enjoy your vacation and help restore the Earth little by little in return.
The decision about “should we feel guilty when we travel” has already been disgusted and decided, so individuals should continue on with their vacations. However, it is fair to only ask for us to limit our traveling. Most people’s travels are unnecessary and directed towards their own enjoyment. I believe we should not feel guilty for traveling. Even though it is harmful for the environment to travel great distances, we should also be searching for ways to preserve the earth. By traveling around the world we learn and can grow our understandings for preserving the earth's health.If one person believes that their traveling does not affect the world and its health, then many others will also have that belief. So, instead of giving up traveling we can all help to restore the earth to its healthy state.
The article gives many valid reasons that long distance traveling deteriorates the environment and there is no argument about that, however aviation isn’t the only form of harm towards our climate. The author says themselves that cruise ships exert three to four times more carbon dioxide than jets. If that is more detrimental, then why should we only avoid airplanes? Not to mention, all of the small things we use more frequently that add up to be even more harmful. If we completely forbid traveling, not only do we lose conveniency, but in many cases we as a world lose our connection with surrounding and distant countries altogether. An educated person is one who has seen the world for themselves and recognizes the differing cultures and opinions around them. Through that they grow and become more knowledgeable on their own. Consequently, cutting off this opportunity confines the world to their own spaces and opinions. In addition to that, the business of aviation is widespread because of its conveniency. Individuals can catch a flight in limited time measures to be present in dire situations. Our society progressed when airplanes were first made, so why should we halt that progression? Yes climate change is real, and yes it is an issue that needs to be taken care of, but the damage that has already been done is far past reversible and it was made by far more than just airplanes.
Despite my awareness of the detrimental impact human activity has on the environment, I do not believe that it is realistic to ask people to give up long-distance travel to preserve the planet. Obviously, long-distance travel, whether it be by plane, ship, or even car, contributes to carbon emissions that wreak havoc on our atmosphere; eliminating long distance travel completely would greatly reduce our ecological footprint as a human species. However, many people rely on long-distance travel for health, familial connections, and a source of income. Like driving, traveling long-distances by plane or ship is a pivotal part of many lives. Although driving is environmentally destructive, we would never think of asking society to stop using cars as a means of travel; therefore, how can we ask people to give up flying for the good of the environment? Furthermore, one must acknowledge the other ways in which society can preserve the Earth. For example, the country of Denmark has recently passed an Environmental Protection Act, which controls and prevents pollution in their country by enforcing taxes on environmentally harmful products. According to the European Environmental Agency, the quality of air in Denmark has improved significantly since these actions were taken. Society relies heavily on travel, and because we can improve air quality through many other methods, asking people to stop long-distance travel in hopes of protecting the earth is impractical and unneeded.
I believe that asking for people to give up traveling is near impossible. The only way to make a real difference is if everyone stops. It is unrealistic to think that people will give up traveling for this cause. Because in reality, one or two people deciding not to travel to help the environment won't make a difference. Those plane tickets will just be bought by another person and the same amount of damage is done. In the fifth paragraph the author speaks on how “we mean no harm” and “The effects of climate change are inconceivably enormous and awful — and for the most part still unrealized.” which is true. The way we have affected the environment is truly awful. Pollution and emissions damage ecosystems and the environment is suffering. But we are at a point now that it doesn't matter what we do. Someone will always buy the plane ticket if don't. Someone will always take their car when u decide to walk. The only way to fix this is by making everyone stop. So to answer the essential question of the article i say no, no one should feel guilty for traveling. We are at a point now that one more plane ride isn't going to affect the fate of the human race. Take your vacation, its okay, don't feel bad.
Some actions that I do in my daily life to be “greener” are using reusable straws and a tumbler, taking public transportation to school, and recycling. I do not view any of these sacrifices on account of the fact that they do not inconvenience me very much. In fact, I think there are more pros than cons to these three, miniscule things. Reusable straws and reusable tumblers reduce the amount of plastic you use greatly, and they are more convenient. You can refill reusable water containers and reusable straws are handy when you don’t have a disposable straw or if you don’t want to carry bunches of them around. Furthermore, although motor vehicles are much faster than subways and buses, it benefits communities financially, reduces air pollution, increases fuel efficiency, reduces traffic congestion, saves money, increases mobility, and is safer (it has less crashes). Lastly, recycling is literally just throwing selective pieces of trash into a separate place. It does not inconvenience me in the slightest to take one second to look for the blue bin, and recycling benefits the environment greatly.
