Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Passengers stranded after three-year cruise abruptly cancelled

<p dir="ltr">When Life At Sea <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/world-first-three-year-cruise-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> their world-first three-year voyage in early 2023, many were quick to jump at the opportunity to spend the next years of their life onboard. </p> <p dir="ltr">People from around the globe <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/meet-the-woman-preparing-to-spend-three-years-at-sea#xd_co_f=YTM5MzVmOGQtNTY4My00NWE1LThjNDctMTUxMjJlNjVhMWNj~" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sold their homes</a> and belongings to fork out the hefty $180,000 price tag to spend 36 months travelling the world, with their once-in-a-lifetime voyage set to kick off in November. </p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ddf609a3-7fff-7e5e-04e2-f5d7a488896d"></span>But now, as their departure date loomed, Life At Sea have left passengers stranded after abruptly cancelling the trip in its entirety. </p> <p>Life at Sea Cruises was scheduled to depart from Istanbul, Turkey on November 1st but departure was relocated and delayed twice to November 30th, before passengers were informed on November 17th the cruise was off, according to <em>CNN</em>.</p> <p>The news outlet reported that the ship that was destined to be the vessel of the three-year journey was bought by another company just one day before the voyage was cancelled. </p> <p>The owner of Life at Sea Cruises’ parent company Miray Cruises, then confirmed they couldn’t afford the ship because investors had pulled out “due to unrest in the Middle East” – but suggested they were working on getting another ship and a new departure date. </p> <p>The idea that the vessel would be replaced filled some travellers with hope they would still be embarking on their three-year adventure, before CEO of Miray Cruises was forced to clarify: “In case we weren’t clear, the Life at Sea cruise trip is cancelled.”</p> <p>Passengers were devastated by the news, with those who thought they had locked in the next three years of their lives telling <em>CNN</em> they felt “incredibly sad”, “angry” and “betrayed”.</p> <p>“I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing,” said one cruiser.</p> <p>“I don’t think they will ever understand how much damage they’ve caused us,” said another.</p> <p>The more than $180,000 three-year trip had been celebrated by big cruising fans and called a “nightmare” and “claustrophobic” by critics across social media.</p> <p>The company’s website is still advertising the cruise as normal, with a countdown stating on Monday it was three hours “until we go for an adventure of a lifetime”.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Life At Sea</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Couple misses their own wedding after cruise ship forced to turn back

<p>A couple has missed their own dream destination wedding after their cruise ship was denied entry into New Zealand. </p> <p>Janine Sherriff and Kyle Risk dreamed of exchanging rings at the popular Lord of the Rings filming location, Hobbiton, located on the north island of New Zealand. </p> <p>The couple were meant to meet up with some close friends and family in New Zealand, as they travelled across from Australia on a P&amp;O cruise ship, but were turned back from docking over an unclean hull. </p> <p>The “Kiwi Adventure” cruise, which was meant to be a 13-day journey, turned into more of a Tasmanian adventure after the ship was told to head to Australia’s southernmost state instead.</p> <p>New Zealand’s biosecurity laws were triggered over just three juvenile mussels and one single hydroid (AKA: lace coral), which needed to be removed from the ship's hull. </p> <p>“We took the time off from work, we had our nearest and dearest friends and family all co-ordinate to be in New Zealand at this exact time,” Janine told the <em><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-25/cruise-ship-turned-away-from-nz/103151078">ABC</a></em>.</p> <p>“The plan was to get off the boat, go straight to Hobbiton, have our wedding, then head straight back to the boat for the rest of the honeymoon.”</p> <p>“Now we have to figure out what to do about our wedding, we have all this money down the drain. I am heartbroken this day has been taken away from me."</p> <p>Kyle added, “First off, I was furious.” </p> <p>“I saw Janine’s face when we got the news. I was ready to explode.</p> <p>“I got a selfie from our family and friends at the site in Hobbiton we should have been on about 20 minutes before we had to turn around.”</p> <p>“It would have meant a lot as it was a beautiful setting. As long as we have each other,” he added.</p> <p>The cruise operator in charge of the vessel, P&amp;O, has offered customers $300 in on-board credit and a 50 per cent credit on a future cruise.</p> <p>“We apologise for the change in itinerary and thank our guests for their patience and understanding,” a spokesperson for the company’s Australian division said per the <em><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12791331/Engaged-couple-P-O-cruise-forced-turn-New-Zealand-fume-dream-Lord-Rings-wedding-ruined.html">Daily Mail</a></em>.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Facebook / Shutterstock</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

"Do better": Baggage handlers captured recklessly throwing wheelchairs

<p>American Airlines has been forced to apologise after two baggage handlers were captured recklessly throwing around wheelchairs. </p> <p>The video of the staffers was captured and posted to TikTok, showing two men in hi-vis at Miami Airport throwing a wheelchair down a slide. </p> <p>The chair hits the bottom with such force that it is catapulted off the chute.</p> <p>In the caption of the video, the poster revealed it was not the first mobility device to suffer such a fate, as she wrote, "Dang, after I saw them do this and laugh with the first two wheelchairs I had to get it on film."</p> <p>She added that it wasn't what she would call "handling with care" for a mobility device.</p> <div class="embed" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7303306999909960990&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40haez93%2Fvideo%2F7303306999909960990%3Flang%3Den&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-useast8-p-0068-tx2%2FoIRPINBLSaBIEAVIxqpEaik1LBxVjiEZAq5m5%3Fx-expires%3D1700863200%26x-signature%3DumASXIu6Qa1eNNxX0Jshk1pfrJQ%253D&key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p>The video has racked up over 2 million viewers, with many flocking to the comments to share their thoughts.</p> <p>"This makes me rage. That is literally someone's lifeline," one person wrote. </p> <p>"Knowing our healthcare system that basic wheelchair was soooooo f-ing expensive," another added. </p> <p>A commenter clarified, "these chairs cost upwards of $3k plus. They aren't easily replaceable and insurance only covers new chairs every 5 years".</p> <p>Another person wrote, "From a wheelchair user, thank you for posting this and raising awareness," while another angry viewer simply wrote, "Do better American Airlines". </p> <p>After the video quickly went viral on social media, the airline issued a statement on the incident, as American Airlines spokesperson Amy Lawrence told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2023/11/20/american-airlines-wheelchair-miami-mishandling-video/71655649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>USA Today</em></a> in a statement: "We recognise how important it is to support the independence of customers with disabilities by ensuring the proper care of mobility devices throughout their journey with us."</p> <p>"This visual is deeply concerning and we are gathering more details so that we can address them with our team. We will continue to work hard to improve our handling of assistive devices across our network."</p> <p><em>Image credits: TikTok</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Traveller's $3,000 mistake at airport security

