DETAIL OF THE RUNWAY AT GIBRALTAR AIRFIELD, GIBRALTAR (BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY) (36°08' N, 05°21

On the tarmac of the Gibraltar airfield, at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, a chance combination of geometric markings and repairs in the asphalt created this strange piece of abstract art. The air-transport sector, with 28 million jobs and an estimated value of $1.4 trillion, figures prominently in the world economy and is still expanding. Air routes carry one hundred times more passengers than they did fifty years ago, and two hundred times more goods. Outside of temporary drops in demand due to the fear of terrorist attacks, air traffic has shown an average regular growth of 6 percent per year for the past ten years; 1.5 billion tickets were sold in 2000. If this trend continues, by 2010 some 20,000 planes will crowd the skies to transport 2.3 billion travelers. But exploring the world by plane is costly in energy terms, and currently produces 3.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. This will rise to 15 percent by 2050 if the volume of air traffic continues t

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