I don't think we should feel guilty for wanting to travel and see the world. Yet i do believe that people should reduce the amount of times they travel or go long distances. By reducing the amount of times we fly we could be saving the planet little by little. We should have a system where we can see how many times a person flies.
I believe that we should not feel guilty while traveling. Even though traveling a long distance is harmful to the environment, we, as a society, should be searching for ways to help preserve nature rather than reducing how much we travel. Traveling gives individuals experiences that exposes them to knew things. If we learn better ways to preserve the environment, the more we can learn about it and get the experience humans need. Rather than looking at plain images of historical sights and well known landmarks, we have the chance to indulge ourselves in the true beauty that nature has to offer. Instead of giving up travel, we can all collectively help to restore what Mother Nature has to offer.
The answer to the question, "Should We Feel Guilty When We Travel?" seems obvious to me. The decision has already been made and the damage has already been done, so one should proceed to enjoy the vacation for it's traditional benefits, like especially clearing one's mind. However, the decision shouldn't be made in the first place. While there are explicit benefits that come with traveling, they are mostly unnecessary and centered around the happiness of the individual. I am a firm believer that moderation is key to a prosperous environment. Some travel is necessary, but, in most cases, it can be avoided, and it should be. If one person believes that their long-distance travel doesn't have an impact on the world's health, then multitudes will surely follow after with the same blissfully ignorant belief. That one ill-informed citizen represents the average person, so the first step to take is this one-informing the public.
I think that while it is true that long distance travel is hurting the environment, there are benefits to it as well. For example, some long distance trips are for business, and are very important. Many countries rely on tourism as their main income to boost their economy. The question is, do the benefits outweigh the costs? In my opinion, they don’t. The environment is very important right now. If we don’t stop global warming, we’re all going to go extinct. Even if some economies do very poorly, we need to save the environment.
Learning about the consequences of my travel choices would not impact me in any way. I don’t travel out of the United States that much so it doesn’t really apply to me as much as it might apply to others. Even If I were to learn about the consequences of travel coices I would still travel. This is because if a couple of people decide not to travel, that won’t make the plane not fly. They would just fill the extra seats anyway. So it doesn’t really matter if you or your family doesn’t travel because the truth is that not everybody will give it up so even if you sacrifice travel, it won’t make a difference because someone always has the need to travel. Whether it is because of work or they are visiting a relative. When you are on ta plane it always full because they overbook it. This is because a lot of people who buy the tickets actually don’t show up to board the plane or they are late. Either way, it is going to be the same so why should I give up something for nothing?
I think that people shouldn’t be giving up long-distance trips overseas because it’s not realistic. Instead of giving up long-distance travel, we can limit the number of trips to other countries, or we can come up with a better type of fuel that could help reduce the carbon dioxide in the air (or at least control the amount). Not many people will give up long-distance travel willingly just to stop climate change, especially since all people have different and important reasons to travel somewhere, so coming up with a better solution, like the ideas above, is a better way to save the world. I also believe that instead of giving up long-distance travel, there is also a different way to control climate change, and it starts with the action of every individual. We can start recycling, or use more public transportation or bike somewhere instead of driving, etc. There are many ways, which could be more effective because it is easier to do, it is easier than giving up long-distance traveling, and more people will be willing to do it. If everyone single human on the Earth (and that would be a lot of people) pitch in to help control climate change by doing these actions, better results would happen (although I still think that inventing a new type of fuel is a better idea with the small ways of controlling climate change, the results are still small to really change the world. It would be so small that the effort could be wasted with just one long flight to some distant country).
I think that it would be fair to ask most, but not all, people to give up long-distance travel. I say most people because if someone has a family emergency on a different continent, or if someone has to travel abroad for work they should be free to travel. But most people can give up long-distance air travel. If people travel less, it will make a difference in our carbon output globally. I believe that humans have a moral obligation to preserve the planet because people have a moral obligation not to hurt each other. Pollution kills animals and also people. I believe that the duty of preserving the environment is different from person to person because people that live in developed countries pollute, generally, much more than people who live in undeveloped countries. So a person that does not drive and that only has electricity for a few hours a day has less of a duty to preserve the planet than someone who drives a car every day, uses high levels of electricity in their home and throws away plastic containers.