<p>A grandmother from New Zealand has copped a whopping $3,000 fine after failing to declare an airport sandwich to border control officers. </p> <p>June Armstrong, 77, was travelling from her native Christchurch to Brisbane to housesit for a friend, and treated herself to a muffin and a sandwich ahead of her 4am flight. </p> <p>Ms Armstrong ate her muffin before boarding the plane, and stashed the sandwich in her carry-on luggage to eat later on the flight. </p> <p>However, the grandmother fell asleep on the plane and the sandwich was left uneaten. </p> <p>When she woke up from her nap, she filled out the declaration form to enter Australia, as she had prescription medication, but completely forgot about the sandwich.</p> <p>When she arrived at the security gates at Brisbane Airport and her bags were checked, she was met with an unfortunate welcome to Australia as she was slapped with the fine. </p> <p>“I was just sobbing and said “$NZ3300 for a little sandwich?” Ms Armstrong told the <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/canterbury-grandmother-fined-3300-for-chicken-sandwich-by-australian-border-officials/3KJUEZBB2JHVLHBNSXFY3XPKLE/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>NZ Herald</em>.</a></p> <p>She said asked the official who found the sandwich if they could throw it away for her, but after they walked away and came back, they allegedly just said, “Twelve points, $3300”.</p> <p>Ms Armstrong first thought they were joking, but when she realised they were serious, she broke down in tears as staffers "strongly advised" her to appeal the fine within 28 days. </p> <p>She went through with the appeal to avoid forking out the four-figure sum, but to no avail and eventually ended up coughing up the hefty fine. </p> <p>“My husband kept saying, 'Just pay it'. I said, 'It’s our pension, we can’t afford this’,” Ms Armstrong said, adding that they had about $30,000 in savings as well as their pensions.</p> <p>Ms Armstrong sent an email asking why she was fined, considering it was her first infringement, and why the cost was so high, especially considering the sandwich was untouched and sealed. </p> <p>She also outlined the impact the fine was having on her mental health, but she allegedly never received a response.</p> <p>Six months on from sandwich-gate, she has accepted she won’t be getting her money back and has since spoken out to warn fellow passengers not to make the same mistake. </p> <p>“Everybody I show the fine to is dumbfounded, they just can’t believe it,” Ms Armstrong told the <em>NZ Herald</em>.</p> <p>Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said Ms Armstrong needed an import permit to bring the chicken sandwich into the county, adding it could have been a much higher penalty, as fines can be as much as $6260. </p> <p>“Meat has strict import conditions which can change quickly based on disease outbreaks,” a departmental spokesperson told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/warnings/grandmother-who-forgot-to-declare-chicken-sandwich-cops-3000-fine-at-brisbane-airport/news-story/2bc94ac2e7e4f59cd16e5798fc7f9f7b" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>news.com.au</em></a>. </p> <p>“Uncanned meats, including vacuum-sealed items, are not allowed into Australia unless accompanied by an import permit."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Worrying news – ozone layer not recovering after all

<p>Alarming news from New Zealand scientists suggests the ozone layer might not be recovering after all, with the problem exacerbated by bushfires, volcanic eruptions and greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <div class="copy"> <p>The research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42637-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> in <em>Nature Communications</em> suggests the Antarctic ozone layer has reduced by 26% since 2004, contrary to previous reports of recovery by actions taken under an agreement called the Montreal Protocol. </p> <p>The authors say wildfire and volcanic aerosols together with greenhouse gas emissions probably explain recent setbacks with record large, long-lived ozone holes re-emerging over Antarctica during Spring since 2020.</p> <p>Climate change is influencing the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/weather-services/fire-weather-centre/bushfire-weather/index.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severity and frequency</a> of bushfires.</p> <p>The ozone hole was previously thought to be under repair thanks to a global agreement signed in Montreal, Canada to limit ozone depleting substances. </p> <p>But the paper finds insignificant long-term change in the total ozone column since the early 2000s, “even where significant recovery has previously been reported”.</p> <p>The analysis of daily and monthly ozone changes between 2001 – 2022, show delays in the formation of the ozone hole. While early springtime shows signs of recovery in the ozone layer, this is followed by declines during late September.</p> <p>Researcher and author Hannah Kessenich from the University of Otago says: “by looking at detailed, daily ozone observations from the last 19 years, we find evidence of much less ozone in the centre of the Antarctic ozone hole compared to 19 years ago. This means that the hole has not only remained large in area, but it has also become deeper (i.e. has less ozone) throughout most of Antarctic spring.”</p> <p>But Atmospheric scientist, Dr Martin Jucker from the University of NSW is not convinced by the results of the study.</p> <p>He says: “Their results rely heavily on the large ozone holes we have seen in 2020-2022. However, existing literature has already found reasons for these large ozone holes: Smoke from the 2019 bushfires and a volcanic eruption (La Soufriere), as well as a general relationship between the polar stratosphere and El Niño Southern Oscillation […] The years 2020-22 have seen a rare triple La Niña, but this relationship is never mentioned in the study.”  </p> <p><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/earth-sciences/ozone-hole-among-largest-on-record/">This Spring</a>, the European Space Agency reported yet another large ozone hole had formed, among the biggest on record.</p> <p>The layer of ozone high in the atmosphere protects the Earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun. Ozone depletion exposes people, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, to a higher risk of skin cancer.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <div> <p align="center"><em><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=288486&amp;title=Worrying+news+%26%238211%3B+ozone+layer+not+recovering+after+all" width="1" height="1" loading="lazy" aria-label="Syndication Tracker" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></em><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/climate/ozone-layer-not-recovering/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/petra-stock/">Petra Stock</a>. </em></p> </div> </div>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Woman receives lifetime ban from cruise line over "illegal" item

<p>A 42-year-old mother has received a lifetime ban from Carnival Cruise Line voyages, after she attempted to board one of the company's ships with a seemingly innocent item. </p> <p>Melinda Van Veldhuizen, a nurse practitioner and mother of two from Texas, said she was treated "like a criminal" when cruise ship employees found a bag of the CBD “sleep tight” gummies in her luggage while at a port in Miami. </p> <p>Melinda told local news station <em>WPLG</em> she packed the gummies to help her get some sleep on the August trip she had planned to take with her family to celebrate both her 21st wedding anniversary with her husband and her son’s senior year of high school.</p> <p>Ms Van Veldhuizen was taken to a separate area of the security check-in when the discovery was made, and was questioned by Carnival security and police for two and a half hours. </p> <p>The mother was blocked from boarding the ship, and her husband and son also disembarked as they didn’t want to go on the cruise to Aruba, Curaçao and the Dominican Republic without her.</p> <p>The family had spent just under $9,000AUD on their planned vacation, Ms Van Veldhuizen’s attorney Daren Stabinski told the <em>Washington Post</em>.</p> <p>CBD is a compound commonly derived from hemp that doesn’t cause impairment or a “high,” and is different from marijuana's mind-altering substance of THC. </p> <p>CBD is becoming more readily available across the globe, and is used to treat ailments from chronic pain to sleeplessness. </p> <p>In most parts of the US, CBD products that contain no greater than 0.3 per cent of THC are legal. </p> <p>According to <em>WPLG</em>, Ms Van Veldhuizen’s gummies contained less than 0.01 per cent THC.</p> <p>Despite the product being legal in the state Ms Van Veldhuizen was departing from, the hemp product is prohibited by Carnival Cruise Lines.</p> <p>“While certain CBD products used for medicinal purposes may be legal in the US, they are not legal in all the ports we visit and therefore are also considered prohibited items,” its website states.</p> <p>Soon after Ms Van Veldhuizen was forbidden from going on the cruise she paid for, she received a letter from Carnival informing her she was banned from all Carnival ships for life.</p> <p>The letter signed by Captain Rocco Lubrano states that she will “not be permitted to sail on-board any Carnival Cruise Lines vessel in the future.”</p> <p>“This decision was based on your actions on the current cruise, which were a violation of the ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship or caused harm to Carnival,” Mr Lubrano wrote.</p> <p>Ms Van Veldhuizen said she has taken more than a dozen Carnival cruises over the years and was freaked out by the letter and the whole experience, and was not expecting such a severe reaction. </p> <p>“I thought it was one of those situations where you’re like, ‘Oh shoot, I left a bottle of water in my backpack; you gotta throw it away,’ kind of thing like that happens at TSA,” she said.</p> <p>Ms Van Veldhuizen is pursuing an internal claim with Carnival, but has threatened to sue if her situation isn’t resolved “appropriately” and hired Mr Stabinski to assist her. </p> <p>“Out of all the cases I take, this one was just specifically outrageous,” Mr Stabinski said.</p> <p><em>Image credits: WPLG</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Cruise ship forced to turn back after 100 passengers injured in storm

