Contrail concerns for modern commercial aircraft

Led by scientists at Imperial College London, the study highlights the challenges the aviation industry faces to reduce its impact on the climate. The new study also found that private jets produce more contrails than previously thought, potentially leading to outsized impacts on climate warming.

Contrails are thin streaks of cloud created by aircraft exhaust fumes that contribute to global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere.

While the exact warming effect of contrails is uncertain, scientists believe it is greater than warming caused by carbon emissions from jet fuel.

Published in Environmental Research Letters, the study used machine learning to analyse satellite data on over 64,000 contrails from aircraft flying over the North Atlantic Ocean.

Modern aircraft that fly at above 38,000 feet (about 12km), such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, create more contrails than older passenger-carrying commercial aircraft, the study found.

To reduce jet fuel consumption, modern aircraft are designed to fly at higher altitudes where the air is thinner with less aerodynamic drag, compared to older commercial aircraft, which usually fly at around 35,000ft/11km.