I have done quite a bit of traveling with my family and I think that it is reasonable to say that traveling can really unite cultures and people together from all over the world. I don't think that taking away planes is worth risking that. However, even though I believe that we have to limit our transportation or change it to help the environment, I do not think that removing planes are the way to go. When people travel, I actually think that using a plane is better for the environment than a car because so many people are able to fit in a plane whereas most individuals would have separate cars, creating more pollution. I believe that before trying to change transportation in the air, we need to start with the ground and make our way up. Studies have shown that most pollution comes from personal vehicles we use daily and if we want to change the environment I feel as though taking away planes really won’t help.A first step to decreasing pollution would be to start by using trains,buses, and electric cars which can produce less pollution.A possible solution is that if people work together to conserve energy eventually a big will be made and any individual can do this and change the world.
My parents travel often for their jobs, and sometimes they bring me as well. But I do always think about these environmental effects, but I can't exactly do too much about it. I know as a fact that my parents buy carbon offsets, but I don't know how many, from where, or what type. Global warming is a big issue that my entire family is very strongly opinioned about. But carbon offsets aren't going to fix climate change. Like the article, they are just delaying the inevitable. I can't do that much about other people, considering there are 7 billion of us, so climate change is going to be hard to get everybody on board. But even though it is hard to think you're doing much as one person, if twenty people went out and did something to help global warming, that would be a whole lot better than no one doing anything.
I think it is not fair or realistic to ask somebody to stop traveling long distances. It will not make much of a difference if long distance traveling was stopped. If it was a bigger issue, it would probably be more important for people to reduce or stop long distance traveling. I think the moral obligation that humans should do is not to do something big or try to change the world like Greta Thunberg but to watch what you’re doing to affect climate change. People should just be making sure they don’t do anything that majorly affects the Earth’s climate.
Personally, I think that giving up on a long distance trip, especially to see family, is not a good idea. It is better than driving a car across the country, because that releases more pollutants. I don’t think it would make that much of a difference. I don’t believe that individual people performing individual actions can truly and greatly impact the Earth’s surface or atmosphere. I think that if I flew from America to Spain, the pollution from the plane would not affect polar bears in Antarctica. A plane can hold many people to take to a place, saving everyone from taking cars. This means that you can go on a plane to travel without feeling as guilty as 100 people driving to that place. I don’t get to travel often, but I never would have felt guilty for flying across the world if I did.
I think that giving up airplanes is not very realistic, though I want it to be. Yes, I do believe giving up long-distance flights will make a difference since in the article it states that a one-way flight from New York to Los Angeles “shrinks the...ice by 3 meters, or 32 square feet”. And that’s ONLY your share. Imagine just how much ice would melt for a whole plane? Us humans should do something to stop this since it is only ethical! Some moral obligations for everyone on the planet would be to not litter, drive less, recycle, and travel as little as possible. I understand that to completely stop using planes would be a long-term project, but the least we humans could do is TRY to refrain from too many vacations. I believe this is everyone’s duty, to at least try, even if it will be difficult. I never realized how devastating the results of a short excursion could be, and it has made me rethink my future. I will attempt to cease my sightseeing, so I won't feel guilty. I have, for the past few years, stopped littering as much as possible. And sometimes, when I’m walking, I see litter just a few feet from a recycling/trash bin. If I have time, I do pick it up and throw it away. I don’t consider this a sacrifice, but instead doing what I feel is the right thing. I would be willing to give up traveling on planes if it meant I was aiding the Earth. I would just go to local sites for a vacation. Not only is it cheaper, and much more efficient, it’s green.
I don’t think that anyone should have to totally give up long distance travel. In my opinion that is both ridiculous and impossible. There are people whose entire lives are based around long distance travel. However, I do believe that people should be aware and not just travel 24/7 for pleasure. I think that if people limit themselves to, say, one pleasure trip every 6 months that would make a very big difference. People shouldn’t feel guilty about traveling, it got us this far, but unless we do something our planet’s life will reach its end. I believe the actions of one individual can make an impact in any topic, even one as big as climate change. For example the actions of Greta Thunberg is the only reasons everyone is talking about this issue.However, if a difference is truly to be made governments need to acknowledge climate change and take action against it.
