Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone targeted the city of al-Khiam with two missiles
Al Mayadeen correspondent in southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike targeted the town of Yater, South Lebanon
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and five wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a car in Al-Numayriyeh, Nabatieh District.
Al Mayadeen correspondent to Gaza: The areas required to be evacuated in western Gaza contain tens of thousands of displaced people.
Al-Mayadeen correspondent to Gaza: The Israeli evacuation threats are for areas the occupation considers safe, deep within western Gaza.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister: Beirut has not received any official memorandum from Syria, neither through the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic channels nor via the joint Lebanese-Syrian committee.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister told Al Mayadeen that he has not received any official notification regarding a potential visit by his Syrian counterpart to Beirut
Russia calls for the continuation of ceasefire between "Israel" and Iran without any breaks: Lavrov
The Israeli military command confirmed the death of an officer—a commander serving as a team leader in the elite 1st Golani Brigade’s Patrol Battalion—during intense confrontations in the southern Gaza Strip
Israeli media: An Israeli guard was killed in a shooting attack at the Gush Etzion Junction, and those who carried out the operation were injured

Google accused of cutting carbon emissions in flight search results

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 28 Aug 2022 13:54
  • 3 Shares
3 Min Read

A change to the search engine essentially cuts the stated environmental impact for each journey in half.

  • x
  • Google accused of cutting carbon emissions in flight search results.
    Google accused of cutting carbon emissions in flight search results.

Following a tweak to its flight search engine that reduced the amount of CO2 emissions associated with each journey by halving them, Google has been accused of airbrushing aviation emissions.

The BBC was the first to notice the change, which has an impact on a Google Flights tool that displays the anticipated carbon emissions of each route. The business indicates routes with emissions that are greater or lower than average and also gives the overall CO2 emissions per passenger for each trip.

However, Google pushed through a modification in July of this year that cut the total emission data it published in half. The company had previously reported emissions in kilograms of "carbon dioxide equivalent" (CO2e), a measure that accounts for the harm to the environment caused by other aviation emissions, such as water vapour released as part of a plane's contrails at high altitudes, which can have a much higher warming effect per tonne than pure CO2.

The supposed environmental impact of each individual flight was virtually cut in half after Google started only reporting the CO2 emitted on each voyage.

Read next: Disney VIP world tour will produce 6.2 tons of carbon for each guest

The corporation contends that until its models are improved, it would be more accurate to just report CO2 as it is hard to determine CO2e for a specific flight because the impact of water vapor on heat varies depending on the time of day and location of emissions.

Related News

Rebuilding what 'Israel' destroyed in Gaza comes at hefty env. price

1.5°C target at risk in 2024 due to rapid increase in CO2 emissions

In a statement, the company said: “We strongly believe that non-CO2 effects should be included in the model, but not at the expense of accuracy for individual flight estimates. To address this issue, we’re working closely with leading academics on soon-to-be-published research to better understand how the impact of contrails varies based on critical factors like time of day and region, which will in turn help us more accurately reflect that information to consumers.”

Except for a single remark posted to a developer account on the code-sharing website Github, Google did not publicly recognize the modification when it was put through.

Celebrities have recently been facing a lot of criticism because of their short private jet trips.
A few weeks ago, #British sustainability marketing firm, Yard, listed the celebrities who are the "worst private jet CO2 emission offenders."
Here are the top 5. #ClimateCrisis pic.twitter.com/Gj0xsGtKcs

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 9, 2022

Critics argue that this is insufficient and that, notwithstanding the difficulty of assessing the overall environmental impact, there are more effective alternatives available than simply "airbrushing" the harm. One such critic is Dr. Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK.

“The last thing it should do is quietly greenwash the planetary impacts of one of the world’s most stubborn polluters,” said Parr.

“We’re in the middle of a full-blown climate emergency that airlines continue to fuel – it’s absolutely vital that the world’s biggest search engine gives decent information about this industry’s climate footprint.”

Read next: Google fined $40M for misleading location tracking settings on Android

  • CO2 emissions
  • Google
  • carbon emissions
STOP THE HEAT: A Climate Change Coverage

STOP THE HEAT: A Climate Change Coverage

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Concrete and rubble fall from a heavily damaged building as Israeli soldiers search for survivors in a residential area hit by a missile fired from Iran, near Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, Sunday, June 15, 2025 (AP)

'Israel' concealed damage inflicted by Iran in war, report finds

  • Politics
  • 5 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Yemenis burn US and Israeli flags during an anti-US and anti-Israeli weekly rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 20, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Sanaa slams UN envoy over biased statement on Red Sea operations

Palestinians carry the body of Abdul Qusay Issa, 23, who was killed in an Israeli military raid, during his funeral at the West Bank village of Salem, near Nablus, Sunday, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli settlers kill Palestinian youth in brutal West Bank assault

Vehicles drive past a banner showing portraits of the Iranian armed forces commanders and nuclear scientists who were killed in an Israeli strike, at Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran envisions a resistant, independent Middle East, Larijani says

An al-Qassam Brigades fighter stands over the corpse of an Israeli soldier killed in Khan Younis, Gaza, in footage published on July 10, 2025 (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam kill Israeli soldier in new 'scandal' for Israeli forces

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS