Google and UK Launch Historic Trial to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact

The UK government and Google are launching a landmark trial to reduce aviation's climate impact by changing flight paths in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

During the next two winters, hundreds of commercial flights will be instructed to change their routes by up to 2,000 feet over the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area, a busy gateway for air traffic between Europe and North America.

The trial, called Operation Blue Skies, aims to avoid creating condensation trails, or contrails, which form when airplanes fly through cold and humid areas and can trap heat, warming the planet.

Contrails are responsible for 1% to 2% of Earth's warming, according to Contrails.org, a nonprofit research organization. The Shanwick airspace accounts for about 5% of the total contributed by contrails, with a significant amount occurring during winter.