The more global warming, the more turbulence for planes

The skies that cross the planes are more agitated today than four decades ago, says a study showing that turbulence has increased in several regions of the world, and the authors say that this increase is consistent with the effects of the climate change.

The University of Reading (USA) publishes an investigation in Geophysical Research Letters in which it warns about the increase in turbulence in clear skies and focuses on one of the busiest flight routes in the world, the one that runs over the North Atlantic.

At the points studied along this route, the annual duration of severe turbulence increased by 55%going from 17.7 hours in 1979 to 27.4 hours in 2020. The increase in moderate turbulence reached 37% (from 70 to 96.1 hours) and light ones increased by 17% (from 466.5 to 546.8 hours).

The team indicates that “the increases are consistent with the effects of climate change”, according to a note from the University of Reading. Warmer air from CO2 emissions is increasing wind shear (a sharp change in its direction and speed) which strengthens clear-sky turbulence both in the North Atlantic and around the world, according to the researchers. .

The turbulence makes “flights are irregular and can sometimes be dangerous”, comments one of the authors of the research, Mark Prosser. The expert believes that airlines should start thinking about how they will handle increased turbulence, which can not only pose a risk of injury to passengers and flight attendants.

Prosser points out that every additional minute a plane spends flying through turbulence increases wear and tear on the aircraft, costing the industry between $150 million and $500 million a year in the United States alone.

Atmospheric scientist and study signatory Paul Williams says that after a decade of research showing that climate change will increase clear-sky turbulence in the future“we now have evidence to suggest that the rise has already started”.

For this reason, he recommends investing in better turbulence detection and forecasting systems, to prevent choppier air from translating into bumpier flights in the coming decades.

Source: EFE