<p>The Spirit of Discovery cruise ship was forced to turn back after around 100 passengers were injured during a massive storm. </p> <p>Cruise company Saga have said that most of the injuries were minor, but five people had to be taken to hospital when the ship returned to England on Tuesday local time. </p> <p>One passenger told<em> BBC News</em> that a few passengers  "feared for their lives", when the storm hit the ship in the Bay of Biscay, off the French coast. </p> <p>"People were writing texts to their loved ones in case we capsized," they added. </p> <p>"The tone of voice in our captain... he was physically scared. We had crew crying. We had many passengers in awful states of fear." </p> <p>The passenger also claimed that that injuries included broken bones and cuts, with reports of furniture flying around and  people  being knocked off their feet, as the ship stopped moving and veered dramatically to one side as part of its safety manoeuvre. </p> <p>Another passenger, 75-year-old Jan Bendall, told the BBC that she and her husband were "holding on for dear life", and that it was overall a frightening experience. </p> <p>"It was quite frightening, I'm not somebody who frightens easily," Bendall said.</p> <p>"We were lucky - we're quite able-bodied, but I think some of the older people and people in their own cabins were quite worried," she added.</p> <p>The ship itself holds almost 1000 passengers and holds cruises for people over 50. </p> <p>Saga told the <em>BBC </em>that there had been "very limited" damage and the ship had "remained safe at all times." </p> <p>"While the weather is clearly beyond our control, we want to offer our sincere apologies to all those affected who are now safely on their way home in calmer seas," the spokesperson said.</p> <p><em>Images: Nine News/ Facebook</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Heated argument between economy passengers reignites plane etiquette debate

<p>A 12-second clip of two passengers arguing on a plane has reignited the age-old debate of whether it is acceptable to recline your seat on a plane. </p> <p>The viral video which was originally posted on TikTok and then re-shared on X, has racked up over 8 million views since Thursday. </p> <p>In the video, a frustrated woman was calling out another female passenger for pushing her seat the entire flight, right after they landed. </p> <p>“The whole trip she pushed my seat,” the woman said to a male passenger seated next to the female passenger accused of kicking her seat. </p> <p>“You seen it. You know she did.”</p> <p>“I’m allowed to put my seat back," she yelled repeatedly. </p> <p>Ian Miles Cheong, the user who posted the video on X, defended the woman saying: “She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space.”</p> <p>A few were on the woman's side and praised her for standing up for herself. </p> <p>“You are allowed! Period! You want space in front of you instead of pushing the seat, buy a seat with extra space or get your a** to business class. Reclining was put there for a reason,” one person wrote. </p> <p>“She was patient enough to wait till flight landed," they added. </p> <p>“If the seat is reclinable, recline it,” another commented. </p> <p>"What she’s saying is right. The woman has a right to put her seat back without someone kicking it," a third agreed.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space. <a href="https://t.co/WELD7Qh4Re">pic.twitter.com/WELD7Qh4Re</a></p> <p>— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1719881310351863952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>However, others claimed that there was an unwritten rule that you shouldn't recline your seat, especially on a short-haul flight, adding that the recline feature should be scrapped from airplanes. </p> <p>“Putting your seat back in coach is an unspoken thing most people don’t do. It’s really the airline’s fault because they’ve made coach so cramped and tight that putting the seat back shouldn’t even be an option,” one commented. </p> <p>“Airline seats simply shouldn’t be able to recline. It intrudes on the already very little space a person has on the plane for the person behind them,” another added. </p> <p>“Really it’s the airline’s fault for cramming so many people in such a small space. They don’t call it cattle class for nothing,” a third wrote. </p> <p>One user understood both sides of the argument, and blamed the airlines for making the seats so cramped. </p> <p>"It can be annoying sometimes to be behind someone with their seat all the way, but if the airlines didn't want to allow that, it wouldn't happen," they wrote.</p> <p>"You don't kick the seat like a baby. Blame the airline, not the person doing what the airline says is fine." </p> <p><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Why this pilot was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder

<p>An off-duty pilot, identified as Joseph David Emerson, has been charged with 83 counts of attempted murder following an alleged attempt to crash an Alaska Airlines flight en route to San Francisco.</p> <p>The incident unfolded as Flight 2059, operated by Horizon Air, took off from Everett, Washington, shortly before 5:30pm local time on a seemingly routine Sunday evening. However, what transpired mid-flight left passengers and the aviation community in disbelief.</p> <p>Emerson, who was sitting in the cockpit's jump seat behind the captain and first officer, reportedly attempted to activate the jet's fire suppression system. This system, when triggered, would have closed a valve in the wing to cut off the flow of fuel to the engines. The consequences of such an act could have been catastrophic, potentially leading to a loss of engine power and a potentially fatal crash.</p> <p>The vigilant crew of Flight 2059, including the captain and first officer, quickly responded to subdue Emerson, preventing the activation of the fire suppression system. Their swift actions were pivotal in averting a potential disaster. The aircraft was forced to make an emergency diversion to Portland International Airport, where Emerson was taken into custody by the Port of Portland Police. Thankfully, no injuries were reported during this harrowing incident.</p> <p>The charges against Emerson are nothing short of severe. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office has confirmed that he faces 83 counts of attempted murder in the first degree, 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person, and one count of endangering an aircraft in the first degree. Emerson is currently held in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Centre in Portland, Oregon, awaiting arraignment.</p> <p>The investigation into this troubling incident is ongoing, with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies collaborating to determine the motive behind Emerson's actions. When interviewed by police, Emerson said he had a “nervous breakdown” after not sleeping for 40 hours and stated he had taken psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.</p> <p>“I didn’t feel okay. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was going on. They didn’t … it didn’t seem right,” Emerson told police, according to an affidavit. </p> <p>The affidavit does not state whether Emerson was under the influence of the mushrooms while on the plane, but he later added: “I pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up.”</p> <p>The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also become involved in the case, supporting investigations into the incident. The Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) commended the flight crew for their swift response, emphasising the priority of safety for the flying public and crews. ALPA noted that the airline pilot profession is one of the most highly vetted and scrutinised careers, with pilots undergoing continuous evaluations throughout their careers through training and medical exams.</p> <p>Emerson's pilot certification, which was updated just last month, underscores the importance of self-reporting any mental health conditions for aviators. This aspect of the case will likely be closely examined as part of the ongoing investigation.</p> <p>In a statement, the Portland office of the FBI assured the traveling public that there is no continuing threat related to this incident. While the shocking episode has left many questions unanswered, it serves as a testament to the professionalism and dedication of flight crews in ensuring passenger safety, even in the face of such extraordinary challenges.</p> <p><em>Images: Facebook / FlightAware</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Flight cancelled after passenger's sickening act