It isn't realistic to ask people to give up traveling long distances because they will most likely continue their day and not care. I think it would make a difference as carbon emissions from planes melt 32 square feet of ice, and there are thousands of planes moving every day. A collective effort giving up long-distance travel will effectively reduce carbon emissions, and we should stop using ships before planes. An effective way to make people give up long-distance travel is to raise the plane tickets’ price. I think that the actions of individuals can make a difference in climate change, but a collective effort will make the biggest difference in climate change.
I think that individuals do have the power to impact an issue as big as climate change. I don’t think that people can directly affect climate change very much, because everything we do is a miniscule percentage of the bigger issue. However, as said in the article, even one person can result in the deaths of 2 people in the future. By just reducing our pollution by doing something such as not owning a car, and always using public transportation can make a massive impact on the future, as pollution stays in the atmosphere for centuries. I think the main way people should help is making a small change, and then encouraging others to do so as well. I am actually the youth leader of a group of 150+ chinese-americans, and we do monthly clean-ups of NE philadelphia. I am constantly asking classmates and friends to join our organization, and every person that joins and just does a clean-up once a month, makes a very large effect. Other ways i think people could help reduce the effects of pollution are voting for politicians who care about pollution, and opting to take public transport or walking to school. The general public is already well educated on pollution, and awareness is no longer really an issue. I think people just need to be shown how they can help, without it being a hassle to their everyday lives.
As humans are becoming more environmentally informed, we are slowly adapting to the changes that need to be made to clean the mess we created on our planet. However, is it fair, or even realistic to ask people to give up long distance traveling?
I don’t think this could ever be a viable possibility. Although I don’t travel a lot, I have family in China. I don’t think I can bear to never see them again. There are many other people in a situation like mine, and it would be unfair, in my opinion, to ask us to give up access to our families.
Another point is that if everyone gives up long distance travel, many people around the world will lose their jobs. If no money comes into the business, the unemployment rate will skyrocket, especially for countries with a focus on tourism. No traveling means no vacation, and no vacation means to tourists. Not only those in the tourism industry lose their jobs, pilots and employees at airports will also lose their jobs as well. Even if we conserve the environment, the humans living in that environment will suffer greatly. Therefore, I believe that it would be simply illogical to give up long distance travel.
It is not fair or realistic to ask people to give up long-distance travel to protect the environment. However it is both fair and realistic to ask people to limit. Limiting long-distance travel would make a very big impact on many people’s lifestyle, but we all should feel as if just taking a bit of precaution is obligatory. It is not wrong to travel, but it is wrong to never be in the same place and travel all the time because if everybody did that, the environment would be several times worse. Individuals cannot make a difference unless they are collected, and I seriously doubt that everyone is going to make an effort to reduce their carbon footprint without having to. Therefore, I believe that collective action and government policy is the only way to solve the issue of climate change, and government policy will lead to collective action.
People shouldn’t have to give up going on vacation and long-distance traveling just because it has an effect on the environment. Don’t get me wrong, we do need to preserve the environment, but there are various other ways to do that. Take littering as an example, if instead of just throwing your trash on the floor, you put it in the trash or recycle it will help too. If you are constantly traveling for no reason whatsoever then you definitely not travel as much. I get if every year you take a plane or two to go visit family and go and vacation, but constantly over the year is just too much.
Individuals can only make a small nearly unnoticeable difference in their day to day life. Sure walking to school or biking to school helps. At this point even taking public transportation will make a difference. But not traveling, will make the biggest difference of all. Of course not traveling has both positive and negative effects. The pros of course being less carbon emissions and more of Miami remaining dry. The biggest con being; if no one travels then people will start to lack a better knowledge of the world.
For me, I can travel and I do it alot. I have always been told that the reason that my family travels is so that we can gain a better understanding of the sheer size of the world. We only recently started traveling and already the world seems a million times bigger. So, will a lack of traveling for the future generations help the world? Or will it hurt them in ways we can’t even understand?
