Imperial College London: Modern aircraft creating more contrails than older models

Imperial College London reported (07-Aug-2024) the results of a study which concluded that modern aircraft flying at above 38,000ft, such as the A350 and Boeing 787, create more contrails than older aircraft which operate at slightly lower altitudes. The higher flying aircraft create less carbon emissions per passenger but create contrails that take longer to dissipate. The college stated: "The result means that although modern planes emit less carbon than older aircraft, they may be contributing more to climate change through contrails". The study also confirmed that reducing the amount of soot emitted from aircraft engines can shorten the lifetime of contrails. Co-author Dr Marc Stettler stated: "Our study provides the first evidence that emitting fewer soot particles results in contrails that fall out of the sky faster compared to contrails formed on more numerous soot particles from older, dirtier engines". The study used machine learning to analyse satellite data on more than 64,000 contrails from aircraft flying over the North Atlantic. [more - original PR]