<p dir="ltr">A flight has been cancelled at the last minute after a passenger allegedly defecated on the floor of the airplane bathroom. <br />The EasyJet flight was due to depart from the Spanish island of Tenerife to London’s Gatwick airport, which had already been delayed by several hours when the incident took place. </p> <p dir="ltr">A passenger on board by the name of Aaran Gedhu told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/easyjet-flight-canceled-defecation-incident/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>CNN</em></a> that the problems began when the scheduled plane was switched out for a smaller aircraft. </p> <p dir="ltr">Passengers were turned away from boarding the plane while the switch took place, which stirred up a frustrated atmosphere amongst passengers. </p> <p dir="ltr">After travellers eventually made it onto the plane two hours after their scheduled departure, they had to wait for their luggage to be transferred to the new plane, which again took several hours. </p> <p dir="ltr">As the delay extended, the atmosphere on the packed flight was characterised by "suspense and anger," Gedhu said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"EasyJet planes, as they are, just aren't very comfortable – it's just a basic seat with okayish legroom room. So everyone was just a bit tense," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Then, the pilot finally gave the all clear, and then he said that it will be about 20 minutes until departure," recalled Gedhu.</p> <p dir="ltr">"And that's when the incident happened with the defecation."</p> <p dir="ltr">Gedhu, who was seated in the middle of the aircraft, saw "two passengers" visit the front airplane bathroom with word quickly spreading that someone had defecated on the bathroom floor. </p> <p dir="ltr">As an unpleasant smell followed, passengers grew more irritated, but Gedhu says most people onboard believed the incident was an "accident".</p> <p dir="ltr">"Everyone was being polite to each other. There was no fighting amongst the passengers," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It was just a very uncomfortable experience. Obviously, the plane was in an unsanitary state. So they had to get external cleaners out from the airport to clean it. So that's when the stairs reconnected, and the cleaners came on to deep clean the flooring."</p> <p dir="ltr">According to Gedhu, passengers remained in their seats during the cleaning process, and after the situation had been resolved, the captain of the aircraft told the plane's occupants they would have to disembark.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It was very frustrating," another passenger, Kitty Streek, told <em>CNN Travel</em>. </p> <p dir="ltr">"We obviously can't prove whether the person simply had an accident or if they had done this out of anger for the delayed flight but it was hard not to be angry either way as nobody wants to be stranded in another country."</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

"This is insane": Woman's intense hotel safety routine divides audiences

<p dir="ltr">A woman has gone viral for the elaborate routine she undergoes every time she checks into a new hotel room. </p> <p dir="ltr">Victoria posted a TikTok of her intense seven-step routine that she undertakes when staying in a hotel, with the video quickly racking up over 14 million views. </p> <p dir="ltr">In the now-viral clip, Victoria starts off by putting the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob and locking it from the inside.</p> <p dir="ltr">Then, she blocks the peephole with a tissue, jams a washcloth into the deadbolt to "close the gap" and rolls up a bath towel behind the handle to stop anyone opening the door.</p> <p dir="ltr">She also positioned an ironing board against the door to stop it from being able to open, and then used a clothes hanger to clip everything together.</p> <p dir="ltr">After going through the seven step routine, Victoria's comment section was flooded with messages as the video prompted a mixed response. </p> <p dir="ltr">"By the time I do all that, it's morning again," one user wrote, while another simply said, "This is insane."</p> <p dir="ltr">While many of the comments were quick to judge how extensive the safety routine is, others shared their own different security preferences. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I take two portable locks, and a mini camera that links to my phone for when I'm out," one said.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, one person pointed out that Victoria's set-up was a bit of a hazard, saying, "And now imagine trying to get out of that in the dark in a fire in the middle of the night."</p> <p dir="ltr">Another said they had "never stayed in hotels where I felt so unsafe," adding, "Is it an American thing? I am genuinely curious."</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: TikTok</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

6 reasons why global temperatures are spiking right now

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p>The world is very warm right now. We’re not only seeing record temperatures, but the records are being broken by record-wide margins.</p> <p>Take the preliminary September global-average temperature anomaly of 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels, for example. It’s an incredible 0.5°C above the previous record.</p> <p>So why is the world so incredibly hot right now? And what does it mean for keeping our Paris Agreement targets?</p> <p>Here are six contributing factors – with climate change the main reason temperatures are so high.</p> <h2>1. El Niño</h2> <p>One reason for the exceptional heat is we are in a <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/#tabs=Pacific-Ocean">significant El Niño</a> that is still strengthening. During El Niño we see warming of the surface ocean over much of the tropical Pacific. This warming, and the effects of El Niño in other parts of the world, raises global average temperatures by <a href="https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2023/01/2022-updates-to-the-temperature-records/">about 0.1 to 0.2°C</a>.</p> <p>Taking into account the fact we’ve just come out of a triple La Niña, which cools global average temperatures slightly, and the fact this is the first major El Niño in eight years, it’s not too surprising we’re seeing unusually high temperatures at the moment.</p> <p>Still, El Niño alone isn’t enough to explain the crazily high temperatures the world is experiencing.</p> <h2>2. Falling pollution</h2> <p>Air pollution from human activities cools the planet and has offset some of the warming caused by humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions. There have been efforts to reduce this pollution – since 2020 there has been an <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/imo-advances-measures-to-reduce-emissions-from-international-shipping/">international agreement</a> to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from the global shipping industry.</p> <p>It has been speculated this cleaner air has contributed to the recent heat, particularly over the record-warm <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/record-breaking-north-atlantic-ocean-temperatures-contribute-extreme-marine-heatwaves">north Atlantic</a> and Pacific regions with high shipping traffic.</p> <p>It’s likely this is contributing to the extreme high global temperatures – but only on the order of hundredths of a degree. <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-low-sulphur-shipping-rules-are-affecting-global-warming/">Recent analysis</a> suggests the effect of the 2020 shipping agreement is about an extra 0.05°C warming by 2050.</p> <h2>3. Increasing solar activity</h2> <p>While falling pollution levels mean more of the Sun’s energy reaches Earth’s surface, the amount of the energy the Sun emits is itself variable. There are different solar cycles, but an 11-year cycle is the most relevant one to today’s climate.</p> <p>The Sun is becoming <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/14/world/solar-maximum-activity-2024-scn/index.html">more active</a> from a minimum in late 2019. This is also contributing a small amount to the spike in global temperatures. Overall, increasing solar activity is contributing only hundredths of a degree at most to the recent global heat.</p> <h2>4. Water vapour from Hunga Tonga eruption</h2> <p>On January 15 2022 the underwater <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26006-hunga-tonga-hunga-haapai-eruption">Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted</a> in the South Pacific Ocean, sending large amounts of water vapour high up into the upper atmosphere. Water vapour is a greenhouse gas, so increasing its concentration in the atmosphere in this way does intensify the greenhouse effect.</p> <p>Even though the eruption happened almost two years ago, it’s still having a small warming effect on the planet. However, as with the reduced pollution and increasing solar activity, we’re talking about hundredths of a degree.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6oANPi-SWN0?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>5. Bad luck</h2> <p>We see variability in global temperatures from one year to the next even without factors like El Niño or major changes in pollution. Part of the reason this September was so extreme was likely due to weather systems being in the right place to heat the land surface.</p> <p>When we have persistent high-pressure systems over land regions, as seen recently over places like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/01/autumn-heat-continues-in-europe-after-record-breaking-september">western Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-19/australia-weather-september-heat-records-tumble/102870294">Australia</a>, we see local temperatures rise and the conditions for unseasonable heat.</p> <p>As water requires more energy to warm and the ocean moves around, we don’t see the same quick response in temperatures over the seas when we have high-pressure systems.</p> <p>The positioning of weather systems warming up many land areas coupled with persistent ocean heat is likely a contributor to the global-average heat too.</p> <h2>6. Climate change</h2> <p>By far the biggest contributor to the overall +1.7°C global temperature anomaly is human-caused climate change. Overall, humanity’s effect on the climate has been a global warming of <a href="https://www.globalwarmingindex.org/">about 1.2°C</a>.</p> <p>The record-high rate of greenhouse gas emissions means we should expect global warming to accelerate too.</p> <p>While humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions explain the trend seen in September temperatures over many decades, they don’t really explain the big difference from last September (when the greenhouse effect was almost as strong as it is today) and September 2023.</p> <p>Much of the difference between this year and last comes back to the switch from La Niña to El Niño, and the right weather systems in the right place at the right time.</p> <h2>The upshot: we need to accelerate climate action</h2> <p>September 2023 shows that with a combination of climate change and other factors aligning we can see alarmingly high temperatures.</p> <p>These anomalies may appear to be above the 1.5°C global warming level referred to in the Paris Agreement, but that’s about keeping <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/briefings/understanding-the-paris-agreements-long-term-temperature-goal/">long-term global warming</a> to low levels and not individual months of heat.</p> <p>But we are seeing the effects of climate change unfolding more and more clearly.</p> <p>The most vulnerable are suffering the biggest impacts as wealthier nations continue to emit the largest proportion of greenhouse gases. Humanity must accelerate the path to net zero to prevent more record-shattering global temperatures and damaging extreme events.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215140/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-reasons-why-global-temperatures-are-spiking-right-now-215140">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

