Operation Blue Skies: Reducing aviation climate impact with AI

{ "reading_time": "[[read\u002Dtime]] min read" } Breadcrumb Home Innovation & AI Models & research Google Research Operation Blue Skies: Reducing aviation climate impact with AI Aug 18, 2026 | x.com Facebook LinkedIn Mail Copy link We’re partnering with the UK Government and aviation leaders to use AI to help airlines avoid contrails over the North Atlantic, reducing aviation’s climate impact at airspace scale. Paul Hodgson Technical Program Manager Chaim Langermann Senior Program Manager Share x.com Facebook LinkedIn Mail Copy link class ProgressiveImage { EVENTS = { TRANSITION_END: 'transitionend', }; CSS_CLASSES = { BLUR: 'uni-progressive-image--blur', NO_BLUR: 'uni-progressive-image--no-blur', }; init(el) { this.el = el; this._events(); this._upgradeImage(); } _upgradeImage() { // For gif format images we don't include data-srcset and data-sizes // We can safely remove the blur filter. if (!this.el.dataset.srcset || !this.el.dataset.sizes) { this.el.classList.add(this.CSS_CLASSES.NO_BLUR); return; } this.el.setAttribute('srcset', this.el.dataset.srcset); this.el.setAttribute('sizes', this.el.dataset.sizes); requestAnimationFrame(() => { this.el.classList.add(this.CSS_CLASSES.NO_BLUR); }); } _events() { // Once the transition completes is safe to clean some attributes this.el.addEventListener(this.EVENTS.TRANSITION_END, () => { this.el.classList.remove(this.CSS_CLASSES.BLUR, this.CSS_CLASSES.NO_BLUR); this.el.removeAttribute('data-srcset'); this.el.removeAttribute('data-sizes'); }); } } document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => { const images = document.querySelectorAll('[data-component="uni-progressive-image"]'); images.forEach((el) => { el.setAttribute('data-component-initialized', true); new ProgressiveImage().init(el); }); }); When you look up at a clear sky and see thin white lines trailing behind airplanes, you’re looking at condensation trails, or "contrails." These are clouds created when water vapor condenses around soot particles in j...