Aviation and the Global Atmosphere

Aviation and the Global Atmosphere
6.2.3. Alternative Indexing of Aviation's Climate Impact-RF Index
A new alternative index to measure the role of aviation in climate change is introduced here: the radiative forcing index (RFI), which is defined as the ratio of total
radiative forcing to that from CO 2 emissions alone. Total radiative forcing induced by aircraft is the sum of all forcings, including direct emissions (e.g., CO 2 , soot) and
indirect atmospheric responses (e.g., CH4, O3, sulfate, contrails). RFI is a measure of the importance of aircraft-induced climate change other than that from the
release of fossil carbon alone. RFI ranges between 2.2 and 3.4 for the various E- and F-type scenarios for subsonic aviation and technical options considered here
(see Section 6.6). Thus, aircraft-induced climate change with RFI > 1 highlights the need for a thorough climate assessment of this sector as performed here. For
comparison, in the IS92a scenario the RFI for all human activities is about 1; for greenhouse gases alone, it is about 1.5, and it is even higher for sectors that emit CH4
and N2O without significant fossil fuel use.
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