It wasn’t just a tree: why it feels so bad to lose the iconic Sycamore Gap tree and others like it

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-banham-830381">Rebecca Banham</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p>The famous <a href="https://oversixty.co.nz/finance/legal/you-can-t-forgive-that-teen-arrested-after-felling-of-iconic-200-year-old-tree" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sycamore Gap tree</a> was felled last week, prompting global expressions of sorrow, anger and horror. For some, the reaction was puzzling. Wasn’t it just a single tree in northern England? But for many, the tree felt profoundly important. Its loss felt like a form of grief.</p> <p>Trees tell us something important about ourselves and who we are in the world. That is, they contribute to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23251042.2020.1717098">ontological security</a> – our sense of trust that the world and our selves are stable and predictable.</p> <p>Trees – especially those celebrated like England’s sycamore or Tasmania’s 350-year-old El Grande mountain ash – feel like they are stable and unchanging in a world where change is constant. Their loss can destabilise us.</p> <h2>What makes a tree iconic?</h2> <p>Individual trees can become important to us for many reasons.</p> <p>When the wandering ascetic Siddhartha Gautama sat at the foot of a sacred fig around 500 BCE, he achieved the enlightenment which would, a few centuries later, lead to his fame as the Buddha. This sacred fig would become known as the Bodhi Tree. One of its descendants <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/Bo-tree">attracts millions</a> of pilgrims every year.</p> <p>Sometimes a tree becomes iconic because of its association with pop culture. U2’s hit 1987 album <em>The Joshua Tree</em> has inspired fans to seek out the tree on the cover in the United States’ arid southwest – <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/u2s-the-joshua-tree-10-things-you-didnt-know-106885/">a potentially dangerous trip</a>.</p> <p>Other trees become famous because they’re exceptional in some way. The location of the world’s tallest tree – a 115-metre high redwood known as Hyperion – is <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-tallest-tree-is-officially-off-limits-180980509/">kept secret for its protection</a>.</p> <p>Niger’s Tree of Ténéré was known as the world’s most isolated, eking out an existence in the Sahara before the lonely acacia was accidentally knocked down by a truck driver in 1973. Its site is <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/last-tree-tenere">marked by a sculpture</a>.</p> <p>In 2003, the mountain ash known as El Grande – then the world’s largest flowering plant – was accidentally killed in a burn conducted by Forestry Tasmania. The death of the enormous tree – 87 metres tall, with a 19 metre girth – drew <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/3945157">“national and international”</a> media attention.</p> <p>This year, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-14/vandalism-sacred-birthing-tree-buangor-police-investigate/102726014">vandals damaged</a> a birthing tree sacred to the local Djab Wurrung people amidst conflicts about proposed road works in western Victoria.</p> <p>And in 2006, someone poisoned Queensland’s Tree of Knowledge – a 200-year-old ghost gum <a href="https://www.australiantraveller.com/qld/outback-qld/longreach/tree-of-knowledge-is-dead/">famous for its connection</a> to the birth of trade unionism in Australia. Under its limbs, shearers organised and marched for better conditions. The dead tree has been preserved in a memorial.</p> <h2>What is it to lose a tree?</h2> <p>Sociologist Anthony Giddens defines ontological security as a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Modernity_and_Self_Identity.html?id=Jujn_YrD6DsC&amp;redir_esc=y">“sense of continuity and order in events”</a>.</p> <p>To sustain it, we seek out feelings of safety, trust, and reassurance by engaging with comfortable and familiar objects, beings and people around us – especially those important to our self-identity.</p> <p>When there is an abrupt change, it challenges us. If your favourite tree in your street or garden dies, you mourn it – and what it gave you. But we mourn at a distance too – the Sycamore Gap tree was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2023/sep/28/hadrians-wall-sycamore-gap-tree-in-pictures">world-famous</a>, even if you never saw it in real life.</p> <p>In <a href="https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Seeing_the_forest_for_the_trees_ontological_security_and_experiences_of_Tasmanian_forests/23238422">my research</a>, I have explored how Tasmanian forests – including iconic landscapes and individual trees – can give us that sense of security we all seek in ourselves.</p> <p>As one interviewee, Leon, told me:</p> <blockquote> <p>These places should be left alone, because in 10,000 years they could still be there. Obviously I won’t be, we won’t be, but perhaps [the forest will be].</p> </blockquote> <p>Temporality matters here. That is, we know what to expect by looking to the past and imagining what the future could be. Trees – especially ancient ones – act as a living link between the past, present, and future.</p> <p>As my interviewee Catherine said:</p> <blockquote> <p>You lie under an old myrtle and you just go, ‘wow - so what have you seen in your lifetime?’ Shitloads more than me.</p> </blockquote> <p>That’s why the loss of the Sycamore Gap tree has upset seemingly the entire United Kingdom. The tree was famous for its appearance: a solitary tree in a <a href="https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/places-to-visit/hadrians-wall/sycamore-gap/">photogenic dip</a> in the landscape.</p> <p>Its loss means a different future for those who knew it. It’s as if you were reading a book you know – but someone changed the ending.</p> <h2>Loss of connection</h2> <p>We respond very differently when humans do the damage compared to natural processes. In one study, UK homeowners found it <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698570802381162">harder to accept</a> their house being burgled than for it to be flooded, seeing flooding as more natural and thus less of a blow to their sense of security.</p> <p>This is partly why the sycamore’s death hurt. It didn’t fall in a storm. It was cut down deliberately – something that wasn’t supposed to happen.</p> <p>The sycamore was just a tree. But it was also not just a tree – it was far more, for many of us. It’s more than okay to talk about what this does to us – about how the loss of this thread of connection makes us grieve.</p> <p>Yes, we have lost the Sycamore Gap tree, just as we lost El Grande and many others. It is useful to talk about this - and to remember the many other beautiful and important trees that live on. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214841/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-banham-830381"><em>Rebecca Banham</em></a><em>, Postdoctoral fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-wasnt-just-a-tree-why-it-feels-so-bad-to-lose-the-iconic-sycamore-gap-tree-and-others-like-it-214841">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Sapling planted at Sycamore Gap to "restore hope" removed by National Trust

