Research article
| 
10 Jul 2026
Research article |
| 10 Jul 2026
| 10 Jul 2026
Concept of risk-aware contrail avoidance strategies
Audran Borella
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université/CNRS, Paris, France
now at: Klima Consulting, Paris, France
Cameron Steer
Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université/CNRS, Paris, France
Nicolas Bellouin
Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université/CNRS, Paris, France
Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Olivier Boucher
Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université/CNRS, Paris, France
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Short summary
Targeted contrail avoidance consists of rerouting aircraft to minimise the formation of warming contrails. However, current predictions of contrail climate impact are highly uncertain. In this study, we show that some reroutings that were predicted to be beneficial for the climate are in fact damaging it. We further demonstrate that the risk of unintentionally damaging the climate can and should be included in the decision-making of contrail avoidance.
Targeted contrail avoidance consists of rerouting aircraft to minimise the formation of warming...