I think that the answer to that lies is vegetarians. If you think about it what percent of the world is vegetarian. Not much. So if you think about it, if only a few percent of the world is vegetarian then does it make a big difference not really. I think the answer to this question about travel is like the idealistic idea of being a vegetarian, I should make a difference. In the end both individuals and government policies will make the difference, they just need to work together.
Giving up long distance travel altogether is unrealistic. Many people travel for work, or to visit their families. However, there are also those who travel just for the sake of going somewhere, which is irresponsible considering the state of the climate. Airplanes and cars are two of the biggest contributors to climate change, more so than plastic bags or straws. Taking either of these vehicles across a long distance takes a serious toll on the environment. Many people will readily switch to reusable shopping bags or LED bulbs, but ignore the changes they could make which would really make an impact. If we really want to save the environment, people should think twice about taking their luxury vacation. Even travelling less often, rather than not at all, would make a difference. But to believe that no change at all is necessary, or even possible, is not only wrong, it's selfish.
Thinking about the environment and how we could preserve it is great, but you are one person, and giving up long-distance travel is not worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to preserve the environment, but there are billions of people on this Earth, it would be impossible to make a serious change. Airplanes might not be the best way to travel, but it’s the most efficient, so until scientists can come up with an Eco-friendly way, airplanes remain the only way.
I think that we shouldn’t feel guilty when we travel long distance. Flying in an airplane may be bad for the environment, but it is also the quickest option. I think that we should continue to develop more environmentally friendly solutions, but in the meantime continue to fly on airplanes.
We should not feel guilty when we travel. Me getting in a car or a plane is not going to cause the world to end. There is a scientific affect that is natural to the earth called the greenhouse effect that carbon dioxide is trapped in the atmosphere causing the earth to heat and then is slowly released over time into space. I don't think me getting into a plane is going to Florida is going to make an entire planet turn into a volcano with lava burning everything thing.
As someone who travels fairly often, I have never quarreled with the thought of saving the environment over travelling. It is great that people are thinking about it and trying to reduce their carbon footprint, but with a world of 7.5 billion, it is impossible to enact serious change. The thing is, we simply do not have the technology to create newer, more economical and environmentally-friendly forms of transportation. We could drive in our Tesla or Nissan Leaf, but those are way more expensive than your regular gas powered carbon machine. But what about long distances? If you want to get from Sydney to London, you simply can not just hop into your solar powered plane and cruise on down to see the queen. Once again, I think it’s great that people are thinking about making a switch to more reliable energy sources in your day to day life, but at the moment it is not applicable to long-distance travel. We all can not be Greta Thunberg and sail across the ocean for a week long vacation in Spain.
The environment is important to each and every one of us, don't get me wrong. The issue, however, lies in the lack of an alternative. We as a society have built up a reliance on air travel, whether for commerce or human transportation. It's a critical part of how we do things in the modern age and I don't think there will be a change in our habits: it's the planes themselves that need to change to be less harmful.
There is a perfectly logical sense of guilt that may come if the use of the plane is anything other than a necessity: for example, long-distance travel purely for the sake of relaxation, rather than to visit family or explore a new place. And I do think that there are actions that need to be taken to benefit those other than ourselves, both by us and by corporations and governments. However, the chance of individuals changing major habits like flying airplanes is low, so in this particular case, I believe a different solution is necessary, rather than just guilt, which may work other times.
I believe that traveling is absolutely necessary, traveling via plane is very important to the world's economy. What other fast option is there to get places as quickly as a plane. Without travel, it would be very difficult to reach places far away. Also, some people need to go long distances very often, if there was no travel, everybody would be stuck in one place. I am aware of the effects this has on wildlife, but until a game changing option is found, travel is a necessity.
What do we humans do on a daily basis that harms the environment. Well we could probably think of a lot of things, but flying on an airplane is one of those things. If you think about it flying is just like a car. Think of a little air plane flying in the sky. cars and airplanes needs fuel/gas to run, and it releases these harmful gasses into the air when going. An airplane is high up in the sky about hundreds maybe even thousands of miles in the air, and releasing those gasses that high in the air could even be more harmful than down below where we live. If gas is released in the air we could breath this in and who knows what might happen to us humans. Also this could increase global warming because these warm gasses are being released into the air filling them with warmth and bacteria. These things could cause animals to die and our earth to suffer, going back to that one little air plane that released some gas. I do know so many people fly for either work or pleasure and we should not be effected by this, so that contributes a problem. We could just use boats and cars buts that risky and dangerous. I mean if you think about it back about 100 years ago there were no airplanes to fly on. I mean it takes so much less time to fly than to walk, take a car, or take a train, but even with those choices walking is still the only option to travel on without polluting our environment. Humans should not take this stuff seriously yet but more is yet to change in the future.
Sometimes we should feel guilty because when we travel we produce chemicals that heat the earth more then the temperature it should be. It is important to get somewhere for a meeting, or for a family member. Some people just need to relax from the city. But if you are constantly going on vacation for NO REASON what so ever than you should feel guilty. Animal are dying because the can't adapt to the heat and the environment changing.
Look, it's not realistic to tell me to drive across the ocean every year to see my grandma. Just try to use eco-friendly planes ( which will likely cost more due to the eco-friendly sticker ) more and have a good evening, or morning or whatever time it is for you.
I don’t think people should have to give up long-distance travel and vacations because of the environment. There are so many other things that people could do to help preserve the environment but people don’t do anything about it, like throwing trash on the floor. We don’t need to stop traveling because it’s not helping the environment. Instead of coming up with new solutions to help the environment like “not traveling” because we are to lazy to just not drop trash on the sidewalk, we should help our environment in the simple most effective that are actually realistic. So many people just throw trash on the floor, or just carelessly use and throw away so much plastic acting like that's not what is affecting our world. I think we should keep traveling and continue enjoying our vacations and help the environment in more helpful and realistic ways.
I do think that people should be mindful when traveling. It is a little bit unrealistic to say that we should no longer use planes at all, but we should try not to use them as much. If it's not too far away, you can just drive. Driving still does leave a carbon footprint and is still not the best for the environment but it is better than flying. Another thing is to try and make planes more eco friendly. There are certain airlines that are trying to make their planes better for the environment so if you do fly try to use those. Also I don’t think that it is right or fair to call these things “sacrifices”. Is it technically a sacrifice is you are doing it to save the Earth. Recently my mom decided to no longer use plastic or to buy anything in plastic. It is definitely a good idea, and a good thing to try and do but it meant that a lot of foods and things that I was used to having, we no longer bought. It gets annoying at times but doing it changed the way that I look at things. Whenever I go to the grocery store I just see so much plastic that we would be fine without.
I think it’s extremely important to recognize how big of a carbon footprint humans have left. So many automobiles contribute to that. The one that is probably used more frequently other than cars, but also produces the highest amount of carbon dioxide, is planes. I hate reading that just one flight can melt over 30 square feet of ice, which is a home for animals! Polar bears! I don’t think anyone should feel guilty for using a mode of transportation, as no one is doing it intentionally, but I do think people, including myself, should think about the effects of doing something before we do it, for it can create so much damage.
I think it's ok to take an airplane. As long as you're starting to take it in moderation and are preferring to take something like a bus, train, or even a car, especially an electric one. Just make sure that you know that you might have to own up to the fact that you are probably destroying the polar ice caps. But its okay to take a plane. Going overseas cuts out trains, buses, and cars, meaning the only option is a boat, which would take lots of time. This would mean overseas confrences would have to be scheduled far in advance. Take planes for vacation, just not too much.
One shouldn’t feel guilty when they are travelling, whether for business, leisure, or for other purposes. Our increased speed of transportation is one of humanity’s greatest achievements; it has connected the world and has allowed many more people to travel. To say that one should feel guilty about travelling is is ludicrous. Apart from the increased speed of transportation, carbon emissions of vehicles have gone down, too. That isn’t to say the motor vehicles don’t emit a lot of carbon, but we have been more conscious of the effects and have improved on this issue.
I believe it is necessary to be mindful of travelling and what its effects are, but to ask people to completely give up long distance travelling is unrealistic and unfair. Long distance travel is one of the vital aspects of a connected globe, guilt shouldn’t be the feeling when visiting friends or relatives, travelling on a business trip, or going someplace new.
I love travel into the world with my family, i take often the plane. I realize it's very bad for the planet but it's still the fastest way to travel. I am aware that it poluye the planet... but i love traveling and my parents very often take plane tickets when traveling far.