<p>UK resident Kieran Chapman, 27, is "absolutely gutted" after the sapling he planted in memory of the<a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/finance/legal/you-can-t-forgive-that-teen-arrested-after-felling-of-iconic-200-year-old-tree" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> felled Sycamore Gap tree</a> was heartbreakingly removed by National Trust. </p> <p>The 27-year-old spent hours on Friday planting the sapling just metres away from the stump of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree, but his efforts were in vain, as the sapling had been dug up by the National Trust on Sunday morning. </p> <p>The conservation charity said that they had to remove the sapling because it is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p> <p>A National Trust spokesperson told the <em>Newcastle Chronicle </em>that while they understand  “the strength of feeling following the events at Sycamore Gap” the site “is a scheduled ancient monument and a globally important archaeological setting, with UNESCO world heritage designation”.</p> <p>“Altering or adding to it can damage the archaeology, and is unlawful without prior consent from government.”</p> <p>But Chapman couldn't hide his disappointment: “It’s just devastating, isn’t it? It genuinely brought people a lot of joy and that’s been taken away," he told the publication. </p> <p>“I honestly thought if it got a good response they might end up keeping it.”</p> <p>Chapman planted the sapling because he wanted to “restore people’s faith in humanity, bring a smile back to people’s faces and just give them a bit of hope”.</p> <p>“I planned to go and take the dog for a walk next weekend there," he added. </p> <p>In a follow up post on Facebook, Chapman added that he was told by the National Trust that his tree will be replanted on another piece of land at the Housesteads Visitor Centre on Hadrian’s Wall. </p> <p>“Too many politics around all this for my liking, the top and bottom of it, it’s a tree, planted in soil. I understand the land is protected, but to protect a tree from being planted in the earth, where they’re designed to be, no matter where it’s location, is crazy,” he wrote.</p> <p>Two people were arrested over the incident,  a 16-year-old boy and 69-year-old former lumberjack. </p> <p>Both have been released on bail, with the lumberjack insisting that he had no involvement in the felling. </p> <p>“You’ve got the wrong feller,” he told<em> The Sun</em>.</p> <p>“I’m a former lumberjack and I’ve just been kicked off my property so I can see why people have pointed the finger.</p> <p>“My brother came down to make sure I hadn’t been arrested as he had heard a rumour that I had cut it down. I didn’t do it," he added. </p> <p><em>Images: Getty/ Facebook</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Richie and Gemma McCaw shame barefoot passenger on flight

<p>All Blacks star Richie McCaw and his Olympian wife Gemma have shared their displeasure after an inconsiderate passenger invaded their personal space on a flight to the Rugby World Cup in France. </p> <p>The couple - who were seated in economy class - were travelling with their young daughters Charlotte, 4, Grace, 2, and five-month-old Ella, when Gemma shared the video on Instagram. </p> <p>"Lovely pedi colour but I think I'll have to put my foot down for this one," she captioned the Instagram story, as she panned to reveal the strangers barefoot on her daughter's armrest.</p> <p>From across the aisle, Richie can be seen shaking his head in disgust. </p> <p>In the next update, the Olympian showed her eldest daughter Charlotte writing a polite message for the stranger. </p> <p>"Please put your foot down," the four-year-old wrote. </p> <p>"I don't want to put my foot in it so Charlotte thought of trying this approach," Gemma captioned the story. </p> <p>A few hours later Gemma revealed that the issue had been solved after a flight attendant stepped in. </p> <p>"Update on the foot gate: hostess stepped in and asked her to kindly remove her foot from the seat. All is well."</p> <p>Fans were quick to back the star, in an earlier post of the McCaw family at the airport. </p> <p>"Please tell that guy resting his bare foot on the arm of your daughters seat to bugger off and to put on some socks and to remove his foot from that personal space," wrote one fan. </p> <p>"Give that disgusting foot a shove after your daughter has drawn all over it," another commented. </p> <p>"Off to watch some footie," quipped a third with a foot emoji. </p> <p>"I hope you said something to the foot person, that is disgusting!!!" wrote a fourth. </p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

"Totally insensitive": Kate Middleton slammed for "hypocritical" move

<p>Kate Middleton has come under fire after using a taxpayer-funded helicopter to travel a short distance for an offical royal engagement. </p> <p>On Monday, the Princess of Wales travelled to the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton by helicopter, while the journey by car would've taken just under two hours.</p> <p>She visited the airfield as Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, an honorary title given to her by King Charles.</p> <p>After news of her mode of travel hit social media, many were quick to slam her decision to use the helicopter, given the royal family's preaching about protecting the environment against climate change. </p> <p>Anti-monarchists took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their frustrations with the "hypocrisy". </p> <p>One person wrote, "She could have gone by car. About two hours from Windsor. But instead flies by helicopter for an entirely pointless visit."</p> <p>Many others agreed, with one user writing, "What about climate change, didn’t Charlie also use a private jet this week to fly people to meet him .. do what I say, not do what I do."</p> <p>"While her husband preaches to the rest of us about the environment," another added.</p> <p>"Ahhh the Uber Helicopter again! And it costs the taxpayer £5,000 [A$9,600] each time!" a third pointed out.</p> <p>"We pay for their travel so they take advantage!" another user said.</p> <p>"Use a car, Kate!" someone else begged.</p> <p>"More climate change hypocrisy," one annoyed user wrote.</p> <p>"A waste of taxpayers money... not to mention the carbon footprint of her trip," yet another said.</p> <p>Others labelled the Princess of Wales as "totally insensitive" and "disgusting" for choosing not to drive, given Prince William's dedication to climate change efforts. </p> <p>The uproar comes after a new poll revealed the British public believes Prince William and Kate need to work harder before they rise to the throne.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Climate change is set to make our holidays look very different – here’s how

