Some Argue That Air Travel Should Be Restricted To Stop Air Pollution- IELTS Writing Task 2

Some argue that air travel should be restricted to stop air pollution. Others, however, are against this opinion. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Outline

Essay Type

Discussion essay

Introduction

Paraphrase the topic into a sentence.

Sentence 1: State your opinion, i.e. the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Body paragraphs

Paragraph 1 – Explain how air travel negatively impacts the environment by explaining about air pollution, exploitation of resources to maximise on an airplane’s production and maintenance. Also talk about its impact on global warming.

Paragraph 2 – Mention the advantages of air travel, how it has brought the world closer and how it makes long distance travel convenient.Also talk about the job opportunities it has created. State real life examples for the same.

Conclusion – Summarise the paragraphs and restate your views.

Sample Essay

People have different views about whether air travel should be curbed to stop air pollution. While this measure may bring about some benefits, I would argue that they are eclipsed by its drawbacks.

On the one hand, there are several reasons why restricting air travel is beneficial for the air. First of all, greenhouse gas emissions released from airplanes are the main culprit of air pollution, which contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer, leading to climate change and global warming. Therefore, to tackle the issue and protect people from health risks, airplane restriction is a great idea. Secondly, the increase in the need for air travel means that the production of airplanes would rise. To produce more airplanes, it is essential to exploit more energy and natural resources; consequently, the ecosystems could be damaged gradually. If there was a reduction in air travel, it could help to limit the detrimental effects on the atmosphere and save our planet to an extent.

On the other hand, I am of the opinion that the aforementioned advantages are at the expense of greater drawbacks. One major minus point is that without air travel, people may experience some inconvenience as airplanes are one of the fastest and safest means of transportation. To illustrate, it takes only one to two hours to travel from VietNam to Thailand by plane, while traveling by other transport means could take more. Furthermore, air travel helps to create more job opportunities for citizens by promoting tourism and the export industry, thus boosting socio-economic development. Without air travel, the national economy would be damaged. We can take the COVID-19 situation as an example when the airline industry has to close temporarily, which caused several negative impacts on the economy of countries around the world.

To conclude, while air travel restrictions may have some positive aspects, I believe that they are outweighed by the more significant negative ones.

Vocabulary

• Eclipsed 

Meaning – exceed (someone or something) with significance or power.
Example – The king’s towering stature eclipsed the soldier’s weakly built bodies.

• Exploit 

Meaning – make full or unfair use of and derive benefit from (a resource).
Example – Humans have exploited petrol and natural gas reserves for years.

• Ecosystem 

Meaning – a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Example – Deforestation has caused a lot of harm to the natural ecosystem of the forest.

• Detrimental 

Meaning – tending to cause harm.
Example – Lead consumption has detrimental effects on the human body.

• Illustrate

Meaning – Meaning – explain or make (something) clear by using examples, charts, pictures, etc..
Example – “Illustrate with suitable examples”.