The plane is a really useful means of transport and is therefore very used ...
When I travel with my family, I stay in France and I've never flown . But later, I would like to discover the world.
I know I'm going to have to fly and it's going to pollute.
Yet everyone flies and not only to travel, we also need to work, for example.
I understand that is very bad for the environment but it is essential. Instead of staying at home,planes should be made less polluting.
I did take a plane to go to another country around five times, but I've never left the EU. So, all the flights that I did were short.
I think that an occasional flight is alright, but if it is a regular trip - taking a plane for work for example - it's not right. Same thing for the short trips that could be the same by train.
We shouldn't do this kind of things, so in my point the people who do that should feel guilty.
But the pollution in the world does'nt come only from the CO2 emissions of the planes. Indeed they are many things that we do every day whch are'nt good at all for the planet.
My opinion about : "should we feel guilty when we traveled" is neither YES nor NO.
I think that traveled is a good thing because the people who are travelling have some good time. More than that the money they spend is very helping for people from the countries were they travelled (tourism).
The problem of travelling is that the climatical trouble improve itselves days after days. The impact of travel on those trouble is that the plane is one of the biggest source of climatical warming.
Another point that show that travel could be good is that the people who are travelling can travel for good stuff like buisness or social mission to helping people in very poor countries.
So I think travel are good, we shouldn't feel guilrty when we traveled, but we can't do it to much because the planete is suffering a lot.
I don't feel guilty when I travel, because I don't take airplane and cruise of ship. Of course it is pollute, but i think we can take the train or the boat.
i think if we don't travel we can't know new culture, new art of living and to learned about yourself ant others.
But it's not necessary to travel all of the time, or to have a private jet.
I'm never going to stop travelling. I love discovering new cultures, new countries, new food.
I don't feel guilty and I don't understand why I'll have to stop when other people don't care.
. Today, the countries the more impacted by climate crise are the poorer ones. Everyday they suffer from it.
We have the chance to take vacation, they don't. It's why it's fair to travel closer and not to take the plane.That makes difference in our emissions which would increase so much with a plane travel.
. My parents hardly ever go very far with me, i've taken the plane once in my life and now I'm happy to say it . And there are enought beautiful places in France to be satisfied .
By the way I prefer to go by train now .
. I try to reduce my consomation of meat, clothes, importated producs and of curse plastic . What is hard there is everywhere ! So to try to be more independant of the markets and produce food my self but that take a lot of time.
. Of curse everygestes are important but the surconmation are always there. The multinationals who are the mainly actors of this huge polution are bigger than out little green gestes. To stop them is indispensable. The gorvernment is their conterpart this why it will never help us to destroy them.
I travel out of the country a lot with my family, and I do not see giving this up as fair or realistic in the future. Would it make a big difference? Maybe. Are there still a lot of people that would use planes for business or other reasons? Absolutely. Learning that me travelling the world has consequences does not change my future plans because those trips have shaped me into who I am. If I couldn’t have travelled on a mission trip to Vietnam, an iceberg wouldn’t have melted a little bit but over a thousand people would not have gotten dental and medical treatment. I feel like we are already past the point of no return with emissions regarding climate change, so unless some radical change or scientific breakthrough happens, there is to reversing the damage already done.
Although protecting the environment is an important obligation for us and especially for our future, I don’t agree with not traveling at all. I grew up traveling everywhere and I have experienced many different cultures and lived in a variety of different environments with a variety of people.
Yes, cutting carbon emissions could pose a significant reduction in the speed and amount of melting Arctic ice, but being ignorant to other cultures and societies in other parts of the world and having a lack of empathy is detrimental to society and community. Maybe you don’t get the opportunity to travel all the way across the globe but even the communities across the country or even a state or county away from you have significantly different cultures, practices, financial states, and traditions.
There are many other ways that could help but cutting off communication and travel would only bring us backwards in time to a world where knowledge was limited and minds were closed off and unaccepting.