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-davies-313760">Nick Davies</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/glasgow-caledonian-university-913">Glasgow Caledonian University</a></em></p> <p>Holidays are making a comeback after several years of disruption caused by the COVID pandemic. Nearly 4 billion passengers <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-passenger-traffic-globally/">boarded international flights</a> in 2022, up from fewer than 2 billion in 2020. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2022.2162062">Recent research</a> suggests that people are likely to continue travelling more in 2023 and beyond.</p> <p>But this resurgence in travel is concerning. The tourism sector alone is responsible for an <a href="https://wttc.org/news-article/wttc-launches-groundbreaking-net-zero-roadmap-for-travel-tourism">estimated 8%–10%</a> of global greenhouse gas emissions. And conditions at traditional holiday destinations in high summer are becoming <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/travel/europe-heat-wave-tourists.html">increasingly unpleasant</a> if not <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/23/british-tourists-tell-of-nightmare-in-rhodes-fires-greece#:%7E:text=British%20tourists%20said%20they%20had,the%20Greek%20island%20of%20Rhodes.">downright hazardous</a>.</p> <p>During the past year, <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/july-2023-sees-multiple-global-temperature-records-broken">numerous climate records have been broken</a> as heatwaves and wildfires ravaged large parts of Europe, Asia and North America. In July, both Sardinia and Sicily experienced temperatures <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/15/italy-temperatures-48c-mediterranean-heatwave-hotter">in excess of 46°C</a>, nearly breaking European records.</p> <p>Most of what we do while on holiday, particularly on holidays abroad, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200218-climate-change-how-to-cut-your-carbon-emissions-when-flying#:%7E:text=Together%20with%20other%20gases%20and,of%20the%20world%20flies%20frequently">releases greenhouse gases</a> into the atmosphere and ultimately has an impact on the climate. But the way most of us get there – by flying – is potentially most damaging. UK data suggests that a single passenger on a short-haul flight, for instance, is responsible for releasing the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint">equivalent of approximately 154g of CO₂</a> for every kilometre travelled.</p> <p>As the effects of climate change become increasingly severe, there’s genuine concern that traditional destinations will become too hot in summer to remain appealing to visitors. This raises the question: how will tourism adapt?</p> <h2>Changing destinations</h2> <p>Researchers have been trying to predict the future of tourism for quite some time. One idea is that tourism will undergo a “<a href="https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/system/files/documents/ipcc-ar5-implications-for-tourism-briefing-prin.pdf">poleward shift</a>” as global warming causes temperatures to rise not only in traditionally hot regions, but also in locations further to the north and south.</p> <p>A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0047287506295937">modelling study</a> from 2007 predicted that, by 2050, hotter weather would make popular tourist hotspots like the Mediterranean less appealing in the summer. At the same time, northern destinations such as Scandinavia and the UK would experience longer holiday seasons.</p> <p>Approximately <a href="https://oceanpanel.org/opportunity/sustainable-coastal-marine-tourism">half of global tourism</a> is concentrated in coastal areas. So another concern is the potential loss of beaches due to rising sea levels. In the Caribbean, an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2012.699063">estimated 29% of resort properties</a> would be partially or fully inundated by one metre of sea-level rise – though many of these resorts would have lost a significant amount of their beach area before this.</p> <p>Some other beach destinations are potentially even more vulnerable. Sardinia was hit by disruptive storms in 2022. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771423000744">Research</a> suggests that the beaches there may struggle to accommodate tourists in the near future due to a greater risk of flooding and storms.</p> <p>The impact of climate change on tourism will extend beyond just coastal areas. Many popular city break destinations, including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301479722007344">Porto</a> in Portugal, are expecting to endure more severe heat. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2022.2112204">Tourism in mountainous areas</a> will be affected, too, as accelerated snow melt leads to shorter ski seasons.</p> <h2>The practicalities of tourism shifting</h2> <p>Changing conditions will affect where humans can safely travel to. But travel patterns take time to evolve. In the meantime, established destinations will need to change to withstand challenges such as extreme heat, rising sea levels and other climatic conditions.</p> <p>Existing tourist destinations in areas of the world that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, are already <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569121005068">considering ways to adapt</a>. These include building seawalls and natural dunes to protect tourist areas from coastal flooding. Changing construction materials and reconfiguring urban spaces to improve ventilation have also <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/environment/2021/10/19/beat-the-heat-how-to-make-buildings-in-the-middle-east-cooler/#:%7E:text=Traditionally%2C%20buildings%20in%20the%20Gulf,known%20for%20its%20wind%20towers.">been proposed</a> as ways to reduce reliance on expensive and energy-intensive air-conditioning.</p> <p>New destinations that begin to emerge in more temperate regions will require substantial infrastructure development to support the influx of visitors. This includes transport systems, accommodation, dining options and attractions. The process of establishing tourist destinations typically takes time and requires careful thought.</p> <p>Barcelona, for example, has experienced a <a href="https://stay-grounded.org/conference-degrowth/barcelona-a-city-exploited-by-tourism/">rapid surge in tourism demand</a> since the 1992 Olympics. This has resulted in a tenfold increase in visitors over the past three decades.</p> <p>Such rapid tourism development can <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/WHATT-02-2017-0005/full/html">put a strain on local people</a> and the environment. Although Barcelona already had a transport system and some infrastructure to accommodate visitors, the rapid growth in tourism has led to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jun/25/tourists-go-home-refugees-welcome-why-barcelona-chose-migrants-over-visitors">strong opposition</a> from local residents.</p> <h2>What will happen next year?</h2> <p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0047287520933679">current thinking</a> among tourism academics is that those responsible for managing tourist destinations should work towards reducing carbon emissions by focusing on the domestic market.</p> <p>But, as recent summers have shown, international tourism does not look set to slow down yet. Even amid crises such as the fires burning through Rhodes in summer 2023, tourists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/30/tourists-rhodes-maui-burned-travel">continued to arrive</a>.</p> <p>Rather than choose different destinations, the most likely scenario – at least in the short-term – is that tourists themselves will adapt to the effects of climate change. During Europe’s summer 2023 heatwave, there were reports that people were staying in their hotel rooms <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/travel/europe-heat-wave-tourists.html">in the hottest part of the day</a> and taking sightseeing trips in the evening.</p> <p>Nevertheless, there are some signs that travellers may be starting to worry about more extreme weather conditions and adapt their travel plans accordingly. A survey conducted in May 2023 showed that <a href="https://etc-corporate.org/uploads/2023/07/2023_ETC_MSIET_Results_Wave_16.pdf">69% of Europeans</a> planned to travel between June and November – a fall of 4% compared to 2022.</p> <p>The heatwave of summer 2023 might mean that tourists start looking for <a href="https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/extreme-heat-prompts-tourists-to-seek-cooler-alternatives-to-europe/">cooler destinations</a> as early as the coming year.</p> <p>The evolving landscape of global tourism in the face of climate change is complex. What is clear, though, is that if Europe continues to experience extreme weather conditions like the summer of 2023, many people will think twice about booking their place in the sun.</p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-davies-313760">Nick Davies</a>, Lecturer and Programme Leader, BA International Tourism and Events Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/glasgow-caledonian-university-913">Glasgow Caledonian University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-set-to-make-our-holidays-look-very-different-heres-how-212474">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Our planet is burning in unexpected ways - here’s how we can protect people and nature

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/luke-kelly-159658">Luke Kelly</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397">David Bowman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ella-plumanns-pouton-1470045">Ella Plumanns Pouton</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/grant-williamson-109967">Grant Williamson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-shawn-fletcher-99786">Michael-Shawn Fletcher</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p>People have been using fire for millennia. It is a vital part of many ecosystems and cultures. Yet human activities in the current era, sometimes called the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/did-the-anthropocene-start-in-1950-or-much-earlier-heres-why-debate-over-our-world-changing-impact-matters-209869">Anthropocene</a>”, are reshaping patterns of fire across the planet.</p> <p><a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-120220-055357">In our new research</a>, published in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, we used satellite data to create global maps of where and how fires are burning. We calculated about 3.98 million square kilometres of Earth’s land surface burns each year. We also examined research spanning archaeology, climatology, ecology, Indigenous knowledge and paleoecology, to better understand the causes and consequences of fires.</p> <p>Our international team found strong evidence fires are burning in unexpected places, at unusual times and in rarely observed ways. These changes in fire patterns are threatening human lives and modifying ecosystems.</p> <p>But the future does not have to be bleak. There are many opportunities to apply knowledge and practice of fire to benefit people and nature.</p> <h2>Here’s how fire patterns are changing</h2> <p>Exploring multiple approaches and scales enables a deeper understanding of where, when and how fires burn.</p> <p>Satellite data provide evidence of changes in fire patterns at a global scale. <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020RG000726">Annual fire season length</a> increased by 14 days from 1979 to 2020 and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04325-1">night fires</a>, which indicate fires that cannot be quickly controlled, increased in intensity by 7.2% from 2003 to 2020.</p> <p>Other changes are apparent only when we look at data from particular regions. An increase in fire size and the frequency of large fires has recently been observed in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2103135118">forests and woodlands of the western United States</a>. Meanwhile fire-dependent grasslands and savannahs across <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14711">Africa</a> and <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL082327">Brazil</a> have experienced reductions in fire frequency.</p> <p>It’s also important to consider the timescale and type of fire when interpreting changes. In Australia, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27225-4">satellite records show</a> the frequency of very large forest fires has increased over the past four decades. At longer time scales, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-020-01339-3">charcoal and pollen records</a> indicate the frequency of low-intensity fires <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2395">decreased in parts of southeastern Australia</a> following British colonisation in 1788.</p> <h2>Changes in fire affect air, land and water</h2> <p>Many animals and plants have evolved strategies that enable them to thrive under particular fire patterns. This means changes to fire characteristics can <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abb0355">harm populations and ecosystems</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12905">Large and intense fires</a> are reducing the available forest habitat preferred by the greater glider. But a <a href="https://theconversation.com/research-reveals-fire-is-pushing-88-of-australias-threatened-land-mammals-closer-to-extinction-185965">lack of fire can be problematic too</a>. Threatened species of native rodents can benefit from food resources and habitats that flourish shortly after fire.</p> <p>There is evidence that emissions from recent fires are already modifying the atmosphere. The historically exceptional 2019–20 Australian wildfires produced <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abe1415#:%7E:text=Intense%2C%20widespread%20bushfires%20in%20Australia,from%20a%20moderate%20volcanic%20eruption.">record-breaking levels of aerosols</a> over the Southern Hemisphere, as well as substantial carbon emissions.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00610-5">wildfire smoke-related health costs</a> of the 2019–20 wildfires in Australia included an estimated 429 smoke-related premature deaths as well as 3,230 hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory disorders.</p> <p>Changes in fire patterns are modifying water cycles, too. In the western United States, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2009717118">fires are reaching higher elevations</a> and having strong impacts on <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2200333119">snow</a> and water availability.</p> <p>New studies are revealing how the air, land and water that support life on Earth are connected by fires. Smoke plumes from the 2019–20 Australian wildfires transported nutrients to the Southern Ocean, resulting in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03805-8">widespread phytoplankton blooms</a>.</p> <h2>Humans are responsible for the changes</h2> <p>Human drivers such as climate change, land use, fire use and suppression, and transportation and extinction of species <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-120220-055357">are causing shifts in fire patterns</a>.</p> <p>Increasing global temperatures and more frequent heatwaves and droughts increase the likelihood of fire by promoting hot, dry and windy conditions. A pattern of extreme fire weather outside of natural climate variation is already emerging in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15388">North America</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1183-3">southern Europe</a> and <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1e3a/meta">the Amazon basin</a>.</p> <p>Humans modify fire regimes by changing land use for agricultural, forestry and urban purposes. Until recent decades, large fires in tropical forests were uncommon. But <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03876-7">deforestation fires</a> used to clear primary forest for agriculture often promotes more frequent and intense uncontrolled fires.</p> <p>Humans have transported plants and animals across the globe, resulting in novel mixes of species that modify fuels and fire regimes. In many parts of the world, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1908253116">invasive grasses</a> have increased flammability and fire activity.</p> <p>Social and economic changes propel these drivers. Colonisation by Europeans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples and their skilful use of fire has been linked with fire changes in <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2395">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2116264119">North America</a> and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2015.0174">South America</a>.</p> <h2>Using knowledge and practice of fire to achieve sustainability goals</h2> <p><a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-120220-055357">The pace and scale of these changes</a> represent challenges to humanity, but knowledge and practice of fire can help to achieve sustainability goals.</p> <p>This includes:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2015.0174">good health and wellbeing</a>, by supporting community-owned solutions and fire practices that increase social cohesion and health</li> <li><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479718314658">sustainable cities and communities</a>, by designing green firebreaks and mixed-use areas with low fuels, strategically located in the landscape</li> <li><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aam7672">life on land</a>, by tailoring use of fire to promote and restore species and ecosystems</li> <li><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00867-1">climate action</a>, by applying low-intensity fire to promote the stability of soil organic matter and increase carbon storage</li> <li><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/3921">reduced inequalities</a>, by allocating resources before, during, and after wildfires to at-risk communities and residents.</li> </ul> <p>As the world changes, society as a whole needs to keep learning about the interplay between people and fire.</p> <p>A deep understanding of fire is essential for achieving a sustainable future – in other words, <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-120220-055357">a better Anthropocene</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213215/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/luke-kelly-159658"><em>Luke Kelly</em></a><em>, Associate Professor in Quantitative Ecology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397">David Bowman</a>, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ella-plumanns-pouton-1470045">Ella Plumanns Pouton</a>, PhD candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/grant-williamson-109967">Grant Williamson</a>, Research Fellow in Environmental Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-shawn-fletcher-99786">Michael-Shawn Fletcher</a>, Professor in Biogeography, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-planet-is-burning-in-unexpected-ways-heres-how-we-can-protect-people-and-nature-213215">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Uber driver shocked by elderly passenger's intrusive questions

