Taylor Swift's staggering Super Bowl CO2 emissions if she wants to watch 'soulmate' Travis Kelce
NFL bosses will be rubbing their hands after the off-the-field story of the American football season made it all the way to the Super Bowl - but it won't be one eco-warriors will be shouting about.
Taylor Swift was on the field last night (28 January) as she landed a big old smooch on boyfriend Travis Kelce after the Kansas City Chiefs caused an upset by beating the Baltimore Ravens and securing their place in the Super Bowl.
It'll be the team's fourth Super Bowl in five years and yet another chance to cement the legacy of the team's leading star, quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
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It'll mean thousands - if not millions - of Swifties will tune in to the big game after Kelce and Swift went public with their romance mid-way through the season.
She has regularly flown in to watch his games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, despite also being an extremely busy and successful musician in her own right.
But her dedication should come as no surprise according to those close to the couple, with one source saying they are 'absolutely obsessed with each other and yes, very much in love', even with awkward jokes being made at their expense.
The Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, 11 February in Las Vegas, which may cause Swift a problem or two when it comes to attending.
See, the day before the big game Swift will be in Japan as part of her Eras Tour. Hardly a short flight away.
We're talking 15 hours with one layover if you go with a commercial airline.
But this is Taylor Swift, so we've got absolutely no doubt when you're valued at $1.1billion you'll be taking your own swanky jet - especially when you personally own two of them.
According to calculations using MyClimate.org, a one way trip from Tokyo to Las Vegas is around 8,900 kilometres. And she wont be the only person on the flight, so let's put the entourage at five people in total.
Just to get to Vegas would therefore see Swift's CO2 emissions for the journey sit at 43.8 tonnes.
For Swift, the trip to the States won't be for long with her expected to be in Melbourne, Australia before Friday, 16 February as her tour continues.
A flight from Vegas to Melbourne using the same criteria as above? A journey of 13,100km and CO2 emissions of 75.3 tonnes.
So using our rough maths, we're talking well over 100 tonnes of CO2, which is grim reading when you realise its for a game of sport.
To off-set the carbon footprint of these two journeys alone, nearly 2,000 trees would have to be planted according to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
One tonne of CO2 is equivalent to 3,300km of driving a petrol car. That's the same as driving between Edinburgh and London five times.
And for context, the average person produces on average 4.5 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Speaking on her air miles to see Kelce, a spokesperson for Swift said she had bought double the carbon credits needed for her Eras Tour in order to justify her personal emissions.
They are bought, usually from governments, to gain permission to generate CO2 emissions and the number of credits issued each year is typically set against overall emissions targets.
The spokesperson said: "Before the tour kicked off in March of 2023, Taylor purchased more than double the carbon credits needed to offset all tour travel.
"The excess credits means Taylor could have accounted for more than enough to cover her latest romance springing up in the middle of her sell-out tour, with her trips to support Kelce upping her carbon emissions alongside her planned tour travels."
Topics: Celebrity, Environment, Sport, Super Bowl, Taylor Swift, Travel, US News, Travis Kelce
Tom Earnshaw