Airline passengers may be face more frequent turbulence as the planet warms, found the latest research. Clear air turbulence, the type of turbulence that comes when wind changes direction in the middle of a clear blue sky, can sneak up on a pilot.
“Climate change is increasing the destabilizing influence,” said researcher Paul Williams of the University in the journal Nature Climate Change in the UK.
It is quite surprising to see how a topic of such concern has never been given too much attention. The reason probably being that it’s an area of research that crosses two very different fields - those who study climate and others who study aviation weather forecasting. Williams is one of the very few people who decided to research on this highly ignored and less researched topic and thus came out with such concerning observations.
To test this, a climate model was run that looked at the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean, which currently sees about 600 flights per day. Particular changes in the stratosphere's jet stream that could lead to more areas of turbulence were then looked at. One of the biggest signs of more turbulence is more wind shear, which is where fast-moving air is roaring right alongside a layer of slower moving air. That sort of situation creates unstable air and turbulence.
Turbulence is a problem not because it's uncomfortable, but it causes injuries. The thing about clear air turbulence is that the pilot can't see it. So when a plane hits it, passengers and crew might not be strapped in or they may be walking about the cabin. That makes it pretty easy to suffer broken bones and even fractured skulls.
Long-term climate models and even daily aviation weather models can't predict the turbulence itself, but they can predict the conditions that are known to be associated with clear air turbulence, explained John Knox, a clear air turbulence forecast researcher at the University of Georgia.
So if you thought a sudden downdraft from large thunderstorms or gust fronts or squall lines posed the greatest danger to your flight, you were wrong! Rapidly increasing global warming could definitely make your next flight a literal roller-coaster ride..
Photo by ABC News.