<p>A young Aussie Uber driver has shared the moment he was grilled by an elderly female passenger with a line of very judgemental questions. </p> <p>James Bade, 23, regularly uploads dash-cam footage to social media from his Uber journeys with colourful characters.</p> <p>In a video he posted on Wednesday, Bade picks up an elderly female passenger, who quickly begins quizzing him about his schooling and career. </p> <p>The woman asks Bade what his Year 12 ATAR rank was, before judging his answer. </p> <p>"What was your score like at the end of the year?" the woman asked.</p> <p>"Uhh, not great," Bade awkwardly responded.</p> <p>The passenger then pressed further, asking if his mark was "70? 80?", with Bade stated he got "65".</p> <p>"You did s***", the woman bluntly said.</p> <p>"Yeah, but that's okay," Bade said, to which the passenger responded, "No, it's not okay. It's s***."</p> <p>Bade, who appeared momentarily stunned by the woman's brash assertions about his school results, told her that he gave his final tests "a good go", with the passenger saying, "You did not."</p> <div class="embed" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7277944950711438599&amp;display_name=tiktok&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40jamesbadeofficial%2Fvideo%2F7277944950711438599&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-sg.tiktokcdn.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-alisg-p-0037%2F65176828c7d846a09f542b7a8ccae59d_1694528612%3Fx-expires%3D1694826000%26x-signature%3DJ1LS93ofX1akA%252F3OHw4mxLNRhyI%253D&amp;key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p>Later on in the drive, she began questioning the young man about his career aspirations.</p> <p>Bade mentioned that he was "doing real estate for a few years" that gave him "some opportunities" but that he was happy being an Uber driver in the meantime.</p> <p>"Oh, God. Well you've gotta sort of get it together," the elderly passenger said.</p> <p>"It is together!" the young driver hit back. "I'm always chatting to new people and they're giving me new ideas for different things."</p> <p>The woman responded, "No it's not, my idea is to get it together."</p> <p>Bade posted the interaction to his TikTok account, as the video has quickly accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. </p> <p>Viewers were quick to praise Bade's patience with the elderly passenger, while slamming the woman's judgement of Bade's personal life decisions and her condescending attitude. </p> <p>"Nothing like an elderly alcoholic telling another person to get it together," one person commented.</p> <p>Another wrote, "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that...she's using your services and simultaneously looking down on it. It's insane. A job is a job."</p> <p>"You're so patient and calm with her, I would have kicked her out. Who gives her the right to judge?" added another.</p> <p><em>Image credits: TikTok</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

"Divorce immediately": Dad sparks outrage over "selfish" flight

<p>A father has been slammed online for his "selfish" behaviour to enjoy a child-free flight. </p> <p>The interaction was captured by a fellow traveller, a mother named Kristine, who observed a mum boarding the plane who was struggling to coordinate her luggage, a restless toddler and a newborn baby. </p> <p>"I helped her get the luggage above and we sat down (in the same row)," the mum said. </p> <p>After Kristine realised the father was seated in another row ahead with another small child, she offered to switch seats so the family could sit together.</p> <p>"He says 'Great, thanks' and sends over another small kid to sit with the mum. He enjoyed a kid-free flight," she wrote in now-viral TikTok video. </p> <p>The footage was taken from the aisle seat prior to take off, as she wrote in the caption, "A little Sunday rage for ya."</p> <p>Kristine said she was astonished by the man's response and initially did not know how to respond.</p> <p>"I was like, 'No, I need the aisle [seat] because my kids are in the row behind and I need to be able to help them out'," she recalled telling the father. </p> <p>The video, which had racked up over 4 million views, had many people up in arms over the man's selfish behaviour towards his wife. </p> <p>"I'd be so mad," one person commented, while another said, "I would have said no that's not what I meant give me my seat back."</p> <p>"The absolute rage I am feeling right now," a third person wrote, while another simply said, "Divorce immediately." </p> <p>However, some men were quick to jump to the dad's defence.  </p> <p>"If they switched wouldn't the kid be alone?" one asked. </p> <p>Another said, "What if he were the stay at home dad and mom was finally looking after the kids so he could have a break?"</p> <p>In a second video, Kristine addressed a commenter who deemed the story to be fake and wondered how so many people could side with the man's selfish actions. </p> <p>"This post went pretty bonkers, but what strikes me most of all is how differently it's received by men and women in the comments," Kristine said. </p> <p>"The mental gymnastics that men will do to try defend this guy is unreal."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / TikTok</em></p>

Travel Trouble