Airlines are actively working on modifying flight trajectories to mitigate contrail formation, with pilots making over 3,000 observations to enhance weather forecasts.

Mitigation strategies for aviation's climate impact include strategic flight routing based on weather conditions, which can significantly reduce climate effects.

Recent advancements in numerical weather prediction have paved the way for climate-optimized flight planning techniques that utilize climate change functions (CCFs) to assess the climate effects of aviation emissions.

American Airlines pilots have demonstrated that adjusting flight paths can lead to a 54-percent reduction in contrail formation, albeit with a slight two-percent increase in fuel consumption.

The formation of contrails, which are the white lines seen behind airplanes, is influenced by specific weather conditions and flight trajectories, meaning not all flights create them.

Contrails may have a more significant environmental impact than the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the aviation sector, contributing to climate change.

These contrails can evolve into cirrus clouds that trap heat in the atmosphere, exacerbating warming effects, particularly when they persist overnight.

Experts warn that contrails could account for up to two-thirds of aviation's overall contribution to global warming, highlighting their critical role in climate discussions.

In 2018, aviation was responsible for 3.5% of anthropogenic climate change, a figure expected to rise unless effective mitigation measures are implemented.

A report from Cambridge University suggests that a global contrail avoidance system could potentially reduce aviation's climate impact by as much as 40 percent.

Non-CO2 effects from aviation emissions, which include contrails and nitrogen oxide emissions, contribute to about two-thirds of aviation's net warming but are often excluded from international climate agreements.

The development of probabilistic algorithmic climate change functions (paCCFs) aims to enhance predictions of aviation-induced climate impacts through advanced modeling techniques.