A world without planes

[Daisy]

As we head into the fourth day of the UK being a virtual no fly zone due to the Icelandic volcano ....

By Alain de Botton

The philosopher, writer and recent writer-in-residence at Heathrow airport imagines a world without aircraft.

In a future world without aeroplanes, children would gather at the feet of old men, and hear extraordinary tales of a mythic time when vast and complicated machines the size of several houses used to take to the skies and fly high over the Himalayas and the Tasman Sea.

The wise elders would explain that inside the aircraft, passengers, who had only paid the price of a few books for the privilege, would impatiently and ungratefully shut their window blinds to the views, would sit in silence next to strangers while watching films about love and friendship - and would complain that the food in miniature plastic beakers before them was not quite as tasty as the sort they could prepare in their own kitchens.

The elders would add that the skies, now undisturbed except by the meandering progress of bees and sparrows, had once thundered to the sound of airborne leviathans, that entire swathes of Britain's cities had been disturbed by their progress.

And that in an ancient London suburb once known as Fulham, it had been rare for the sensitive to be able to sleep much past six in the morning, due the unremitting progress of inbound aluminium tubes from Canada and the eastern seaboard of the United States.

At Heathrow, now turned into a museum, one would be able to walk unhurriedly across the two main runways and even give in to the temptation to sit cross-legged on their centrelines, a gesture with some of the same sublime thrill as touching a disconnected high-voltage electricity cable, running one's fingers along the teeth of an anaesthetised shark or having a wash in a fallen dictator's marble bathroom.

Everything would, of course, go very slowly. It would take two days to reach Rome, a month before one finally sailed exultantly into Sydney harbour. And yet there would be benefits tied up in this languor.

Those who had known the age of planes would recall the confusion they had felt upon arriving in Mumbai or Rio, Auckland or Montego Bay, only hours after leaving home, their slight sickness and bewilderment lending credence to the old Arabic saying that the soul invariably travels at the speed of a camel.

This new widespread 'camel pace' would return travellers to a wisdom that their medieval pilgrim ancestors had once known very well. These medieval pilgrims had gone out of their way to make travel as slow as possible, avoiding even the use of boats and horses in favour of their own feet.

They were not being perverse, only aware that if one of our key motives for travelling is to try to put the past behind us, then we often need something very large and time-consuming, like the experience of a month long journey across an ocean or a hike over a mountain range, to establish a sufficient sense of distance.

Whatever the advantages of plentiful and convenient air travel, we may curse it for being too easy, too unnoticeable - and thereby for subverting our sincere attempts at changing ourselves through our journeys.

How we would admire planes if they were no longer there to frighten and bore us. We would stroke their steel dolphin-like bodies in museums and honour them as symbols of a daunting technical intelligence and a prodigious wealth.

We would admire them like small boys do, and adults no longer dare, for fear of seeming uncynical and unvigilant towards their crimes against our world.

Despite all the chaos and inconvenience of our disrupted flight schedules, we should feel grateful to the unruly Icelandic volcano - for allowing us briefly to imagine what a flight-less future would envy and pity us for.

[The Hen]

Jet lag wouldn't be an issue any more.

Getting to visit Gob's Mam regularly would be.

I could do without having to forego the convenience of planes.

[Grim Reaper]

What's amusing is that this may be the first volcano to reduce CO2 emissions due to the halted flights.

Black Cloud Over European Flights. Icelandic Volcano Denies Responsibility.

An ash cloud caused by an erupting volcano might not have been the most likely source of travel disruptions for much of Europe but the Volcano Ash Crisis has now entered its fifth day, grounding flights across large parts of the continent. A volcanic spew of tonnes of Carbon Dioxide and other damaging gases is not often seen as good for the environment but some rough calculations seem to indicate that the amount of CO2 emitted by the Mount Eyjafjallajökull eruption is easily outweighed by the halt in flights.

The excellent, "Information is Beautiful" blog suggests an estimate of 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per day from Eyjafjallajökull (I'm not typing that again, let's call it "Volcano!") based on measurements from The Nordic Volcanological Institute of the University of Iceland. Compare this figure to 206,465 tonnes of CO2 a day that is not now being emitted by the European aviation industry (based on a 60% reduction in flights) and it seems that "Volcano!" is causing a net reduction in CO2 emissions.

The blog acknowledges that the numbers it reports are at best ballpark figures. The calculation does not include the increased use of other modes of transport or the other effects of the ash cloud on people's health or the economy but it does serve to raise a couple of interesting talking points.

Firstly, and most obviously, we are highly reliant on the aerospace industry. Some estimates say that the cost to the European economy is an output loss of around $500m a day because of people being absent from work. British Airways says that it is losing up to £20 million a day and is seeking compensation from the European Union and Europe's biggest travel operator TUI Travel has said the disruption caused by the volcanic ash has cost the group about £20m so far.

Secondly, it is startling to see that CO2 emissions from planes are so high. The aviation industry is often lambasted for its poor environmental record but it is not until you are reminded of quite how high CO2 emissions are for just one (albeit important) sector of our society that you realise how far renewable energy must come if it is to reduce CO2 emissions to a level that would avoid the worst effects of global climate change. It is reminders such as this that serve to convince people that a revolution in the way we source and use energy is required.

All the data used to perform the "Information is Beautiful" calculations are detailed here: bit.ly/planevolcano

[Guinevere]

For those living on flights paths near larger airports the silence must be amazing, and a tad disturbing. I live on a Boston/Logan path, and you hear the planes all day, but especially early in the AM when there is less competing background noise. In those weeks after 9/11 when the airport was closed the quiet was almost deafening.

[Long Run]

First the damn Icelanders default on the money they owe, and just to add spite, they're now spewing ash all over their creditors. Tough lot, that bunch.

[Guinevere]

Woohooo, you made it!

[The Hen]

I can imagine it must be bliss for those under the flight paths. Or else, they might find the peace and quiet intolerably deafening and not be able to sleep.

[kristina]

Many years ago, I lived in San Francisco in an apartment on street with a lot of traffic, and my bedroom faced the street. First visit back to the parents in the suburbs of Connecticut, I couldn't sleep because it was too quiet! It's amazing what you can get used to.

[@meric@nwom@n]

I heard that the last time this volcano erupted it continued to do so for 2 years.

Not good.

[Mr. Duality]

The solution: Blimps!

What do I win?

[The Hen]

Hmmm. I seem to remember some problems with blimps.

[Sean]

Oh the humanity!

[Mr. Duality]

Blimps are safe if you fill them with helium instead of hydrogen and don't make them from flammable materials. Haven't you seen the episode of Mythbusters in which the Hindenberg disaster was examined?

[The Hen]

Now I am reminded of it, yes.

[Grim Reaper]

And Eyjafjallajökull is still screwing up the flight paths over Europe.



Bigger version here.