24 International Journal of Space Technology Management and Innovation, 3(2), 24-46, July-December 2013 Copyright © 2013, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. ABSTRACT Climate change challenges need to be considered in various dimensions. Aviation industry has multiple impacts on human lives such as impacts on the urban and natural environments. Various dimensions of the issue and its importance have been reported by the IPCC, following a request from the ICAO and the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1999. In this paper different related topics have been investigated. Aviation: Development and Improvement, Climate changes as main environmental crisis, causative source of pollutions: Air pollution (GHGs, aerosol, smoke and particulate, dust), water pollution, biodiversity, hazardous materials, and aeronautical noise. Link between aviation impacts and environmental crisis have been discussed. Different perspectives of the aviation challenge briefy are presented: I- Human dimension, II- Urban environment (local, regional, and global), III- Natural environments (terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric) and IV- Birds killed by intervention. In concluding remarks two aspects of the issue, A) benefts, and B) impacts have been considered, and in the end some recommendations have been made on Emissions Trading, Environmental Performance, and Technological Developments. Challenges in Climate Change and Environmental Crisis: Impacts of avIatIon Industry on Human, urban and natural EnvIronmEnts Mostafa Jafari, Tehran Process Secretariat for Low Forest Cover Countries (TPS for LFCCs), Iran & International Advisor, Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO), Iran & Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands (RIFR), Tehran, Iran, & Lead Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Geneva, Switzerland Keywords: Aviation, Benefts, Climate Change, Emissions, Environmental Crisis, Impacts INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND This paper was drafted based on the Special Re- port that was prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) following a request from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (IPCC, 1999). In this context, the state of understanding of the relevant science of the atmosphere, aviation technology, and socio-economic issues associated with mitiga- tion options is assessed and reported for both subsonic and supersonic fleets. The potential effects that aviation has had in the past and may have in the future on both stratospheric ozone depletion and global climate change are covered; environmental impacts of aviation at the local scale, however, are not addressed. The envi- ronmental impact of aviation occurs because aircraft engines emit noise, and particulates DOI: 10.4018/ijstmi.2013070102