Aug 14

　　On Monday August 13th a small bunch of campaigners against climate-change set up camp at the perimeter of the world’s busiest international airport. Organizers say over 2,000 will take part in a “day of action” later this week. For beleaguered travellers this could mean another of Heathrow’s famous days of inaction.

　　It is not hard to bring Heathrow to a stop. Strikers, terrorists and bad weather have all done so before. The campaigners hope that by disrupting an airport that serves some 200,000 flyers a day they will further their cause. “Plane Stupid”, an anti-flying group, gives a flavour what the protesters want, demanding “airport expansion plans scrapped, a tax on aviation fuel and an end to short-haul flights”.

　　Airports want to grow because more people want to fly. Last year passengers took some two billion trips on scheduled airlines. In 2010 that number is forecast to have risen by a quarter. Much of the recent growth is attributable to short-haul low-cost airline travel. But cheap flying has come with costs attached. By most measures aviation generates 2-3% of man-made emissions of carbon-dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

　　干净绿色的飞行机器

　　8月13日星期一，一小批气候变化抗议者在世界最繁忙的国际机场周围竖起了帐篷。组织者说，本周晚些时候将有超过2000人参加“行动日”活动。对于被围困的旅客来说，这将意味着希思罗机场又一个著名的“瘫痪日”。

　　让希思罗机场停止运作并不难。罢工、恐怖分子和天气不好都使希思罗机场停止运作过。抗议者希望通过扰乱一个每天为约20万乘飞机的人提供服务的机场来推进事业。一个反对飞行的组织“愚蠢的飞机”给抗议活动助威。他们要求“废除机场扩建计划，加征航空燃料税并停飞短途航班。”

　　机场都想扩建，因为越来越多的人希望乘飞机出行。去年乘客们通过设定航班的航空公司做了约20亿次旅行。据估计，到2010年这个数字将上升四分之一。最近的增长主要在于短途的低成本航空旅行。但是廉价的飞行产生附带的代价。大多数检测表明，航空会产生2-3%人为的二氧化碳排放，而二氧化碳是主要的温室气体。