Study of the Percentage of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aviation in the EU-27 Countries by Applying Multiple-Criteria Statistical Methods.

Miriam Andrejiová,Daniela Marasová,Anna Grincova

doi:10.3390/ijerph17113759

Abstract

The transport sector, including air transport, represents an important source of air pollution. The present article deals with the current situation regarding greenhouse gas emissions in the air in 27 European Union (EU-27) member states. Every member state is characterized by selected parameters that determine the unique nature of a particular country (e.g., population, area, life expectancy, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, etc.). In addition to these parameters, there were also other parameters which were monitored as they characterize the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of aviation on these emissions. The main purpose of the article is to compare the European Union member states on the basis of 15 examined parameters. The identification of similarities between the EU-27 member states with regard to the selected parameters was carried out by applying principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis. The average linkage method was applied to create a dendrogram representing the similarities between the examined member states. The value of the cophenetic correlation coefficient CC = 0.923 confirmed the correct application of the average linkage method. The cluster analysis outputs were five similarity-based homogeneous groups (clusters) into which the 27 member states were divided on the basis of the examined variables.

Highlights

Every year, more than 400,000 Europeans die early due to poor air quality, and many others suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by air pollution [1]
Analyze aviation’s contribution to the production of greenhouse gas emissions in the air of the EU-27 member states; compare the EU-27 member states in terms of the impact of aviation on greenhouse gas emissions and other parameters that characterize a particular country by applying the principal component analysis (PCA) method and a cluster analysis
The purpose of the existing EU policies aimed at reducing air pollution is to achieve an air quality that does not cause significant negative effects on human health and the environment

Summary

Introduction

More than 400,000 Europeans die early due to poor air quality, and many others suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by air pollution [1]. From an economic point of view, poor air quality represents a cost of more than 20 billion euros per year for the European. Community, as it increases healthcare costs, reduces the productivity of the labor force, and damages the soil, crops, forests, lakes and rivers [1]. Low air quality and climate change are closely related to elevated greenhouse gas (GHG). Excessive greenhouse gas emissions result in global climate change, which may directly (e.g., changes in weather conditions, extremely high temperatures, droughts, floods, etc.) or indirectly (e.g., impaired quality of the air, water, soil, changes in agriculture and living conditions, etc.) affect both human health and various ecosystems. Public Health 2020, 17, 3759; doi:10.3390/ijerph17113759 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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