The question of should we feel guilty when we travel is unfair. The article hinges on a pessimistic view of traveling due to the carbon emissions involved that deteriorate the destinations being visited, but wholly undermines the emissions involved in day to day life that quadruple that made in a vacation period! Take a moment and question, how much vacation time do you spend a year; A couple weeks at most maybe for holidays or anniversaries, maybe a month, if we are generous, for a family emergency or special trip for something accomplished in that year? Your vacation time would amount to 1/12 of your year, and with an average American lifespan of 78.69 years, around 6.5 years of vacation in a lifetime, generously. In the other 72.2 years are you living as an Amish? Do you not eat food from agriculture or livestock because, according to the New York Times article “The Meat Question, by the Numbers”, “farming is responsible for the equivalent of 574 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States each year,” and this is not including the other 194 countries in the world? Do you not, as a consumer, consume manufactured goods from grocery stores, clothing lines, or online shopping? Yes, travel does create carbon emissions, and sure it can be seen as an oxymoron because travel deteriorates the destination, but does our day to day life not hinge on products and action that create carbon emission too?
The idea that it's the consumer's fault for climate change is a slap in the face. 71% of the emissions come from corporations. Instead of telling the consumer that it's THEIR fault and that if they just changed what they were buying everything would be better is like telling a stab victim that he should have just been wearing a sweater because that would have stopped the damage. It's ridiculous, and wouldn't even work if everyone started doing it. The idea that "if we all band together and change how eat, stop traveling in planes, etc we can fix this!" is appealing because it gives the illusion of control. In reality, about 100 rich rich people are in control. We can put pressure on governments to force these corporations to change, but what we buy has next to no effect. I could go vegan, or we could get the companies destroying the environment to maybe stop doing that. I know which one I'm choosing.
Humanity has no obligation to stop traveling for the environment. Evolution is a brilliant force, and to deny ourselves any technology for the sake of another species is to spit directly into the face of our mother, nature. Animals will be fine and evolution will do its part. Some will die and others will flourish, this has been the cycle for all world history. We must not stop and wait for animals to catch up evolutionarily, if they cannot keep up with the pace of a changing environment, if they cannot adapt to a change of a few degrees then it is mother nature’s will for them to die and for a new resilient species to replace the decadent. If we wish to travel, then we shall travel, do not worry about the species that your travel is going to harm, for you must obey the law of the jungle and show no mercy to any weakness that a species shows. Let the strong replace the weak lest our planet becomes a bastion of foolishness instead of wisdom, of decadence instead of innovation, of dark instead of light, and of weakness instead of strength.
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Hello. I may be biased to this conversation because it has been a life long dream of mine to travel. When adults ask me what I want to be when I'm older, I always say I don't know but I want to do something that involves travel. So, should I give up this dream because of the harsh repercussions of long distance travel on the planet? I don't think so. In the grand scheme of things, long distance air travel, like an airplane, is not the worst thing that is hurting our planet. As a whole, it of course plays a part but it is not the only factor. I think the problem is that there aren't any other options. People aren't going to go backwards to the time period where they traveled without the help of fossil fuels and the likes, but instead they have to move forward. The solution isn't to give up what we have right now, but to improve and develop a better way
Personally, I do whatever I can to live a greener, more eco-friendly life. I pick up litter, I recycle, I walk when I can. That said, I think the constant push for the general public to adapt to climate change and be the main force pushing against it is ridiculous. The corporations that belch out thousands of pounds of plastic and fossil fuel gas every year and the CEOs behind them need to be held responsible. They have actively denied climate change for years and see profit from their crimes against Earth. Those least responsible for climate change will pay the dearest price, and acting like people going on vacation is a problem is like saying an endangered animal taking a moment to relax is helping its species go extinct.
In my everyday life, I try to use less single-use plastic to be “greener.” I also don’t eat red meat which helps reduce my climate footprint. I don’t see these as sacrifices because it’s giving back to the earth which has sacrificed so much for us. I am willing to give up dairy and meat altogether. These help further reduce your carbon footprint. In paragraph five of the article, it discusses how people believe that their changes made in their individual daily lives don’t have much of an impact when really they do. I want to go vegan but I don’t get enough protein outside of meat, aside from red meat, to be healthy. I care deeply about going greener and doing little things to go greener, so it bothers me when people don’t take climate change seriously or think that doing little things in your daily is helpful to the earth.
@Katie D I agree and thank you for helping me to explain how we ca be more greener.