Are contrails bad for the environment?
Are contrails bad for the environment? They may not be chemtrails, but contrails can affect our climate via radiative forcing, disrupting the balance between the sun's incoming solar radiation and the heat being emitted from the Earth's surface. In other words, persistent contrail clouds can trap heat in the atmosphere.
Why do jet planes leave a trail behind them?
These clouds are contrails, short for condensation trails. Water vapor is one of the byproducts of jet fuel combustion and will turn into ice crystals in the cold air at the high elevations where jet airplanes fly. Those ice crystals create a cloud (the contrail), which does not pose any public health risk.
Do private jets produce more CO2 than cars?
Just how bad are private jets for the environment? Personal planes have significantly higher emissions than other modes of transport. An average journey in one produces CO2 equivalent to driving a petrol car from Paris to Rome 16 times.
At what altitude do planes leave contrails?
Contrails are human-induced clouds that only form at very high altitudes (usually above 8 km - about 26,000 ft) where the air is extremely cold (less than -40°C). Because of this contrails form not when an airplane is taking off or landing, but while it is at cruise altitude.